REFUSAL TO WORK

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 26, 30 July 1940, Page 9

REFUSAL TO WORK

THE MONTEREY CASE

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

CONFUSED ORDERS

Facts elicited by the Waterfront Control Commission in its investigation into the refusal of Auckland waterside workers to continue the loading of the American liner Monterey after 6 p.m. on Saturday, which resulted in cargo being left behind when the ship sailed for Suva, were stated today by the chairman of the commission, Mr. R E Price, on receipt of a report from Captain Stanich, waterfront .controller at Auckland. Mr. Price said that the men were engaged to start work at 11 a.m. on the arrival of the Monterey, which had been delayed in the Tasman. The union's representative and the two wharf superintendents were advised by the company that loading would be completed by 5 p.m. and that there would be no need for extended hours to be worked. During the afternoon a request was made for the men to work until 6 p.m. to finish the loading, and they agreed to do so. At 4.30 p.m. the timekeeper approached the gangs in the big hatches and asked them to knock off at 5 p.m. and return at 6 p.m. This the men refused to do. It appeared to him from the report that if the company had given an order in the forenoon for even one or two of the five gangs to work after 6 p.m. there would have been no difficulty, said Mr, Price. Further, had the waterfront controller or either of the wharf superintendents been advised that there was a doubt about the men not working late appropriate arrangements could have been made, but for some reason neither Captain Stanich nor the wharf superintendents were consulted. The company had been insistent that the men would finish about 5 p.m or 6 p.m., and they had not anticipated any necessity for working extended hours. The reason why notice of intention to work cargo after 6 p.m. on Saturdays was required during the forenoon was to enable the men to advise their homes druing the lunch hours that they would not be home for tea. It also enabled men who had made prior arrangements for Saturday night to notify the bureau so that they could be replaced. In the case of the Monterey the men had no knowledge when they started work in the morning that they would be required to work extended hours; in fact, they were told that they would not be called upon to work such hours. Mr. Price added that the report did not indicate the full circumstances of the loading and a further report had been asked for. The rate of loading in two of the hatches appeared to be slow, but there might .have been special reasons. In other hatches the men • had done exceptionally good work, accffrding to the stevedore. In one case overloading of slings had carried the gear away, with a consequent delay of half an hour.

The cargo left on the wharf consisted of 200 sacks of hides and 50 sacks of meat casings.