DISPUTE OVER CHAINS

Evening Star, Issue 25084, 27 January 1944, Page 3

DISPUTE OVER CHAINS

BELFAST FREEZING WORKS IDLE (P.A.) OHBJBTOHUROH, Jan. 26. A dispute over the number of men to be employed on the chains at the freezing works of Messrs Thomas Borthwick and Son, Belfast, resulted in the men refusing to man the works to-day. This evening officials of the company stated that there was no immediate prospect of a settlement of the dispute, which arose over the company's wish to place 35 men on each chain instead of 35 ou one and 30 on the other. The management stated that before the opening of the season certain men were engaged to work on the chains. They were engaged through the man power authorities. When the works started on December 14 only one chain of 38 men was working, but with the resumption of killing on January 4 a second chain was employed, but was not fully manned because certain men were not available at the time. Before killing began the company had arranged for the full manning of the chains in order to deal with the work in a normal way, and some of these men had now arrived to take their places on the chains. The men, however, objected to the number of men on the second chain being increased from 30 to 35 until there was an increased quantity of stock for killing. The award the company stated, gave the company the right to man each chain with up to 35 men, and with a greater number if agreed to by the union. The output of the works could not be dealt with adequately with less than 35 men on each chain. The secretary of the Freezing Workers' Union, Mr H. G. Kilpatrick, agreed that the company's position set out the position fairly and accurately. The point in dispute was that the men considered that the amount of stock offering at the present time did not warrant the extra men being employed on the second chain. The men stated, Mr Kilpatridk added, that work was very slack, and they" considered that the company had a duty to conserve man power by making the maximum use of the number' of men at present available. The more men who were employed, of course, the smaller the share of the pool to each slaughterman for a given quantitv of work. _____________