WELLINGTON WATERSIDERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 May 1936, Page 5

WELLINGTON WATERSIDERS

AN IDLE DAY. [per press association.] WELLINGTON. May 6. Apart from the handling of mails and passengers’ baggage, no work was done to-day on the Wellington waterfront, which presented a holiday appearance. Heavy rain, which ordinarily would have delayed the work, coincided with the holding of the monthly stop-work meeting of , the Wellington Waterside Workers’ I inion. Consequently, no cargo work was done at any of the ships in port. The watersiders’ agreement with the shipping companies provides for the holding of the monthly stopwork meeting of two hours, normally from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. This morning’s meeting lasted until about 3 p.m. The conclusion of the meeting coincided with the cessation of the rain, but all the ships remained idle. , .

It was proposed by the shipping companies’ representatives that work should be started and overtime worked to-night. The men then had a further discussion, and later they notifie dthe employers that no work would be done. The only departures from Wellington to-day were the inter-island steamers Tamahine for Picton, Wahine for Lyttelton, and Arahura for Nelson. SETTLEMENT ACHIEVED. WELLINGTON, May 7. The Secretary of the Wellington Watersiders announded, this morning, that the offer received by the Union yesterday had been accepted, subject to confirmation by the New Zealand Watersiders’ Federation. He did not disclose the terms of the offer, but said that he was of opinion there would be no further cause for complaint. Ho added that the allegations of a go-slow policy were hardly fair, as the men had ben working abnormally last ... time, and had merely reverted to normal working conditions. The weather had also been responsible for much of the delay. The men had certainly been dissatisfied at the tardiness shown regarding the restoration of the cuts, and no offer had been received till yesterday afternoon.