NAVAL STRIKE

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1939, Page 5

NAVAL STRIKE

MORE PAY WANTED

BY MEN ON NI.Z. SHIPS.

(Per Press Association.—Copyright).

. . AUCKLAND, .Tune |3. „ Dissatisfaction with their rat .- of , ],»AiiUU : has? been . brewing for a among Dominion latmgs the New Zealand. .-, Division ;-<f: the liedi when about 5U> men from the cruisers “Leandeir,V?»and A'Archill&s 1 ’ and tlie depot ship “Philimel,’* 1 walked o’i their vessels. . 'They held a meeting of protest in one or the-base sheds, • It has been made clear ' thar, i -’e men hope for an early ’settlement bf the matter.

»,as reported. unofficially, this morning that ho work was being done, hut- it was later learned that the men returned to’ 1 work for a few minutes after luncheon time had elapsed. The men- are requesting ‘an increase of three shillings per day in the pay .for all of the ratings. ?lf no reply is icceivcd. ivitlhii a week, the men ’intend to hold a/fuftiier meeting. The men also' stated this only Nayy in the w6rld"whefe a social security payment was ’deducted from tlie men. { ’A’i further : iiieetirig isproposed for a‘few 'day s’’.'time 'desired'increase, in pay 1 is not obtained. ;| i ; Represeiitatidns by the. men were communicated to' the Commodore Commanding the New Zealand Squadron, Commodore Rivett-Carnac, and a report was later sent to tlie Minister of Defence, Ron. F. Jones. • The Commodore later, left for Wellington, ' where the position will be discussed to-morrow. In the last few days, the Commodore has been ill with influenza. The ratings paid him a high tribute lor going to the Base and giving attentoln to their representations. The meeting to-day was pre-arrang-ed. Immediately before' it was held, the men in the “Leander,” which is at present in dock for a refit, were called upon to continue with the cleaning of the ‘cruiser’s bottom. Instead of , doing so, the New Zealanders walked off their ship in a body. They went to the neaTby'shed. Here they were joined by a large group from the “Philomel,” and also by some of the New Zealanders of the “Achilels.” Other men from the “Achilles”, .however, were not able to do so. They said later, that a guard of the Royal Marines was stationed at the head of the gang-plank, after, a, comparatively ' <small number had left the ship. 1 i -Such meetings, it was stated, were not provided for under the Admiralty /regulations. In the (Navy service complaints or requests had to be made individually, and not collectively. They were fully aware of this, stated some’ of the men later. They said they would have hesitated to take the step decided enori if thev had not been-fully satisfied* of the justice of their claims. A spokesman for the men said that 4 other methods of obtaining better pay had:been tried in the past. Complete failure, had attended-their efforts, although; on at least two occasions, promises to have the matter attended to had . been made.

IMPERIAL RATINGS ATTITUDE.

AUCKLAND, June 19

Although a few of them attended, the Imperial ratings did not take part in the meeting. It was. stated, however, that the Imperial men have also been considering several matters concerning their pay. One of these is that they are called upon, in New Zealand to pay social security charges while they could not see the justice of paying the previous unemployment and then later r t jie employment levy. They said they' were eVen less inclined to pay .for-the cost of social security benefits, from which they did not expect to derive 'the lfehst benefit. GOVERNMENT INTENTIONS.

WELLINGTON, June 19

“The Government has, for some time been considering proposals for improving the allowance to the Naval Ratings in the New Zealand Division, ’ said Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, when invited this evening to comment on the disnu't'e at the Naval Base at Auckland. “These proposals' have already been framed and will be submitted to Cabinet within a day or two,” he added. ADMIRALTY WILL NOT COMMENT . (Independent Cables). ~ (Received this'day at' ’in'.)'‘ u! LONDON, June 19/ ' ■ declines to comment, on the" New Zealand' naval pay demand. ‘New Zealand lias a separate service with its own regulations. The Admiralty could not, "in these circumstances, give any opinion, it was stated.