MANY STOPPAGES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 30 November 1938, Page 12

MANY STOPPAGES

INDUSTRIAL TROUBLES 30 CASES IN YEAR j VARIOUS TRADES AFFECTED j An exceptional number of labour dis- ' putes involving the stoppage of work I has developed in a variety of trades in j New Zealand each month since January. Of more than 30 such occurrences, with j their consequent delays, Auckland has i had a major share (states the “Her- j aid”). | Dissatisfaction as a result of delays j in the issuing of awards, and also with j the provisions of awards once they have I been issued, has been prominent as a j cause of disputes leading to stoppages, j In addition there has been a large num- j ber of disp-ites between employers and' employees which has resulted in work j being stopped and plants becoming idle. STATE ENTERPRISES INVOLVED Work has been stopped for'varying! periods this year in different parts cf' the Dominion in the freezing, mining' and various manufacturing industries, i on the waterfront, on board ships and ! in factories and wo kshops. Slate en- i terprises have not been exempt and ; there have been stoppages on different public v-orks enterprises a well as the j recent and major delays at the Otahuhu I railway workshops, and time lost in State mines in the South Island. J Recent weeks have produced an almost endless succession of decisions ; to stop work, strikes and labour disputes. Following frequent delays caused by the stoppage of work on ships at ports in various parts of New Zealand, a crisis developed on the waterfront at Auckland on 3rd November. As a result of the refusal of watersiders to handle cargo on two- ships unless certain claims were settled, the employ- ' ers decided that no further labour would be engaged until the ships were worked. A deadlock ensued and until the dispute was settled and the men resumed on 14th November, thousands of tons of shipping, as well as some 1500 Auckland waterside workers, were idle. THE FREEZING INDUSTRY i Freezing industry delays arising out of disputes began as early, as January, when freezing works at Belfast. Canterbury. were idle for a day. There was a two-hour strike at the same works in May, and on 19th August over 600 cm- ; ployees at Westfield refused to start working as a result of objections to thej dressing-room accommodation. Work was resumed after a delay of three! days. Over 1600 employees of the Otalnihu railway workshops stopped work at the beginning of November, as a result of an industrial dispute. At about the same time. 150 members of the Auckland Glass workers’ Union employed at Penrose stopped work for two days. MINING OPERATIONS DELAYED The mining industry, usually productive of a number of delays each year, lived up to its reputation. !n Janauyr there was a hold-up at the Martha Goldmmmg Company s Waihi mine, and at the end of the same month the Renown collieries were idle for a day. The MacDonald and Glen Afton coal mines were not worked on I"U clays early in February, and before! the month was out the Rolowaro mine and the Liverpool Slate mine hail each I lost two days. More serious hold-ups occurred in March. Following two days' delay at Kamo about the middle of the month, the ftenown collieries again became idle, and Ihitowaro, Glen Aflnn. MaeDonald and Wilton were m a similar plight for about a week late in March There was a stoppage at Pukemirn on Ist April, and later in June six South-! land mines, (lie Linton. Wairaki. Moss- j bank. Black I,ion, Black Diamond an I Birchwood were not worked for several I days, about -IOU men being involved n i a dispute over the period for winch an! agreement should hold good. The James and Liverpool stale mines were slopped for several days early in August, and Pukejniro was idle I for another day that month. The West- 1 purl Coal Company’s mine at Millerloo was idle for about a fortnight at the beginning of the present month, and i Rolowaro has also been stopped for one day in November. SERIES OF DISPUTES i Three public works disputes, all in |

the South Island, occured at intervals, < and in Auckland there was a hold-up when a difference developed between a baker and his staff of drivers. Shipping disputes, resulting in the refusal of the crews to take the craft to sea, occured

on several occasions, a number developing in Auckland. They were, however, mostly isolated instances, and of comparitavely short duration. Under miscellaneous headings may . be grouped various stoppages of work

in many industries. There was a stnkt j of 400 wool store workers at Napier j in January, and over 100 men refused I work and were idle for several days m May. as a result of a dispute at a ferj . i User works at Westfield. ' August saw a metal-workers’ dispute | result in the stopping of work at Welli ington, and in September there were j further delays at Auckland fertiliser factories, followed by a hold-up at j chemical manure works at Otahuhu and ! Te Papapa. Since then there have been other minor interruptions in two Auckland trades, one involving shingle j workers and the other employees of a cement-asbestos factory.