Christchurch stoppage confuses unions most

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33577, 4 July 1974, Page 1

Christchurch stoppage confuses unions most

The 24-hour general stoppage ordered by the Canterbury Trades Council was held yesterday. Christchurch survived.

There was confusion, but it was mainly at the Trades Hall. The city’s bars were shut, but that was a decision of the Hotel Association and not the union. The lack of buses kept few from their appointed rounds.

In general, the city 'managed to go about its business as it would on any other day.

Public response to the stoppage was most marked in rushes for certain goods — petrol, bread, and meat — and queues formed outside several bakers’ and butchers’ shops and garages. No fresh bread was baked in Christchurch overnight for sale today, and a possible extension of the stoppage by the General Drivers’ Union might keep the abattoirs closed.

Buses will be on the road from 6 a.m., and almost all will be back to normal today.

Trades Hall chaos

Confusion reigned over chaos at the Trades Hall yesterday as meeting was held after meeting and union officials found out just how tenuous were the links of communication with members. Different executive committees gave different rulings on the council’s instruction: some ordered their

members out, others merely pledged support for those members wno wanted to go out.

And many found their members would not co-oper-ate.

Most factories continued work, although (here were some notable exceptions — those involved in footwear, rubber and plastics, and carpet manufacture — and city stores reported little absenteeism.

In some cases staff held meetings after having made their way to work and decided unanimously to remain. I one store, a union delegate who tried to persuade shop assistants to leave for the day was told politely to “go bowl a hoop.” The secretary of the Canterbury Shop Employees’ Union (Mr B. Alderdice) viewed it differently, however, His executive met twice (before and after the Auckland court decision was known) and on both occasions decided to enforce the stoppage. “We had trouble reaching many of oUr members, and I don’t know what percentage would have actually stopped work. But it must have been hundreds and hundreds,” he said.

No stores were shut, and the major department stores reported that there was almost a 100 per cent turn-out of staff.

Factory absentees Absenteeism was higher in many of the factories, but few were forced to stop production. Again workers made their decision very much on a “shop" basis, those in one factory continuing to work while others — members of the same union working in another factory owned by the same firm — decided to stop. The biggest disruption was in transport. The lack of Christchurch Transport Board buses meant that many workers took taxis to go to a job their unions had told them not to do. The withdrawal of buses also brought a backlash from the drivers, many of whom were highly critical of union officers who ordered them from work without reference either to the membership or the full management committee. In spite of newspaper and radio publicity that the buses would not run, more than 100 drivers turned up at the depot yesterday morning to sign on. Would-be railway passengers appeared to find alternative transport without difficulty, and air services ran as usual.

Watersiders at Lyttelton stopped work, but they tied up two arriving ships and unloaded the luggage of the 151 passengers and 39 cars from one of them, the intelisland ferry, Rangatira. Lyttelton Harbour Board employees, who held a stopwork meeting at 11 a.m„ decided to return to work at 1 p.m. No P.S.A. directive Another of the big unions, the Public Service Association, made no directive to members, but endorsed the attitude of the Federation of Labour and offered strong

support to any groups of its' members who took direct | action of their own volition.; Not many did. Freezing works and the; Christchurch abattoirs re-i rnained shut, but they hadj been closed before the Trades Council instruction, and the 130 New Zealand seamen at Lyttelton met and voted to continue the stoppage they; began on Monday evening. | Another union which had; difficulties in communication; was the General Drivers’; Union, which was unable to I get its members off the road until about mid-moming. 1 This union will hold stop-i work meetings today to de-1 cide whether to prolong its stoppage. Bars close

For many who did stop work in answer to the council’s instruction, it was a dry day. The Canterbury branch executive of the Hotel Association met early yesterday and advised its members to close all bars and bottle stores. Telegrams were sent to 140

I hotels, and the Canterbury president (Mr A. F. G. McGregor) followed this up with ■calls to hotels which had not followed this advice. There I were some exceptions in the city later in the evening as licensees and their immedi|ate families opened bars for I “regulars," and the Lyttelton hotels were for the most part jfull by the time thev received | the association’s telegram. (They stayfed that way.

Rubbihli collection

I Christchurch rubbish collections today are dependent on the drivers’ stop-work 'meetings finishing on time. In any case, only half a day I will be worked, so that it is i unlikely a double collection I will be possible to pick up I rubbish not collected yesterday. The Waimairi County Council hones to make a double collection tomorrow. The Christchurch City Council has no plans for a collection today but will make a double collection sometime next week.

j The Riccarton Borough Council may have a half day’s collection; the Heathcote County Council will review the situation this morning; and the Paparua County Council hopes to make a double collection today.