BOYCOTT URGED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23117, 16 August 1938, Page 8

BOYCOTT URGED

BAKERY'S OUTPUT CIRCULAR TO WORKERSDISMISSAL OF DRIVER SNEER AT MAGISTRATES An incitement to boycott bread baked by Messrs. George K. Mathieson, Limited, of Auckland, is contained in. a circular which has been distributed! in Auckland. ' , The circular, which was issued from 317 Pacific Buildings, Wellesley Street West, Auckland, and dated August 4, is as follows: — "Repeated complaints have been made against the above-mentioned employer, by the officials of the Auckland Drivers' Union. First, the union had occasion to complain that the award was not being properly complied with. To enforce this, it was necessary for the union to have the co-operation of Mathieson's drivers.

"Subsequently, allegations were made that a driver had been dismissed by Mathieson under circumstances implving victimisation. It will bo remembered that there was a hold-up on the job, with a subsequent investigation bv the Minister of Labour, who set up a tribunal to investigate the charges made by the union. Alleged Lack of Sympathy "The tribunal was presided over by a magistrate, biit a great many unionists object to magistrates presiding over industrial tribunals for the reason that they are, as a class, unsympathetic with the enforcement of industrial laws. Some of their decisions in cases of breaches of the awards are nothing short of a scandal, and would form a proper subject for a public inquiry in order to investigate their individual fitness to adjudicate on industrial questions.

"However, the inquiry was held, and a decision given in favour of Mathieson. Encouraged by this fact, he has now dispensed with another driver who was active on the job in support of his rights. The union, faced with the futility of further magisterial inquiry, had decided to appeal through the Federation of Labour, to the highest Court in this country, that being the tribunal of public opinion. Action Advocated "There is no room for the suggestion that Mathieson's bread is better than that made by other bakers, and in these circumstances, why should we, who believe in equity and justice, purchase our bread from bakers who are continually involved in disputes with the union, when there are hundreds of other bakers making equal or better bread, and whose relationship with the j trade union movement is 100 per cent? j "We feel quite certain that if sufficient publicity is given to this ques- | tion Mr. Mathieson will find it desirable to remove the causes of complaint, because, while workers who purchase Mathieson's bread can easily do without Mathieson, Mathieson will find it extremely difficult to do without customers It is up to you to demonstrate that public opinion is a force to be reckoned with. "This has the authority of the Auckland Council of the New Zealand Federation of Labour.

(Signed) H. Campbell, Secretary." The Position Explained

Commenting last night on the allegations made in the circular the secretary of the Auckland Employers' Association. Mr. W. E. Anderson, said that before the second driver was dismissed Mr. Mathieson consulted an officer of the Labour Department, who advised him that he had good grounds for dismissing the man summarily. Ho also consulted the Auckland Employers' Association, who gave him similar advice, but in order to inflict no hardship on the man and to make sure he was acting in strict accordance with the award, he paid the man a week'i wages in lieu of notice. PREVIOUS CASE RECALLED FINDING OF TRIBUNAL The special tribunal set up by tho Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. Armstrong, to inquire into the diismissal of a taker's driver, which ted to a stoppage of work at the bakery of G. K. Mathieson, Limited, early in May, decided that "Mathieson acted strictly within his rights and within the provisions of the award and, that extent, was clearly justified in exercising his right" of dismissal^ The tribunal consisted of Mr. S. L. Patorson, S.M., of Hamilton, chairman, Mr. W. Newton, of Wellington, formerly Secretary for Labour, and Mr. S. Tyson, of Auckland, a former inspector of factories.