WHARF DEADLOCK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26349, 2 January 1947, Page 4

WHARF DEADLOCK

FEDERATION’S POSITION REPLY TO MR BARNES UNION PRESIDENT’S “AUDACITY” (P.A?) WELLINGTON, Jan. 1. “The National Executive of the Federation of Labour would be lacking in responsibility to the 185,000 affiliated trade unionists if it neglected to reply to the sweeping assertions by the president of the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union, Mr H. Barnes, in his comments on the efforts- of the federation to settle the dispute on the waterfront,” says a statement issued on behalf of the federation by the secretary, Mr K. -McL. Baxter.,. The statement says that many aspects of the dispute were discussed at joint meetings'of the executives of the two organisations concerned, but not all the guarantees, joint formulae or memoranda were agreed upon, and the executive of the federation was surprised at the “ audacity ” of Mr Barnes in suggesting that any such ■ guarantee had been given, particularly as his executive had had the federation’s‘ a> statement for a week. The federation executive continually suggested to Mr Barnes that the waterfront should resume normal working and then the federation would use its best endeavours to support the union’s case before the commission. The statement called Mr Barnes’s attention to the decisions of the last annual federation conference endorsing “ the establishment of industrial tribunals” to adjust disputes, and that “the union should exploit all avenues of settlement before taking strike action.”

Mr Baxter denied that the federation even inferred that the union, had handed over the dispute to it, though it had urged the union to do so. The federation executive was confident that a satisfactory settlement was possible if the dispute were handed to the federation, thus avoiding the dislocation of industry and- inevitable Hardship to all workers. .'