WATERSIDE WORKERS PROTEST: POLICE METHODS RESENTED

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 July 1947, Page 4

WATERSIDE WORKERS PROTEST: POLICE METHODS RESENTED

Because a waterside worker is to appear at the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of attempted, theft of cargo, the Lyttelton branch of the Waterside Workers’ Union, at its monthly stop-work meeting yesterday, decided on a ma-? jority 'vote that no work would -be done on the' waterfront : .on that day. The circumstances leading up to this action are that some weeks ago a case of garments was found open in the hold of a coastal vessel. A detective is said to have concealed himself in the hold during the lunch hour and watched the watersiders working until, on some of the cargo being shifted, he was discovered. It was as a result of what he was alleged to have seen that the charge was laid.

The action of the men in deciding not to work on Monday is in the nature of a protest against the method used by the police on this occasion. Some of the men expressed their, intention of attending the Court to watch the proceedings. INFANTS’~CLOTHING PILLAGED FROM OVERSEAS VESSEL (P.A.) DUNEDIN, July 10. When goods consigned to a Dunedin firm were taken into store on Tuesday it was found that a case had been pillaged and infants’ all wool, frocks to the value of £3OO, as well as babies’ christening robes, valued at £9O, had been stolen. The case was part of the consignment in the ship Tower Hill, and the pillaged case was among others which contained goods that are in short supply in the city. Only about a half dozen children’s frocks remained in the case in the original cartons.

“It seems that the pillagers know what goods are in short supply, and concentrate on them,” said the manager of the firm. “The most unfortunate aspect of this loss is that the goods were being eagerly awaited by mothers in the city.” Chief-Detective T. Y. Hall said that a small quantity of the goods of the type pillaged had been found on the ship in the course of a recent police raid.