Demonstration By Opponents Of New Carpenters’ Union

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 April 1949, Page 2

Demonstration By Opponents Of New Carpenters’ Union

(P.A.) AUCKLAND, April 27. There were disorderly scenes <at the Town Hall tonight when a special meeting of the Auckland Carpenters, Joiners, and Joiners’ Machinists’ Society passed a resolution applying for registration as a union under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Amid a torrent of abuse from a crowd of about 200, including a number of. prominent Communists' gathered outside the Queen street doors, about 400 men were admitted to the hall. Although membership cards were carefully scrutinised at the entrance, a noisy group of supporters of the deregistered section of the Carpenters’ Union gained entry and made a determined bid to break up the meeting. After six men had been escorted from the hall by the police and 28 others had left at the request of the chairman the meeting proceeded almost without interruption. Under the watchful eyes of a fairly large contingent of police dispersed in the vicinity of the Town Hall, the crowd of Communists and supporters of the old union assembled outside long before the meeting was due to start. The opening of the doors at 7.30 p.m. was the signal for a vociferous demonstration which could be heard a considerable distance down Queen street and startled passengers in passing tramcars. Cries of “Scabs,” “Black-legs,” and “Remember Waihi” greeted members of the new society as they formed a queue at the request of the police and entered the hall in single file, showing their admission cards to scrutineers who had taken up their position just inside the doors. •Led by a girl under 10 years of age, a procession of a dozen women holding placards aloft marched up and down the footpath.. Some of the inscriptions on. the banners were: “Scab union destroys household allowances”; and “Support your union —don’t scab.” The placard carried by the little girl read: “Don’t let the kids down.” Among the demonstrators was Mr V. Wilcox, organiser of the New Zealand Communist Party. As 8 o’clock approached and more and more members of the new organisation marched resolutely up to the door the din grew louder, only to subside outside when the meeting began.