NEW CONDITIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 139, 13 June 1940, Page 11

NEW CONDITIONS

UNION REPLY TO MR. HAMILTON

The president of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Union, Mr. J. Flood, made the following statement today in reply to the Hon. A. Hamilton's protest against the order of the Waterfront Control Commission published in the "Evening Post" yesterday:—

"The attack made on the waterside workers by the Hon. A. Hamilton is unwarranted, particularly in view of the fact that the men in the industry have for some weeks past been working extended hours whenever they have been requested to do so by the Commission. The present is a time when every effort should be made to create unity of the people of New Zealand, and the Leader of the Opposition should be the last man in this country to do anything that would in any way interfere with New Zealand's war effort. In the first place, Mr. Hamilton is in error when he states that the rates granted are on a peacetime basis of 40 hours per week. There is no 40----hour week on the waterfront and never has been. The men offer their services to the industry from 8 o'clock in the morning till 11 p.m., or midnight when it is necessary, and in many instances they have worked long after midnight and are back on the job next morning at 8 o'clock. Surely Mr. Hamilton will admit that these long hours are a contribution towards New Zealand's war effort and a great service to the country by giving quicker dispatch to ships. "The increase in wages granted by the Commission is purely a wage adjustment which should have been given to the waterside workers nearly two years ago when their award expired. The decision of the Commission does nothing more than to restore to the workers in the industry the wage position which they had held for at least fifteen years. This increase in wages will not be an extra charge on the industry under the co-operative contract system of working, and in this connection we would refer Mr. Hamilton to his own port. The waterside workers will undertake a contract from the Waterfront Control Commission to load or discharge overseas vessels at the same rates per ton or per unit of cargo as paid to the stevedoring contractors at Bluff during the past two years. The work will be done under the supervision of the shipping companies' officers and to their satisfaction. The union will ;>ay to the men a higher rate per hour than that contained in the Commission's order and will also pay either to the National Patriotic Fund Board or to the Government for war purposes 5 per cent, of the total wages earned and at the same time give quicker dispatch to the vessels than has ever been given in the past. . There are at least two stevedoring contractors operating at Bluff Will Mr. Hamilton use his influence as a public man to get these contractors and the shipping companies to agree to this proposal. There will be no extra cost to the farmery to the shipping companies, to the Government, or the United Kingdom. Ships will get better dispatch, and 5 per cent, of the money earned will be paid to the National Patriotic Fund or to the Government. "A certain amount of gear will be required. This is now owned by the stevedoring contractors, ■ and could be purchased or hired by the waterside workers while they are performing the job. If Mr. Hamilton will only assist in a practical way such as I have suggested, he will be creating that unity of the people of New Zealand which is so desirable and necessary at the present time."

Mr. R. M. Macfarlane, M.P., arrived in Wellington from the south this morning,