135 Industrial Stoppages Reported

Northern Advocate, 26 September 1946, Page 4

135 Industrial Stoppages Reported

(Special) WELLINGTON. This Day. For the year ended March 31 there were 135 industrial stoppages involving lost time equivalent to 56,460 working days, compared with 147 stoppages involving 44,565 days in the previous year.

These figures are given in the annual report of the Department of Labour, tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday. There were 60 disturbances in the mining industry, 28 in the freezing industry and 14 in the shipping and waterfront industry. Of the 60 disturbances in the coalmining industry 43 lasted only one day or less, 22 of these being in respect of those days upon which a stop-work meeting had been held in the morning. Ten other disputes were for two days. §? 1 Of the remaining stoppages the principal were: 103 men. stopped for five days because of a dispute between a bus proprietor and the workers, who alleged that a certain driver was incompetent; 300 men stopped for three days because of a dispute regarding rate of payment for Labour Day; 200 men stopped for three days as a protest against delay in installing electrical equipment; 210 men stopped for four days because of a dispute over tonnage rates, and 270 men in another mine ceased work for two days in sympathy. FREEZING INDUSTRY

Only four of the 28 disturbances in the freezing industry exceeded one day in duration, and of these only two exceeded one and a half days. Sixty men stopped for two days and 283 for one day because of a shortage of chain slaughtermen. A stoppage of work affecting 121 men for three and a half days occurred in freezing works in the Auckland and Gisborne districts as a result of a demand by the engineers in the freezing works for certain conditions prescribed by the freezing workers’ award and for a sufficient increase in wages to maintain the margin previously existing between the tradesmen and the freezing works’ labourers. THE WATERFRONT In the waterfront and shipping industry six of the 14 stoppages were for longer than one day, two of these being for two days and one for three days. Because of the refusal of winchmen to transfer to other work when a gear gang was converted to a crane gang, 116 men stopped for four days. A stoppage of three and a half days affecting 230 men took place at Port Chalmers, the dock and repair workers desiring to be brought under the scope of the Waterfront Control Commission Emergency Regulations, 1940. Following the dismissal of a worker a “go slow” policy was instituted in Auckland on October 10. For 11 days 150 men were affected and for six days 1260 men were involved.