TALLY-CLERKS' DISPUTE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2016, 25 March 1914, Page 5

TALLY-CLERKS' DISPUTE.

STATEMENT BY UNION PRESIDENT The president of tho Tally. Clerks' Union (Mr. E.. V. Foucard), in the course of a longthy statement, in reply to Mr. W. A. Kennedy, with reference to the tally clerks' dispute, says:— "Mr. Kennedy has apparently authorised the uso of his name to allow tho public mind freedom from wrong impressions concerning the Shipping Federation's action in refusing to discuss further and bring to an amicable agreement the text of their-proclamation that they prefer to deal with a body of men under tho Arbitration Act, as they are doing with the Merchant Service Guild, a very respectable body of men. "Mr. Kennedy, with all due respect to what he has haid, is, after all, only voicing what he has gathered from biased sources, actually in his or other firms' employ—and, on our sido of the question, speaking for myself of my own experiences, there are at tho present moment considerably over 100 tally clerks, say, 110, who have each and all been employed on the wharves during the past few months; not every day, for thero is not the work to go round, and they find odd jobs elsewhere. Out of this number about forty aro said to havo signed one petition, whilst thirtytwo of that forty signed another similar petition. Now, that thirty-two or forty is composed approximately thus :— Agents of firms who tally, 2; head clerks who. do not tally, 2; "head clerks who do tally, 10; permanent casuals, 20; bona-fide casuals, 6: total, 40. 'Including meat companies.

"These men enjoy the use of a Wellington Harbour Board room on tho wharf as old hands, although some are as Tocent as eighteen months or'two years, but have a relation there before, as the reason. Among that forty tho first, fourteen hold complete sway over tho balance —that is, do my bidding in one haiul, your wages arc in the.other, and f there's where tho tail wags the dog. "The balance of 110 men are . just made a convenience of, as the abovementioned close corporation .or agents feel disposed to employ them, and are, therefore, a .constantly-migrating body of men for the greater part." Mr. Fouchard cites several cases which," ho claims, support the statement he has made, and he proceeds: "At the first conciliation meeting the leaders of Olio. petition stated that they looked to preference of employment because they only earned their living as'tally celrks; find that samo day and several followiuf; days-ho was roported to be working at Messrs. Bing, Harris and Co.'s. '■'■ I may here mention" that all those forty men, with'few exceptions, take" any racecourse, stocktaking, polling-booth jobs that offer annually; they make a regular practice of this; % and relationship counts every time in many of thcßO preferential employments, even to the meat company's agent on tallying. '"Mr. Kennedy omits to say that, at tho private conference in his office on February 27, ho was allowed Captain Stott's practical assistance without any opposition from'our side, because wo wanted to do.the fair thiiVJfand desired to put no obstacles in their way, whereas, knowing the Arbitration Court was Fitting, it would have been kinder on tho' Shipping Federation and their assessors' sides to have told us then, and helped us to go to the Court at once whilst here, instead of putting tho same off until too lato. "Meantime my services have been ignored dny by day,'even when the Now Zealand Steam ■ Shipping Company's agont is actually looking for men, as on tho Kaikoura last week, when, after oferinp; my services twice they engaged another man, and had to pay him ■ off after half an hour, the chief engineer having engaged a nian himself who was just previously with me. Tho publit, nnd perhaps some of the shipping comjanios, do not even yet know tnat, after working about three years as a permanent casual to a certain company, I was turned down by their representative on the wharf because he had heard I was backing up the waterside workers. My denial brought the reply that ho had heard all'he wanted to hear.

"Yet there are head clerks on these wharves who do things that no firm would tolerate for a moment, but, single-banded, no man can rectify, becauso tho firms encourage no confidence among tho men 'themselves, hence the formation of a 'union,' and, to use ono of the forty's own expression, 'their game-will bo goosed. .

■ "Seeing that wo have, as stated at tlie outset, no grievances w'ltn- the shipping companies, but desired to arrange for ourselves a definite time and placo for engagements, rates of pay on a uniform basis, and to protect . ourselves from being victims to social, religious, or political influence, excluding, if necessary.' the head clerks and permanent casuals whom the shipping representatives themselves admit hare no right to pick all' the plums by transferring to any but their own company'B steamers, public opinion might to bo placed in possession of both eides of the ques'tiou.">