PUBLICLY BURNED

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 137, 7 December 1922, Page 8

PUBLICLY BURNED

WATERSIDERS' AWARD

SACRIFICIAL " STOP-WORK "•

CEREMONY.

The opinion in •which the recent award of the Arbitration Court is held by the members of the Wellington Waterside Workers' Union was manifested at this week's " stop-work " meeting of the union, when a,copy of the award was burned in full, view of the meeting by authority of a, resolution carried by 'those present. ■

The occasion was the first ol the monthly " stop-work " meetings sanctioned by the award. A lengthy report was submitted by the officers of the union, outlining the reduction in wages effected by the award, and showing how conditions which- had operated on the various waterfronts of the Dominion for the past twenty years had been altered to the disadvantage of the watersiders. After many questions iconoernisg the award had been answored, the following motion was proposed by one /of tho members:—-

" That we, as members of the Wellington' branch of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Federation, do hereby publicly burn the award in the midst of bur members."

The motion having been carried, a copy of the award was produced and, in solemn silence, a match waß applied to tile document, which was consumed by fire in the course of a few minutes. " This course was taken with a' view of bringing before the notice of the public the unfair treatment received by the waterside workers in so far as the standard of wages sof by the Court is concerned,"- stated Mr. G. L. Glover, president of the Waterside Workers' Union, in supplying a " Post " reporter today with an official report of'the " stopwork " meeting. " The wage provided by the award makes it absolutely impossiblefor a man to keep his wife and family in any kind of decency at all. The wage, set out provides a standard which is 6d per week lower than what it costs to maintain a criminal in the gaols. In Bpeaking to the resolution to burn the award, one member remarked: 'We have been driven down to a standard of living whereby our children will be compelled to suffer, as wo will be unable to earn enough for their requirements.' " A deal of other business was tranacted at the meeting. The returning officer presented his report upon the ballot recently held on the question oit adopting the system of centralised control of labour on the waterfront. The scheme is likely to be put into operation shortly. It was reported that arrangements wer« well in hand' for holding a combined picnic of seamen, watersiders, and drivers m January, The watersiders' award provides that their picnic shall be held on the fourth Wednesday in January. This date will clash with the Wellington Racing Club's Summer Meeting, and it is possible that the combined picnic will be held on some other more suitablp date.

The annual conference of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Federation will be held in Auckland in the first wee^ in January, and it was decided that nominations for delegates from the Wellington Union shall close on - Saturday next at noon. The ballot for the selection of delegates will be conducted under the. preferential voting system on 15tl« December.

Matters in connection with the shipping hold-up were also dealt with by the meeting. \