Wharves Idle For Second Saturday

Northern Advocate, 7 December 1946, Page 4

Wharves Idle For Second Saturday

(Special)

Seventeen overseas and coastal ships lay idle alongside Auckland’s congested wharves today. For the second Saturday since the union decided to work only 40 hours a week the watersiders declined Saturday work.

Yesterday a total of 1490 union and 250 non-union workers were employed and it is estimated these workers have lost approximately £7OOO in gross earnings by refusing overtime in the past week. Wellington manufacturers were seriously disturbed over the tonnage of manufactured goods lying at factories and stores awaiting shipment, said the president of the N.Z. Manufacturers' Federation (Mr W. J. Truscott) yesterday. PEOPLE SUFFER Thousands of New Zealanders in one centre or another were going without goods, which had been produced but could not reach the public. Many people were being deprived of footwear, clothing, breakfast and other foodstuffs and other items needed to meet community demands. Storage problems were also becoming embarrassing to certain manufacturers, while the hold-up of raw materials was prejudicing production and continuous employment. WAIT AND SEE Whether the watersiders will pursue more direct steps to press claims for a guaranteed daily wage, increased wages, improvement of amenities and no Saturday morning calls, has not yet been considered by the national executive of the Watersiders’ Union, according to the national president (Mr H. Barnes), who returned from Wellington yesterday. He said the union’s immediate attitude was “wait and see” because it considered the next move should ecme from the employers. Mr Barnes added that if the employers were not prepared to make a move the union would maintain its attitude of refusing overtime and of working a 40-hour week, Monday to Friday. The union had not discussed the Prime Minister’s statement, and Mr Barnes said he had no comment to make. Conditions imposed on the watersider today belonged to the medieval ages, said Mr Barnes. EMPLOYERS REFUSED Mr Justice Ongley, he said, had given the employers the opportunity to have the matter remitted, but this had not been accepted. Hie watersiders had been prepared to accept such a move. The union representatives had pointed out that they had accepted recommittal of the meal-money question, gnd the commission’s decision on this point had been amended. In spite cf that the employers dug their toes in when Mr Justice Ongley was prepared to reopen consideration of the guaranteed wage. That was why the negotiations broke down. DIRECT ACTFON Having been unable to gain the whole of their claims by constitutional means, the watersiders had resorted to direct action, said the general secretary o; the New Zealand Waterside Employers’ Association (Captain M. T. Holm)’, in reply to Mr Barnes. “Reference by Mr Barnes to the effect that the' margin decided upon by the Court of Arbitration of 25 per cent above (be rate for general labourers no longer existed calls for comment." said Captain Holm. "The facts are that waterside workers were paid 25 per cent above the court’s basic wage rate for casual unskilled workers, and this basis was arrived at after taking into consideration the average hours worked each week at the four main ports by a substantial number of waterside workers.

"In December, 1924. the court again adopted the same basis when the return of hours of work of waterside workers averaged 35.64 hours a week, and, in order to allow waterside work-

AUCKLAND, This Day

ers to earn as much in 35.64 hours as a genera! labourer would earn if working 44 hours a week, the hourly rate of waterside workers was increased by 25 per cent above the genet al labourer. NOT CASUAL WORK

"Since then, the watersiders have been granted a number of conditions which improve their earnings, and returns of wages of waterside workers recently published by the Waterside Industry Commission show that the average wage earned by waterside workers throughout New Zealand is £lO/6(7 a week, and the average hours worked 413 a week. “It is clear, therefore, that the casualness of the work has been practically removed. "The wage rate of a waterside worker is one penny an hour higher than the award rate for skilled workers.