UNION’S STAND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23556, 20 July 1938, Page 10

UNION’S STAND

WORKERS OUTSIDE RANKS EMPLOYEES OF RAILWAY DEPARTMENT EFFORT TO FORCE ISSUE (Special to Daily Times) GREYMOUTH. July 19. “A rift in the lute ” has occurred in the relations between the Westland and Nelson Gold Dredge and Alluvial Gold Mines’ Employees’ Union on the one hand, and the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and the Railway’s Department on the other, according to a statement made to-day by Mr D. Faris, acting secretary of the union. “ The reactions,” he said. “ may be serious.” t Because the department which was building three large dredges on the West Coast at Kanieri. Arahura, and Ngahere—for private companies was not observing the terms of the dredge workers’ award, Mr Faris said, the union after protracted negotiations with both the department and the Federation of Labour had decided that its members would refuse after July 30 to work with the men employed by the department on the dredge construction work. The union had also decided that its members would not work with such men on any other job to which they might go, and which was covered by that award. “About 60 non-unionists —boilermakers, welders, carpenters, blacksmiths and other skilled men drawn from the department’s workshops—and labourers and other unskilled workers engaged locally are employed by the department,” Mr Faris said, and are doing exactly the same work as the unionists employed by private companies. They should, therefore, be made to join the union instead of which they joined the Amalgamated Society of Railway Tradesmen’s Association. Because of that action, a decision was reached at a meeting of the union on July 9 at Greymouth to force the issue.

“The union has exhausted all the recognised methods and used all the constitutional channels without success in an attempt to have these men brought into its ranks,” Mr Faris continued. “The Federation of Labour has repeatedly been approached, but it is evidently a real peace - at - any price concern, pacifist through and through, first, last, and all the time. We are suffering, and have suffered too long, injustice, and now intend to do something about it. The vital point at issue is that if the Railways Deparment decided to own and control the dredges, out the union would go—out of existence. That is why the union is taking up this stand.” According to Mr Faris, the Minister of Railways (Mr D. G. Sullivan) has given a ruling that such workers come under the Railway Act, to which, Mr Faris said, the reply was that it was urgently necessary that the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act should be amended to permit all the Government departments being brought under it, and thereby under awards. “ Where and when a Government department goes outside its original purpose, as we claim the Railways Department has done in building these dredges for private companies, then the department should be brought under that Act, and thereby under the award in that particular industry,” Mr Faris concluded.