THE TALLY-CLERKS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8654, 12 February 1914, Page 2

THE TALLY-CLERKS

TALK OF BOGUS UNION POSITION ON THE WHARVES DEFINED. The proceedings in the Conciliation Council on Tuesday in the tally-clerks’ dispute revealed a most curious position. It was hinted at the opening- of the case that the Wellington TallyClerks’ Union, which was formed and registered on December 11th last, was really a bogus union, and the employers’ agent (Mr N. Mcßobie) stated that there could be no dispute before the court. A ''Times” representative, in view of these statements, and subsequent assertions that the union was not representative of the great majority of casual tally-clerks, made inquiries into the position yesterday.

It must first of all be stated that the

work of tally-clerks is most irregular. The ordinary clerk has to depend on the state of the. wharves for his employment, just as the wharf-labourer does. In brief, a tally-clerk can only find work when a ship is receiving or discharging cargo, and the number of clerks who find employment depends entirely upon the number of ships which are working in the port. There are two classes of tally-clerks—-permanent and casual. The permanent men are those in the permanent weekly employ of the shipping companies. The casual clerks are those who are engaged when there is sufficient work offering. PERMANENT CLERKS. The recently-formed Wellington union, consists solely of casual tallyclerks. It was not intended from the first that the permanent men should bo members of the body, as Mr Justice Sim, during the hearing of the dispute between the .Auckland clerks and the employers, laid it down that as the permanent men were really agents fo> the employers, they could not be rightly included in the union. The inquiries yesterday led the reporter to the conclusion that .the whole trouble on the Wellington "waterfront- with the tally-clerks has arisen through the existing system of the permanent clerks, or employers’ agents, having practically a free hand in the engagement of whatever clerks are necessary. Men with fifteen and twenty years’ experience on the wharf state that this system has given rise to many evils. Favouritism of a, few clerks by the agents has led, they state, to the exclusion of the others, and it is alleged by them that after the turmoil of the strike, hitter feeling has arisen, and the favouritism has become decidedly worse. They claim that the work oh the waterfront is not equally divided, and quote examples of a few clerks earning £5 and £6 a week, while the big body of casual men have earned £2, and .sometimes as little as merely a few shillings a week. They ask that a fair living shall be made by all campetertt men. EIGHTY TALLY-CLERKS OFFERING. Inquiries' lead to the . belief that there are some eighty men on the waterfront engaged at tallying. Or these thirty odd are what are knownas permanent clerks, and the others are casual men. . The new union has a membership of forty-five, and in refutation of the sugestion that it is bogus the “Times” representative shown the list of names by the secretary of the Union, and the men s signatures are plain enough. All these forty-five are casual men. and although some of them afo fifty-five and even sixty years of ago. and have been, tal- • lying for many years, they are moving in the direction of organisation ami better Conditions. The petition signed by the thirty-two clerks, and presented at the Conciliation Council proceedings on Tuesday, needs some explanation. Out of the list of names, it is said that only three are casual tally-clerks, and the union claims, therefore, that the petitioii can be discounted.