DRIVERS' DISPUTE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 58, 10 March 1938, Page 6

DRIVERS' DISPUTE

LITTLE PROGRESS MADE

ASSESSOR WALKS OUT

Very little progress"was made with the drivers' dispute, in conciliation council yesterday. It was' the second day of the hearing and only one or two minor clauses were agreed to. The hearing is being continued today.

Relations between .the two parties became a little strained during one period of the proceedings. One of the proposals made by the employees was that "the secretary, or other representative, of the union shall be permitted to interview workers in working hours, but not* so as to interfere unreasonably with the operations of the employer concerned."

The employers' counter-claims included the provision "with consent of the employer (which consent shall not unreasonably be withheld)."

Mr. D. I. Macdonald; the employers' agent, said the employers' proviso was a necessary one. He had received a report that Mr. L. G. Matthews, an employees' assessor and secretary of the union at Auckland, had gone.into employers' premises without asking permission, and at times his visits bad been inconvenient.

Mr. Matthews took exception to this and asked that the statement be substantiated. He claimed that he had an undisputed right of entry without referring to employers.

Following some rather acrimonious discussion, during which he reiterated his demand for substantiation, Mr. Matthews left the meeting. The Conciliation Commissioner (Mr. S. Ritchie) called him back, but after a brief return Mr.' Matthews again left the meeting.

Two of the employers' assessors from Auckland said that they, had had inconvenient visits from Mr. Matthews, and that on no occasion had he asked for permission to talk to the men, and Mr. Macdonald remarked that he thought the employees were exaggerating the importance of the incident. The sooner they discussed proposals and not principles the better, he added. ; •