"BURY THE HATCHET."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16433, 12 July 1915, Page 3

"BURY THE HATCHET."

WHARF WORKERS' GRIEVANCE. ALLEGED VICTIMISATION. ECHO OF THE STRIKE. (Fbom Ocb Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, July 10. The alleged systematic victimisation of certain waterside workere by the existing Waterside Workers' Union at Auckland and Greymouth was brought before the Prime Minister as Minister of Labour to-day by a deputation from the Labour Congress, which is now meeting in Wellington. Mr A. H. Hindmarsh, M.P., introduced i.ho deputation, the other members of the House of Representatives present were: Messrs vr ®l°. ver > J- G. Coates, H. Poland, and L. M. Isitt._ The spokesmen appointed by the deputation wore Messrs E. Kennedy (secretary of the Wellington Labour Union) and G. Bruce (secretary of the Wellington Wharf Labourers' Union).

The position as represented bv them as havny arisen out of the strike of 1913 has already been stated on numerous occasions. It was pointed out that the rules of the present Waterside Workers' Union in Auckland provide that membership of the union shall be open to any person of good character who is a bona-fide wharf labourer or waterside worker at Auckland, provided that he satisfies the -union or its Committee of Management that he is not connected with or subject to the control of the Federation of Labour or any similar organisation opposed to the registration of unions under the Arbitration Act. This was one of the conditions upon which preference to unionists was granted in the agreement between the unions and the employers at Auckland. It was alleged, however, thnt several men who fulfilled the required conditions, and who tendered the entrance fee, had been refused admission to the Auckland Union by the Election Committee of that union because they had taken part in the late strike, notwithstand-, ing the fact that they signified their support of the Arbitration Act. In one case in Auckland it was stated that a man who applied in for admission on June 3, and tendered the entrance fee, was kept waiting till June 23 pending a meeting of the Election Committee, at which, after he had been called upon to answer a series of questions, his application was refused. This man had been a member of the Strike Committee, and although not in favour of the strike he had gone out of sympathy with his fellow workers.

Mr said the rule whereby an election commijfctee of the union was the deciding factor in regard to admission to membership had been held by the court to be -ultra vires. The Auckland agreement, which, was similar to that in Greymouth, had not been converted into an award, and thus it had never been reviewed by the court. In many eases employers were -willing to employ the men in question, but they were denied the right to work, and several had to leave Auckland and seek work elsewhere. Mr Massey. as the "big chief of Labour," was urged to have the matter rectified.

Messrs H. Green (of New Lynn) and J. Allington, two former waterside workers at Wellington, and now -working in Wellington, made statements in support of the allegations, and urged that the strike liatchet should bo buried. Mr Massey said he was not in favour of victimisation or anything of the sort. — (" Hear, hear.") He agreed that it was time_ that the hatchet was buried in connection with strike matters.—(" Hear, hear.") The question, however, was difficult to deal with, and, like all other questions, it was one with two sides to it. The Auckland agreement contained a clause preventing any member of the Federation of Labour from becoming a member of the union. That appeared to be the stumbling block. Rightly or ■wrongly the cause was there. The law permitted it; there was no doubt about that. The matter had been referred to the Crown Law Office sometime ago, and what was being done was •in accordance with the Act. Whether it was in accordance with the spirit of the Act Was another matter. Ho doubted whether the open door" for which they asked could be secured without legislation. He proposed to_ confer with the president of the Arbitration Court (Mr Justice Stringer) on the matter. _ " I think." he added, " that Mr Justice Stringer and I will be able to arrange some way out of the unfortunate difficulty that has arisen.—(' Hear, hear.') I will leave it thnt that" Mr Kennedy:'We are prepared to abide by the opinion of Mr Justice Stringer in the whole matter.