Aucklanders Get One Day’s Bread To Last Over Week-End

Northern Advocate, 4 January 1946, Page 4

Aucklanders Get One Day’s Bread To Last Over Week-End

(P.A.) AUCKLAND, This Day. Queues were formed outside Auckland bakers’ shops this morning as a result of the decision of bakery employees to work, a five-day 40-liour week, excluding Saturday work. Many prospective customers were turned away empty-handed, as only the normal Friday’s supply of bread was baked last night.

Most shops had nothing left to offer by the middle of the morning. To many people this meant that there would be no bread for three days—-to-day, Saturday and Sunday. The secretary of the Baking Trades’ Employees’ Union (Mr F. H. Bourke) said this morning that men were prepared to bake sufficient bread for the week-end, but the master bakers would not allow them to do this on Thursday. Therefore, only one day’s supply was baked, after which the men were knocked off. LEGAL POSITION

“The present unfortunate deadlock and its result in an acute public inconvenience is not the Master Bakers’ seeking. The legal and constitutional position at present is that a 40-hour week is already in operation and the industry is legally working to it, except that the hours are spread over six days." said the Vice-President of the Master Bakers’ Association (Mr H. P. Burton). “The men have refused to work on Saturdays and demanded a five-day week. The baking of bread on Fridays sufficient for a three-day week-end can be done only by working long hours for which the employers would have to pay overtime. ILLEGAL REFUSAL “The employers are not prepared to accept an illegal refusal of the men to work on Fridays and therefore there has been a normal day’s bread baked today. There will be no bread tomorrow. The matter is now one for the Government." Asked to comment on a suggestion that employees wished to bake three days’ bread last night, but were not permitted to do so, Mr Burton said the proposition had not been put to the association. So far, Hie question of submilting the dispute to arbitration had not been discussed.