KOTEMAORI TUNNEL

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 183, 1 May 1929, Page 3

KOTEMAORI TUNNEL

‘‘KEEP AWAY FROM WORK!” UNION SECRETARY’S ADVICE Attention is drawn by a correspondent to the following notice recently published \ over the signature of a prominent trad* union secretary:— NOTICE TO TUNNEL WORKERS. Keep Away from Kotemaori Tunnel. Al’ men are warned against accepting work a,t above tunnel until further notice. ARTHUR COOK, General Secretary, N.Z.W.U. “In this advertisement,” the correspondent states, “the secretary of the New Zealand Workers’ Union conveys a remarkable illustration of the narrow vision of the workers. They profess to be . very anxious about employment of the workers, and here is a case where the general secretary of the New Zealand Workers’ Union advises them to keep away from the Kotemaori tunnel without giving any reason for it. The rate of pay that tbey are earning there is, I am creditably informed, 28s. to 30s. per djy. This is calculated upon the basis "of payments made for other tunnel work. Some gangs have already started, but there are not yet sufficient men employed to fully man the whole section. Some of the Public Works agitators want the Government to pay 425. per dav per man, and that, I am reliably informed, is why Mr. Arthur Cook, the general secretary of the New Zealand Workers’ Union, has advertised warning men against accepting work from the Public Works Department which would produce 28s. to 30s. per day per man. The above is the so_rt of thing that makes me determined to vote against any Labour candidate standing in connection with the present municipal election. although I have, on past occasions, frequently exercised my vote for them. In any other walk of life it would be looked upon ns hypocrisy to cry out about unemployment, and then to advertise warning men against accepting work that is expected to produce 28s. to 30s. per day per man.”