The Watersiders.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XI, Issue 52, 15 February 1921, Page 5

The Watersiders.

OVERTIME WORK RESUMED. LOCK-OUT THREAT EFFECTIVE. NORMAL CONDITIONS AT WELLINGTON. [Per Press Association.] Wellington, Feb. 14. A change was reported to-night in the attitude of the waterside workers towards the question of overtime. Inquiries at the waterfront employment bureau this afternoon elicited the information that the employers had been informed that the men would be available for overtime if required. Tonight all vessels in port requiring it were being worked. LYTTELTON MEN ALSO RESUME. Christchurch, Feb. 14. Just as suddenly and with as little warning as they refused to work overtime on Friday night, the watersiders at Lyttelton resumed overtime to-night and all vessels for which there was labour were working. The resumption of overtime did not come as a surprise in shipping circles. There was much dissension among the men over the matter, the loss of the extra money earned at overtime being a sore point with many. AUCKLANDERS STILL DECLINE OVERTIME. Auckland, Feb. 14. The Auckland vaturside workers this afternoon declined to work after 5 p.m. The rate at which the men worked today was said to be an improvement on last week and tc be pretty well normal. As to what action the shipowners will take, the Auckland representative of one of the large companies said today: “We don’t know what vjill happen next. Everything is being done from the Wellington headquarters of the Shipowners’ Association.” ”ACTING INDIVIDUALLY.’' AN ABSURD SUGGESTION. TWO POINTS MADE CLEAR. Representatives of the waterside unions have stated that the refusal to work overtime is not a breach of the agreement, since the men who refuse the work are “acting individually.” The agreement provides that “no restrictions relating to overtime work shall be permitted to be made during the currency of this agreement.” It provides further that the executive of the Waterside Workers’ Federation (the national organisation) and the executive of the union shall “do all that is reasonably possible” to secure that members of the union shall accept work in the normal way. The employers believe that the letter as well as the spirit of the agreement is being violated by the men who are refusing overtime, and by the executives that are permitting this state of affairs to continue.

“The suggestion that the refusal to work overtime is not the act of the unions is absurd,” said a shipowner on Saturday. “I am surprised that any union officer should trouble to make such a statement. The facts are perfectly clear. The Waterside Union demanded a bonus. We offered them Id an hour, that is, the Arbitration Court rate, and they refused it. Now the unions are refusing overtime as a method of bringing pressure to bear upon the employers. The watersiders are simply trying to blindfold the public when they talk about ‘individual action.’

“There is another point that ought to be made clear. An ordinary trad,esman gets overtime pay for extra hours worked after he has completed his normal day’s work. But a waterside worker does not have to work eight hours at ordinary pay before he gets overtime. The agreement provides that ordinary time shall be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Work done between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. counts as overtime even if the worker does not begin work until 5 p.m. Then any work done between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. counts as special overtime. Tho work that requires to be done in the evening does not have to be done by men who started in the early morning, but the overtime rate is paid just the same. The waterside workers in the present case are not objecting to long hours of work. They are merely insisting, regardless of the necessities of the port and the shipping companies, that all work must be done between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. This means delaying ships at a cost of hundreds of pounds per day.”