WORK ON WHARVES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27026, 10 March 1949, Page 8

WORK ON WHARVES

COMPLETE SUSPENSION FIFTEEN SHIPS AFFECTED PA AUCKLAND. Mar 9. The loading and discharging of all ships in Auckland will be suspended to-morrow when the waterside workers attend their union’s monthly stopwork meeting in the morning. The port will probably be idle in the afternoon also as it is expected that the watersiders will attend the mass meeting of all unions involved in the carpenters’ dispute at Carlaw Park. A total of - seven overseas ships, four inter-colonial freighters, and four colliers and coastal vessels at present in port will be affected by the shut-down.

The watersiders to-day completed loading butter on to the food ship Fordsdale from wagons which arrived at the port before their ban on handling dairy produce became effective, but wagons of cheese, lamb, and meat sundries, from freezing works not affected by the ban still remain on the wharf to be loaded on to the Trojan Star. Meat from freezing works in other parts of the province, with the exception of the Southdown works, will still be handled by the watersiders when they resume work on the waterfront, but no further dairy produce from the King’s wharf cool stores will be handled. The combined watersiders, drivers and railway workers’ unions will cease to handle any dairy produce going into the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company cool stores on King’s wharf and the export wharf as from mid-day tomorrow. This time was fixed so as to avoid loss on consignments in transit to stores by road, rail and sea. The boycott against the Southdown works of the Farmers’ Freezing Company has now been in force for two days and no stock is going into the works or frozen meat being sent out from the works. Meat from the Westfield, Horotiu and Moerewa works, which are not under the unions’ ban, is still being railed to Auckland for shipment.

No work was done to-day on discharging the freighter Northumberland, following the dismissal of 15 men on Monday for refusing to unload soda ash for the glassworks, one of the banned firms, and the watersiders’ refusal to work the ship on Tuesday. A total' of 115 men was called to work the Northumberland again this morning, but they in turn refused and were placed on three days’ penalty by the Waterfront Bureau. Over 200 watersiders are now on penalty through refusing to work the ship, and this dispute has been handed over to the Waterfront Industry Authority in Wellington for decision. The authority will meet when the members have assembled in Wellington. Other ships in port were worked normally to-day.