IDLE TRAWLERS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 192, 11 May 1937, Page 11

IDLE TRAWLERS

t Members of Shore Staff To Be Put Off FISHERMEN’S DISPUTE For ten days the trawlers Nora Niven and Futurist have been lying idle in Wellington harbour. At the end 1 of this week a large number of the fac--3 tory and retail staff of New Zealand 8 Fisheries Limited will also be out of , work until the dispute, which has l arisen concerning the rate to be paid for gutting, has been settled. There ’ are four deck hands on each ship, and 8 these men are the only ones affected, i “These men are willing to resume a work under pur arrangement,” said 1 Mr. R. S. Atwood, managing director 5 of New Zealand Fisheries Limited, when interviewed yesterday, “but it is t the union officials who are stopping them.” The ships have been kept idle 1 as no agreement has been reached bej tween the union and the employers and f no decision can be reached until the > Acting-Prime Minister, Hon. P. Fraser, ’ who is also Minister of Marine, has - considered the case. f “For the last ten days,” said Mr. Ali wood in a statement issued yesterday, 1 “these two deep-sea trawlers, which i supply the local market with their I regular catches, have been idle pending . the interpretation of a clause in their > award which reads as follows :■ — “ ‘ln the event of the employer re- • quiring fish to be gutted or cased on ’ board the matter shall be subject to > arrangement between the employer and : the union.’ J “The employers contend that this i clause is irrelevant to the existing conL ditions of work which have been in [ operation for more than thirty years. - “Four fishermen, deck-hands, on each ; trawler are the only members of the crews of ten affected by this clause in ■ the award. > “In the past it has been the custom to 1 pay deck-hands a weekly or monthly . wage plus a bonus on the catch of fish i as a consideration for the gutting and t casing of the fish on board the vessels. “Owing to recent legislation the ' crews were compelled to join up with [ the Sailors and Firemen’s Union, and i applied to the court for a separate . award to govern the particular work , of these two trawlers working out of > the port of Wellington. For years prior , to this award deck-hands have received i a weekly wage and bonus of £5/7/2, . plus the value of their keep, which is , 20/- a week; thus they receive an ; amount equal to £6/7/2 a week. “Under their new award their ave- . rage weekly earnings were increased to . £6/4/9 plus 20/- for keep, an increase i of 17/7 a week. In endeavouring to . satisfy the demands of the men and ; keep the industry going, the company . has offered to increase the bonus by ; 50 per cent., which is equal to an addi- ■ tional 14/4 a week, and makes the . men’s total earnings, including keep, £7/19/1 a week. “The men affected are willing to accept this offer, but the union officials will not allow them to resume work unless they are paid a further 14/4 a week. “The two trawlers employ 21 men, and these are now all out of work. The present position will also affect a large number of the shore staff engaged in the factory and retail shops because of the shortage of supplies, as the company has been forced to put off half its staff at the end of this week.”