WHO BREAKS FIRST? MEAT COMPANIES OR KILLERS?

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 27, 25 February 1913, Page 3

WHO BREAKS FIRST? MEAT COMPANIES OR KILLERS?

THE PARTIES' BATTLE FORMATION AN UNRESOLVED DEADLOCK. Haply this* is a time for a general and impartial leview of the dispute between the slaughtermen and the meat export companies. Events have moved so rapidly since the precipitation of the crisis that it may well be the general reading public hds become somewhat involved in its ideas as to how matters really stand as between the contending parties. When the Wumgawa tiled granted the •jOs per hundred, and extras,' it is an open secret that the men considered the trick hard to beat— nay, almost a winning one. Their triumph was short lived. f "Free" labour took charge at Gisborne some weeks since, and set all Ihe other sheds operating. Special in* ducemente were offered to volunteers and learners, and since -resuming,, the companies, without exception, have expressed themselves a 6 confidently satisfied with the tallies. The class of work in the killing and dressing was, they said, quite beyond expectations. The tide looked to be turned against the men, and then it transpired that every shed in the North Island contained expert slaughtermen, who had, by 6ome chance and at some direction, entered as "free" or as learners. When the time eeemedripe, the eecretaryof the Slaughtermen's Federation (Mr. M. J. R«ardon) made a bold statement, and on Saturday last over a score of men were dismissed the Gear shed at Petone. Previously, five unionists' had "discovered" themselves at Ngahauranga, and they, too, ■ cut off their Icgging6. And it is expected that it, is" only a matter of time when- the old killers will be shifted from the other sheds. This will mean, of course, that very soon the body of slaughtermen oa strike will be outside, while theirsubstitutes are heartening' up the companies with their work at tha boards. CLASH OF OPINIONS.. ' r fte argument at this date is: The companies declare they are obtaining excellent results from their new hands. The slaughtermen enter a point-blank denial. Each party, in ■ print and out of print, decries the other's methods of fighting. The companies declare for their principle, the men for theirs. The' companies are sanguine, having made such a good start and relieved the pressure on the Email farmers, of a decisive victory. The slaughtermen, out of 1 work, and earning nothing as a rule, are cheerful and jocular, awaiting results. The writer has talked with dozens of these killers, -and all, without exception, are light-hearted and careless as to when they went back — on their own terms. For (they say) they have been inside and seen what the "free" labour is actually doing. It is admitted by some that they were just a little despondent when they heard and read of the reports from the sheds, but, on their own . word (and it looks good), the late eviction at Petone has stiffened ' the waverers, who are content to allow the companies to persevere with their fresh hands. The Farmers' Union Advocate (as quoted in The Post yesterday) is of the editorial opinion that " the trouble will not be over until at least a portion of the regular slaughtermen go back to work," and expresses gratification at the knowledge that "the losses to the farmers, are being minimised by the employment' of 'free labour.'.' Th« men's federation may draw it| own in ference from the^ editorial opinion. WHY THE SOUTH -WAVERED. ti Telegrams Worn the'Spu'th island Kav« ihdicajted ', a wavering v in the,, ranks of the killers, who "showed' signs of becoming restive. It, is well known, that the half-crown. advance offered by the companies meant much more to the Southerners than, to the men in the .North Islandjj particularly so, does this apply'to the butchers formerly employed at the ty?o ' local works. It' is' agreed on all sides that the general conditions and conveniences for the -roien at Petdriei.aud Ngah'auranga are well, ahead of at least a majority of the principal sheds across the Strait. Hence, iri part, the indecision in tho South.. But that., wavering has been quelled, at least in* Canterbury. The opinion has been given out that even if the Soutth Island slaughtermen broke away there would be 'no- panic in the ranks in this - island. And the- chief reason proffered is that the ordinary men have- been able ,foj obtain a first-hand idea of • what " free "-■ labour- is Certain of those ' ' sacked "- from both Petpne and Ngahauranga are positive. in their declaration that, excepting- a small bunch in each shed, the men employed cannot do the work • satisfactorily. As against this, the companies are not disconcerted in the slightest. They did not hesitate to pay off the experts who operated on the "slow-stroke" principle, and generally , they : are as confident as the men. It surely is, a. stubborn battle. MORE CO-OPERATIVE SHEDS SUGGESTED. Meanwhile Waingawa, which has been somewhat overlooked of late, is keeping over two dozen expert butchers going "eyes out." Tallies reported- give -a day's output at well over 2000 <a?cases, all export meat. The killers- there, r it is stated, are making- a special effort to turn out bodies "as white, as a starched colhu.%" and Waingawa will be, disappointed if its i mutton and lamb "do not' top , the market for, New Zealand. Mr. Cooper, the managing director,' has stated through the press that'the extra 5s per 100 would mean but £200 added' to "the season's wages bill. The Slaughtermen's Federation opines that one of the outcomes of the present dispute will' be the demand for more co-operative meat expoit works. The companies arc not moved one jot by the opinion. .The stock is ripening, fast-*— is it ripening too fast for the substitute 'butchers who are pleasing • their employers? The slaughtermen are pleasing— themselves. Which party can the longer stand the loss?