SETTLEMENT MOVE IN TEKAPO DISPUTE

Grey River Argus, 19 February 1949, Page 5

SETTLEMENT MOVE IN TEKAPO DISPUTE

TIMARU, Feb. 18

The strike of 22u men on the Lake Tekapo hydro works continued today. It arose over the dismissal of two men by the acting engmeer-in-charge for not doing .work which they considered was outside the scope of their engagement with the P.W.D. It is understood that the dispute arose from an instruction by the act-ing-engineer in charge of the project (Mr Brickell) to two men to clean out the Y.M.C.A. hut. According to unconfirmed reports the first man told to clean the hut said he was ill. Mr Brickell told him ito see the doctor and if the doctor considered him to be too ill for the work he would find a lighter job for him. A second man was then told to clean the hut. When the job was not done the man was suspended. A union meeting was then held and it was decided that no further work would be done on the project until the men were reinstated. At a stop-work meeting a motion was carried uanimously, that no man on the job will start work until the two men are reinstated. It was further decided “that this meeting pass a vote of no-confidence in the senior engineer.” , , At 9.30 p.m. on Wednesday a letter was delivered to the local secretary (Mr W. Harrison) and was signed by Mr Brickell on behalf of the resident engineer (Mr R. Deans Ritchie, who is on holiday). The letter stated that th? two men had been reinstated unconditionally and that the hours they had lost would be paid for. In the meantime the men had placed the dispute in the hands of the local organiser (Mr W. Dempster), who attended a meeting of the workers yesterday and asked the men to reconsider ’ the whole matter with a view to enabling negotiations to be held with the department. . A resolution was then carried by <?O4 votes to 12 in a secret ballot conducted by Mr W. D. Rodman. J.P., “that work' will be resumed immediately, if all authority in dealing with the’ men is removed from Mr BrickIt was agreed to allow all essential services to be maintained during the time of strike. Mr Dempster was deputed to convey all information concerning the dispute to the national president (Mr W. Wallace). It was impossible to-day to get in touch with the union officials at. Tekapo. The unionists have been instructed not to take any other employment. LATEST REPORT PA TIMARU, February IS. ‘The Minister of Works has left Wellington for Rangiora, and the engineer-in-chief of the Works Department, Mr F. Langbein, who was again communicated with by ternphone to-night, said that he had nothing to say about the strike' at Tekapo hydro-electric development woiks, involving about 220 men. . In the meantime, the men are still out. and. according to information tonight, have received no reply to their demands as telegraphed to-day. It is understood that the dispute arose over the refusal of two men to scrub out the Y.M.C.A.. This job it is stated, was done by two women to-day.