Political Labour Action In Carpenters’ Dispute

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 March 1948, Page 2

Political Labour Action In Carpenters’ Dispute

(P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day.

The Government’s stand in the carpenters’ dispute threatens to be carried from the industrial field into the political field, and developments are expected next week. A special meeting of the North Canterbury Labour Representation Committee will be addressed next Tuesday evening by the Prime Minister (Mr P. Fraser) and the Minister of Labour (Mr A. McLagan). The information that the Ministers will address the committee was given at the usual meeting of the committee last evening. An invitation to the Prime Minister to. give an address to the committee was extended before the carpenters’ dispute developed. It was then thought he would speak on international and domestic problems. It was made clear to the L.R.C. last evening that the addresses will be on the subject of the carpenters’ dispute, and that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labour will speak frankly to those members of the Labour Party organisation, who have not been in support of the Government s course of action in dealing with the New Zealand Carpenters’ and Joiners’ Union over the union’s stopwork policy to enforce its demand for the payment of lid an hour above the wage of 3s 7d fixed by the Arbitration Court. An ultimatum has been delivered to the L.R.C. that the Ministers expect those opposed to the Government’s attitude to make their charges known at the meeting. . The challenge to those associated with the political Labour organisation to face the Ministers is being interpreted as a forerunner of a demand that disciplinary action must be taken within the Labour movement against those who have openly opposed the Government’s actions and methods in the handling of the carpenters’ dispute.

WANGANUI “BLACK” BAN LIFTED (P.A.) WANGANUI, March 11. . An announcement was made this morning by the president of the Wanganui branch of the Carpenters Union (Mr W. Moore) that the “black” ban which had been placed on the two houses in the city concerning which there had been a prosecution had been lifted by a decision of the executive of the branch last evening. , , . He said a decision had been made not to proceed with an appeal against the fine, and in view of this the executive of the branch had decided that the ban be lifted. The firm to which the “black” ban applied had six houses under construction.