A DEADLOCK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 30 November 1938, Page 11

A DEADLOCK

FREEZING WORKS DISPUTE men STILL IDLE AT WESTFIELD 1 NO RESULTS FROM CONFERENCE I Uniter! Press Associationl AUCKLAND. 29th November, i Conferences between representatives j of the men and management of the ! Westfield freezing works to-day failed , lo bring about a settlement of the men's j grievances and no work was done in j the slaughtering or other departments ; during the day by the usual staff. Hopes i that an adjustment would be reached i were nullified by the deadlock that en- j sued in the talks between the parties. | FARMERS VISIT WORKS ; cars, obviously from distant country 1 places, gave rise lo the Delict that tar- | mers were arriving to offer their ser- j vices in slaughtering and other work. ) No confirmation of this was available, i though a considerable number of far- j mers made calls of inquiry throughout j the morning. During the day staff employees and | several of the office staff assisted in killing and dressing fully 100 bobby calves and a number of pigs held over from Monday. That class of stock could not be held over indefinitely. Fat lambs were not handled, and are being fed at the works. Staff hands also carried out the loading of chilled beef from cool stores for shipment by the Port Townsville, now taking cargo at Auckland in preparation for departure on Saturday. SERIOUS EFFECTS The serious effects of the holdup of i slaughtering were admitted by the j management, though it declined to com- j ment on suggestions that an early en- i cieavour would require to be made to j handle large numbers of fat lambs be- J ing held on farms. The capacity of the j works plant is fully 9000 lambs daily, j and the peak of the killing season is almost at hand. One of the visiting farmers said that lambs, unlike other classes of stock had to be handled at specific times, otherwise the weight and bloom of the carcase would not be of the quality and grade desirable for the Home market. Even a few days’ delay would substantially affect the selling value of the carcase. It was officially stated to-day that the j Federation of Labour was not concerning itself with the dispute and that no outside parties had taken part in the developments.