STRONG PROTEST

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25177, 14 April 1945, Page 6

STRONG PROTEST

THE ENGINEEES' UNION AMALGAMATION OPPOSED Complete dissatisfaction with the recent amalgamation of the northern and southern engineers' unions into an organisation covering the whole of the Dominion has been expressed during the last few weeks by many of the members in Auckland. They feel that the formation of the New Zealand union was conducted undemocraticaKy and that they have lost their independence. Opinions have been expressed forcibly during the last few. weeks and matters came to a head last night, after about 100 of the men had been denied the right to hold a special meeting to discuss their grievances. They gathered at, the Trades. Hail to attend a special meeting, but after they were shown a film the Auckland branch president of the new national union, Mr F. Catt, announced that under the rules of the New Zealand union the meeting could not be held because two executive members had challenged the legality of. a meeting held by the men on • the pr&. vious Friday night.. At that meeting the men had passed a motion, to be •forwarded to the registrar in Welling, ton, condemning the . undemocratic method of the formation of the national union.. - Former President's Statement Following the cancellation of last night's special meeting a large deputation of engineers waited on the Herald. It was led by the former president of the Northern Engineers' Union, Mr A. Gilbert, and Mr S. G. Jones, of the Skilled Engineers' Union. "The rank and file of the engineers in Auckland were not consulted about the amalgamation and were actually denied the right to vote on the issue and on the nomination and selection of officers for the national organisation," said Mr Gilbert. "It is true that a ballot was taken six years ago, when the membership was much smaller than at present, but it was merely to determine the feeling on the question of a national organisation. At . that time Auckland withdrew from the amalgamation proposals because of point s ; which are now in the rules of the new union.

"The amalgamation was recently brought into being by a group, of delegates who had arranged the whole thing among themselves without reference to the members as a whole," said Mr Gilbert. "Most of the , members did not even know that the amalgamation had been effected until they saw the reports in the daily papers." Ownership ol Property

Mr Jones said that one of the main reasons for dissatisfaction, apart from the procedure adopted with regard to the amalgamation, was the provision that all property built up by branches should become the property of the New Zealand union as a whole. The branches were required to deliver all property to the general trustee. "Under these rules the Auckland engineers will have to give up, £7OOO in cash, a section in the centre of the city worth £2OOO, "and about £IOOO worth of equipment, including a car," said Mr Gilbert. "They have to ao this, not because thev wish to, but because a small group has willed it." Last night's special meeting was called to discuss union affairs, ana after it was cancelled the men asked, under the Auckland rules","Tor a special meeting to deal with the union officials concerned in the amalgamation. As stipulated in the Auckland rules. 17 names, were attached to the requisition for the meeting, but the men Were told that the Auckland rules no longer applied and 1000 signatures were necessary, under the new national rules, before a special meeting could be held. The men who signed the requisition decided last night that if they were denied the right to hold a meeting they would approach the Supreme Court in the matter. LOCAL AND GENERAL Liquor at Dances Several charges of being in possession of liquor in or near dance halls were dealt with by Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M., yesterday. Fines of £1 and £2 were imposed in ail cases except one. In _ this case an airman, aged 19, stated in a letter that he had just returned from Canada, where it was-not an offence to be in possession of liquor, and he was not aware that he had been committing an offence here. The magistrate imposed a fine of 10s.

Sugar for Breweries"Statements circulated recently regarding sugar supplies to breweries tend to give the impression that increased amounts have been made available to the industry," said Mr A. J. Ccstelloe, acting-Food* and Rationing Controller, yesterday. "Actually there has been no increase in the allocation of sugar to breweries." When sugar rationing was introduced in 1942, he continued, breweries were allowed only 50 per cent of the quantity used by them during the previous vear. This allowance had been still further curtailed by 20 per cent under the recent general reduction of sugar allocations. In Army at 68 Years The fact that a man who was now 6£ years of age had recently been serving in the Armv was revealed during the hearing of charges brought by the Manpower Officer before Mr F. S. Levien. S.M., yesterday. Mr Kronfeld, representing the officer, asked leave to withdraw a charge against a man of not having complied with direction to employment by the authorities. "We understood that this man was 46 years of age but it is now revealed that he is 68," said Mr Kronfeld. The mistake had arisen as a result of the man giving a false age to the authorities so that he could serve in the Army in the present war. More Jurors Enrolled

As a result of very thorough and persistent work on the part of the police officers concerned, the Auckland jurv list recently adopted adopted contains 1396 more names than its predecessor of a year ago. The new total is 8893, compared with 7497 on . the 1944 roll The latter was a marked decline from the total of 7862 in 1943. One result of the increased number will be that, on the average, there will be a slightly longer interval between the calls for service made on jurors. The Compiling of the jury list is a formidable and arduous task, involving personal interviews at every house within a ten-mile radius of the Chief Post Office. 15 Gallons of Ale a Head

The brewing industry in New Zealand in 1943-44 produced no less than 24,500,000 gallons of ale, or slightly more than 15 gallons for every man, woman and child in the Dominion. This was 17,7 per cent higher than the quantity produced in the previous year, according to figures published in the latest Abstract of Statistics. The qua"; tity produced in 1941-42 was 18,788,29 a gallons, • and in 1942-43, it §0,823.975. In spite of the increased output there has been a reduction in sugar used. In 1943-44, the output of ale and stout was 29.4 per cent higher than in 1941-42, J%t tne quantity of sugar used was only 43.8 per cent or that used in 1941-42.

Public Body's Existence Attention to the existence of a public body about which little has been.heard for many years was drawn at a meeting of the Clutha . County Council, when a letter was received from tne district engineer for the Works Department, Mr C. Langbein, asking the council to appoint a representative on the Kawarau Dam Board of Control, [t was stated that the board hao not met for vears and that the council haci been without a representative tor a considerable time. A member suggested that the recent flood in the Moiyneux had caused the authorities to remember the dam was supposed to a means of flood control. The count appointed a representative.