STRIKE SEQUEL

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24275, 16 May 1942, Page 8

STRIKE SEQUEL

WESTFIELD TROUBLES HOSTILITY TO VOLUNTEERS ALLEGATION OF PERSECUTION Troubles arising at the Westfield freezing works between volunteers and other workers following the strike in March were described by the manager of the Westfield Freezing Company, Mr. A. G. Bryan, when giving evidence before the Auckland Manpower (Industrial) Committee yesterday. The company appealed against the decision of the district manpower officer to reinstate C. Melrose, who had been discharged by the appellants. The witness said the volunteers who had come forward following the Prime Minister's appeal during the strike had been the victims of hostility on the part oi" the men who had gone on strike, and it was necessary to stamp out such incidents in an industry where men were working with sharp knives in their hands. During the week following the resumption of work on March 27, reports were received that meat was being thrown at the men who had worked through the strike, lockers were being broken into, and clothes damaged and in some cases destroyed. Efforts were made to find the offenders, but, with the majority of the men determined to cover them, it was impossible for the foreman to identify the individuals responsible. Hit in Eye with Meat One morning, said Mr. Bryan, a man who had been employed for several weeks in the trimming department and who had worked through the strike was seen leaving the works with his eye bandaged. He said that since the settlement of the strike he and other men in a similar position had been persecuted and meat had been thrown at him. He was struck in the eye with a piece of meat, and was unwilling to stay at the works any longer. "He would not take work in another department, saying that his life, would be made impossible," said Mr. Bryan. "He identified C. Melrose and another man as those responsible for the trouble, and we later reported to the manpower officer that the two men had been dismissed. Melrose denied that he had thrown any meat, although he admitted jeering and laughing at the volunteer workers when they were j struck by meat. Position Improved "Apart from our obligation to protect the volunteers who responded to the Prime Minister's appeal, it will be understood that it would be dangerous to allow practices of this kind to develop in a department where men are working with sharp knives,'' continued Mr. Bryan. "The victim of such acts is liable to cut himself badly, and there is always the possibility of hot temper developing and leading to a serious incident." The trouble between the men had since diminished, and the position at the works was greatly improved, he added. . . Giving the reason for his decision, the district manpower officer, Mr. T. G. Fielder, sitid Melrose was discharged for throwing meat, but it was not definitely established that he had done so. He had been dismissed from an essential industry on certain grounds, and the company could not call him back and adduce additional grounds for their decision. The second set of grounds, namely, the jeering and laughing, must fail, as they were brought forward subsequently to the dismissal. The committee held that the grounds on which the company dismissed Melrose could not be sustained and dismissed the appeal. "SHOULD STARVE" CONSCIENCE OBJECTOR ESSENTIAL WORK REFUSED The case of a /nan whose conscience would not allow him to agree to his transfer from a non-essential industry to an essential one came before the Auckland Manpower (Industrial) Committee yesterday, when Neil Morven McDongall, a despatch clerk with the Myrl Shoe Company, Limited, appealed against the decision of the district manpower officer that he should report for work at the Reid (N.Z.) Rubber Mills at Penrose. The chairman, Mr. J 0. Liddell, presided, and associated with him were Messrs. T. H. Macky and K. Simpson. The appellant said he was a Christian Pacifist, and 'as such he could not engage in work calculated to further the national war effort or to assist in enabling one of his fellow men to be released for the military forces. The district manpower officer, Mr. T. G. Fielder, said that when McDougall was directed to join the rubber mills due consideration was given to his religious beliefs. In addition to carrying out. urgent defence contracts, the mills were engaged in the manufacture of rubber work for various commercial and industrial purposes, chief among which were milking rubberware and parts for fire-fighting equipment. An assurance had been given by the company that the appellant would be working on one or other of the nonmilitary articles. "You fellows who approach us in this way should really starve, because whatever you eat is connected with the war effort in some way or other," said the chairman, to MeDougall. "Surely you realise that the Myrl Shoe Company is engaged on making uppers for Army boots." Appellant: I am engaged in the despatch department for ladies' footwear only. The Chairman: Has it not occurred to you that some of those shoes you are handling might be worn by women who are assisting in the war effort? The appeal was dismissed. MELBOURNE CRIMES WOMAN FOUND STRANGLED MELBOURNE, May 11 Detectives began one of the most intensive man-hunts for more than 12 years following the finding of the strangled and partly naked body of Mrs. Pauline Bucban Thompson, aged 31, wife of a Bendigo policeman, outside an apartment house in Spring Street, Melbourne, early on a recent morning. It was the second major crime to have been committed during brown-out hours within a week. Early last Sunday the body of Mrs. Ivy Violet McLeod. aged 40, of Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, was found in a shop doorway in Victoria Avenue, Albert Park. Her skull had been fractured and her clothes had been torn from her body. Practically every city detective was engaged on the murder-hunt during the week-end, including detectives investigating the death of' Mrs. McLcod.