GLASS WORKERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23648, 4 November 1938, Page 7

GLASS WORKERS

SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTE A TEMPORARY AGREEMENT TERMS NOT YET DISCLOSED (Per United Press Association) AUCKLAND, Nov. 3. Following an undertaking given at a conference of the parties today 150 glass workers engaged at the factory of the Australian Glass Manufacturing Company, Ltd., at Penrose, who ceased. Work- on Wednesday, will be recommended to return to . their' employment by the union delegates to-morrow morning. Negotiations between the employers and the men proceeded this afternoon, and with the assistance of Mr W. Slaughter, officer in charge of the Labour Department at Auckland, an .agreement was beached. The decision to cease work was made by' the men on account of the dissatisfaction with the fixture the Arbitration Court was prepared to give for the hearing of an application for a new award; Being members of a different union, the drivers employed by the company were not affected by the employees’ action, while as the drawing of the furnaces might cause weeks of delay in manufacturing the firemen were also not called out by the union. The men again assembled at the works this morning, and it was decided that pending a conference to be held in the afternoon with the employers they would adjourn until to-morrow. As a result the plant remained idle although the dispute was confined to the same section of employees. With Mr Slaughter presiding a full discussion of the points involved in the dispute took place in the afternoon, the conference being attended by representatives of the company, the union and the District Council of the Federation of Labour. The meeting was terminated after two hours’ connsideration of the problems involved, and Mr Slaughter announced that the union representatives had unanimously agreed to recommend the men to resume work in terms of the agreement which was reached at the conference, : V '• '' '■■■;'• ' The secretary of the Auckland Glass Workers’ Union (Mr Purtell) said that the result of the negotiations would be reported to members of the union at a meeting to-morrow morning. He did not wish to comment further on the situation. “ The union’s representatives felt confident that the terms of the agreement reached at the conference would :be accepted by the men.” stated Mr Kearns, manager of the company; He added that a temporary agreement to apply until the case could be heard by the Court or the industrial magistrate had been approved at a conference, and this was the -settlement' which would form the basis of the proposals to be advanced to the men to-morrow morning. NOT SENDING NEGOTIATOR STATEMENT BY MINISTER .• ‘ , ' ■ • 'i. /• f ■ (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Nov. 3. A statement published in Auckland that the manager of the Australian Glass Company had been advised that the Minister of Labour proposed to send Mr Gilmour, S.M. to Auckland to open negotiations for the settlement of the glass works dispute was denied by the Minister (Mr Armstrong), who said the statement was quite unfounded. He had not' even considered such a proposal, he .said. Mr Gilmour was engaged Upon performing certain functions of the Arbitration Court' allocated to him by the court under a statutory power of delegation which could be operated only by the court itself. If Mr Gilmour was going to Auckland it could only, be for the purpose of discharging the duties delegated to him by the court, and not for any other reason.