STATEMENT OF FEDERATION

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 27, 31 January 1917, Page 8

STATEMENT OF FEDERATION

CLAIMS AND THE CONFERENCE

DECENT .WELLINGTON

TROUBLES.

, The following • statement .concerning the waterside ; dispute was ,ma.de" to a Post reporter to-day :.'by. officials .of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Federation:— ■ ■' .:;;.';

At the outset, the • waterside workers ; are' not at all satisfied with the arrarige.mont of .the recent conference made by the employers. The-employers knew perfectly well that it would, mean' a great loss to the waterside workers' unions having delegates from the various'ports, and they could have -informed the secretary of the Waterside Workers'.Federation that they intended to .put the case before the Arbitration Court. The method! they adopted caused great inconvenience, and loss to the waterside workers by! bringing them from all ports in ■ New Zealand and then refusing to discuss in; any way the terms for a. new agreement. Regarding the waterfront in Wellingj.to'n, the officers of the, Wellington Union have made the following statement: — "THE .BLACK LIST." ! We are surprised indeed that at this stage in civilisation the employers are adopting such a proposal as the "black list," seeing that at the last conference they agreed that in future no victimisa-,' tion should take place along the waterfront of New Zealand. We regard their "black list" scheme as a. conspiracy between the employers to injure the water, side workers, and we would ask if the laws of this country permit of such a conspiracy being allowed to intimidate any section of the community.

THE 7.45 a.m. START. We wish to point out that over five months ago the employers were ap-, proached on • the question of 'amending: the hours of engagement of labour. The employers^ however, refused to discuss the. question, and the matter lia^ since been more or less the cause of serious discontent : ' amongst ■ the waterside workers. However, the men were at the labour stand at 8 a.m., the hour that, if men are engaged, their pay commences; and were willing to accept employment if the employers required; labour. No hardship would be imposed on the employers or the men, as generally the employers put on a large: number of men at 8 o'clock in'the morning. • The same applies at the midday call. The men were in attendance, and very few were engaged, though! there were a number of ships waiting:to be discharged or loaded at the wharves.

THE LUCKENBACH., !, Regarding the Luckenbach, the employers made an attempt to reduce the rates.of pay that the last agreement provides for in discharging oils. The men were quite within their rights in asking the rates of pay provided for in the : agreement. We hold that it was a distinct breach of agreement for the employers to discharge the men. It is as well to point put that this class of:work cannot be accepted by all members of tile union, as the fumes have a detrimental effect on' the, workers engaged in discharging benzine motor spirit. I Therefore a great' number of the man will not accept employment at this class" of work, as , they claim it is finjurious to their health. However, we can assure the agents of the Luckenbach that there are plenty of men available to discharge the steamer this morning, or at any future time, if they are required to do so. DUMPING CARGO. In respect to the matter of dumping cargo, we have to state that it is not the first time the men have refused, to dump cargo. Whenever the men have considered that it was exceptionally dangerous to life and limb they have protested against dumping operations, either in nets or slings. We ask tho public if the waterside workers are not justified in keeping to that axiom that' the preservation of life and limb 'is tho j first law of life and nature. Does the public of Wellington know what dumping, operations mean? The waterside workers; have always been the people who are' p blamed, for the smashing of cargoes on the waterfront. Dumping means that all classes of cargo and material, froih a candle-box, to a 'piano, and from a box of raisins to a 15cwt case, are being hoisted together in one big net. The resnlt is that the weaker or. fragile packages are smashed. We have often seen clothes pegs, pig iron, and other heavy- and weak .packages' hoisted together in very heavy lifts, and the least mishap occurring there is every possibility that one of the workers down in.the hold will meet with an accident. It can be safely said that numerous accidents on the waterfront- ajr Wellington have : b«fl due.: Jjjjjiiimian£ _er«rati,omu.

From the point of view of public health dumping should be immediately stopped. All classes of'cargo, including Hour, sugar, manure, cement, lime, raisins, fruit are dumped on the dirty wharves of the waterfront. Again, during dumping operations a number of packages get smashed in the hold, leaving an amount of material in the square of the hatch. When cle.-m cargo is being taken in in the same vessels foodstuffs come in contact with all objectionable kinds of cargoes. OVERLOADING OP NETS. Over-loading of nets with frozen meat when it is being loaded into Home-going vessels has been the cause of so many serious accidents that the workers are compelled in the interests of safety not to load nets so heavily as formerly. Only yesterday a worker e.;.ca.ped accident, by a very narrow margin through a shcop falling out of a meat bag through over-loading. ' IMPERIAL MEAT.

An effort has been. made ' by the employers to establish a case 11) n.t the waterside workers were refusing to load rrieat and other produce commandeered by the Imperial Government. In reply to tho statement we have to state tha.t the representatives of the waterside workers are willing to meet the representatives of the Imperial authorities, and we are sure that we can arrive at an agreement that will ensure the quick despatch of these ships. CLAIMS FOR INCREASES. Regarding the waterside workers' claims for increased wages and improved working conditions, as published in the press this morning (the Federation officials continued) the representatives of the men state definitely their wish to withdraw those claims altogether. The claims were forwarded to the employers on the understanding that it was entirely confidential matter, and further, at the opening of;the conference with the employers, i. resolution was unanimously adopted stating that any matter connected with, or arising out of the conference, would not be for publication without the consent of both parties. The waterside workers have given no authority for tho publication of their claims. Therefore, we regard the action of the employers as a breach of. faith. However, we would point out that the claims for wages are much below those demanded by the Sydney and Hobart Waterside Workers' Unions. The rates "claimed by the Sydney Union are 2s 6d an hour ordinary time, and 3s 9d an hour overtime. The rate's claimed by the Hobart waterside workers are 2s ■ 9d an hoar ordinary time and 3s 9d overtime. We think, then, that our proposals are, to say the least, moderate when we compare them with Sydney and Hobart. In conclusion, we would ask the shipping .companies to submit.their increased ra-te6 and freights since the commencement of the war, and'also their increased profits during that period, alongside our claims for increased wages and improved working conditions for the consideration of the Wellington public. ' We, will then leave it to the public to judge whether our claims are justified or otherwise.