FINAL SCENES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22629, 18 January 1937, Page 11

FINAL SCENES

JIEX LEAVE WESITIELI)

@ ates opened again

GREETINGS FROM RELATIVES

CONSTABLES CONTROL TRAFFIC

Prolonged blasts from motor sirens and h,orns, shrill calls of salutation from women and children rang out in a medley over the Great South Road 'outside the W estfield freezing works shortly after nine o'clock on Saturday night when the works' gat,es were thrown open and the employees streamed forth at the end of their stay-in campaign. Any signs of elation emanated solely from the relatives of the workers, the men bearing demeanours of quiet satisfaction that their isolation was ended.

- "We have convinced the Minister of Labour that -there is validity in our claims and that our grievances are not figments of imagination. We expect Mr. Armstrong to keep his promise to have the differences adjusted and peace restored in the industry," stated one of the men's delegates who were associated in the final conferences with the Minister. Peeling of Confidence After the departure of the Minister from Westfield shortly after noon a feeling of confidence that the end was in sight pervaded the occupied works. The men,, who during the morning had washed and scrubbed out the dressing rooms and other premises occupied as living quarters in the last four days, settled down ,to await the result of the further meeting between their delegates and the Minister in Auckland. The afternoon was spent in straightening up their quarters and collecting their bedding'and effects find talking with relatives and friends through the bars of the entrance gates and the iron railing of the yard wall. The departure of the works' delegates to confer with the Minister intensified the interest and there was considerable tension in the atmosphere until the representatives' return shortly after eight o'clock. Jsy this hour there was a large congregation of relatives in the vicinity of the works. Vote Almost Unanimous

A mass meeting was held when reports were received from the delegates, who recommended that the men accept the assurance of the Minister to convene a conference of the employers and men's representatives in Wellington not later than Thursday next on the understanding that the employees would immediately resume work. A vote was almost unanimously in favour of work being' resumed on these conditions. The men were told to stand by pending the results ironi Southdown and King's Wharf, where meetings were held simultaneously. The Horotiu workers were represented by their delegates at the conference and consultations between tho works' representatives and were empowered to abide by the decision of the workers in the Auckland and YYestfieid districts.

* Confident in the belief that the reports J'rom flic other works would bo similar to the decision at Westfield the in on began to in the works yard with roll'c] blankets and bedding strapped on their shoulders. Cars which hnd been standing idle for four days were cranked into activity and hundreds of cycles and motor-cycles brought, forth from improvised shelters, as the men prepared for .1 hasty exodus for home and its comforts. Custodians Resume Duties A shout from the gateway that the campaign was ended was echoed in the tumult ot noises from the roadside groups and the gates were thrown hack to their uttermost, for the first time in nearly a week. The works' custodians, had been in the background since \ e . Qcciipiit i (, n. .rrsumcfl their normal I duties of control at, the nates, and the "leii trooped out. IV o police constables * e re busily engaged for about !■> miujdes controlling "traffic*, in less than a |f ''iri hour the works were empty iUll ' on,v an odd rug or garment —left for collection at a datrr day—testified in wessijm-roonis and sheds to their occupation under unprecedented conditions.

The permanent hands left in control tli works set about 'preparing for j.v re *umption of normal operations [ us morning. Yesterday there was a I 3( lv arrival at Westfield of stock for J'OURhterim:. . I.orrv loads of lambs rr »m tho Waikato arrived in streams * n< ' Motorists bit the Great South Uoad mobs of cattle headed for works.