WHARF LABOUR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24698, 29 August 1941, Page 7

WHARF LABOUR

CRITICISM OF COST QUESTION OF FULL VALUE EXTRAORDINARY VARIATIONS ' ' / I (0.C.) WELLINGTON, Aug. 28. “ The duty rests on the community to get on with 1 the job and do more work,”, said Mr W- J. Poison (Opposition, Stratford) in the debate on the Imprest Supply Bill; in theT House of Representatives to-night'.- »Mr . Poison devoted the major part of his time to criticism of the cost of waterfront labour as revealed in the Waterfront Commission’s report. . - , The sum of , £90.000 was being spent annually qn . courts - and cbnimissions. but'the amount of-work done was not Mr Poison .said. A Government member: Production has gone up: V , '' ■■' ■,Mr Poison: - But there, -is no :more work for* each limit of time.--18- p Week* ’’Extraordinary variations, he continued, were shown in waterfront work. At Napier 500 freight carcasses were loaded by a gang an hour, blit the total was 380 sit Auckland. Where the men averaged £l2 a week for 21 weeks. Less work an hour was being done as a result of the establishment of the commission, the two members of which were entirely representative pf Labour. ... . ■ “ T am not worrying about paying-or increases in pay ” he said. “If worthy, good luck to them, but I, am working about getting all the work we can done in war-time.” ■ The effect of the increased pay and the commission’s work was materially to increase the costs to the shipping companies. At one port 4500 hours which were not worked had been paid for. The turning round of ships had been speeded up by 45 per cent., but at a tremendous cost. At Wellington the average rate of pay worked out at 8s an hour, and the returns for other ports were about'the sarte. Scandalous discrimination was shown in not paying hbn-unionists a bonus- , ' V;':’ ; Soldiers Threw Pennies f

, a; transport in Wellington the soldiers-,threw pennies on those below to encourage them to get .on with the job,”. Mr Poison said, “ The waterside workers decided that it.there was;any more; of li they’ would go oh strike, and the authorities had to ask the soldiers to desist from irritating them.” The Minister of Labour. Mr P. C Webb, said that if Mr Poison vvas serious it‘would do him good to spbnd a little time on the waterfront and watch how, the men worked. Mr Poison and memberj of his party shduld ■ be fair ip -, their j criticism bf • the waterside wqrkbrs: < If the ; men ’ Were . making great sums of money, which* it .was alleged they were, there would be a rush of labour On’to the wharves; . Far from that -being the- case, it ' had been found necessary to advertise for; 200 men ,to ;cooe. with the;, shortage of labour. Some of the men were having torwork 18 hours a day to get the ships turned round quickly: and although a few of them were.: not playing the game, they would-soon find; that they wquld not be tolerated, v:;