NEEDLESS LOSS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26772, 15 May 1948, Page 8

NEEDLESS LOSS

WAGES AND REVENUE EFFECT OF MANGAKINO DISPUTE P.A. WELLINGTON. May 14. Any decision other than that reached by the Emergency Disputes Committee which considered the Mangakino trouble would have made the engineers’ task impossible, said Mr Semple this afternoon. He expressed satisfaction with the finding. The Minister added that any other decision would have been accepted by the Communists not only as a victory, but as a legal licence to pursue their evil way. The wages lost by the men during the stoppage were estimated at some £30,000, and the cost to the country, apart from the cost of the committee, which would be considerable, was estimated at approximately £IOO,OOO in loss of revenue.

That the New Zealand Workers’ Union felt some disappointment at the finding was understandable, said Mr Semple, in view of the fact that it had mistakenly based its ease on an alleged breach or union principle. The evidence given and the judge’s finding must have convinced the union that, there had been an insidious influence on the job. It was regrettable that so much injury to the workmen and the nation had been caused over one man.