TUNNELLING DISPUTE

Northern Advocate, 12 June 1931, Page 4

TUNNELLING DISPUTE

SETTLEMENT REACHED. RE-START UNDER PROTEST. (Special to “Northern Advocate.”) WELLINGTON, This Day. After a period of eight weeks, the trouble with the tunnellers on the Tawa Flat deviation has ended. The Government’s ultimatum that, if the men did not resume work, others would be engaged to take their place, expired yesterday, when the Tawa Flat branch of the New Zealand Workers’ Union held a meeting to consider the position. The meeting lasted more than three hours and in the afternoon the authorities were again approached by representatives of the, men. | The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G, W. Forbes, stated last evening that the men had agreed to go back to work at the Government’s rate of pay, and that the Public Woks Department had given them until mid-day tomorrow to sign new contracts. The agreement to resume was conditional upon the stoppage of work during the last few weeks not constituting a break in the men’s service for holiday purposes, and also upon an inspecting engineer being sent around the several jobs to check up on the reduced rate for the work. Both conditions had been agreed to. The general secetary of the New Zealand Workers’ Union, Mr. Arthur Cook, said it had been decided to sign the revised contracts under protest and return to work subject to the I conditions mentioned by the Prime Minister., “The men are still of opinion,” said Mr. Cook, “that the rates are low and that the cuts imposed upon them are neither fair nor equitable. Their acceptance of the department’s rates and conditions in no way indicates the men’s satisfaction ”