WATERSIDE UNION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27254, 3 December 1949, Page 6

WATERSIDE UNION

FUTURE LEADERSHIP POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS APPROACHING ELECTION Now that the National Party has been returned as the Government, • the question of who will be the leaders of the Waterside Workers’ Union for the next two years has assumed greater importance in political and industrial circles. Soon there will be the biennial election of officers and, the main issue would appear to be whether Messrs H. Barnes and T. Hill will be retained as president and secretary. Because of the political issues involved it will be an election of greater significance than any previously held. Mr Barnes, of Auckland, has been president of the union for three successive terms and Mr Hill, of Wellington, has been national secretary for about eight years. Both have been renominated for further terms. Opposed to Mr Barnes as president will be another Aucklarider, Mr N. Donaldson, and Mr J. Flood, of Lyttelton. Mr Hill will be opposed by Mr J. Napier, walking delegate for the Wellington branch and Mr R. S. Jones, secretary of the Auckland branch. It is customary for the prospective president and secretary to work as a team and in that case the pairs are likely to be Messrs Barnes and Hill, Messrs Flood and Napier, and Messrs Donaldson and Jones.

The main issue, briefly, is whether the combination of Messrs Barnes and Hill, long regarded as the militant leaders of the union, will be retained in preference to the others, who probably represent the more moderate elements. Had the Labour Government been returned Messrs Barnes and Hill might have been displaced by the more moderate candidates, but now, ■in view of the Nationalist yictory. they may retain the leadership. Beforehand, there was a fear that their militancy was bringing discredit on the union as a whole, while little was being gained. For several years now they have taken the leading part in industrial disputes affecting the waterfront. Before the general election they were at a deadlock with the,, Government on several issues. There was no doubt that many watersiders were becoming averse'to this open animosity, which, it was feared, was dividing the rank and file of the union.

' Had the Labour Government been re turned to power, the chances of Messrs Barnes and Hill retaining control of the union might have deteriorated somewhat. The Labour Government made no secret of the fact that it would prefer to see them dislodged from their positions. in fact, the Minister of Labour, Mr McLagan, publicly hinted that changes in the leadership of the union would be made at the biennial elections. In September they were removed by the Government from membership of the Waterfront Industry Authority and declared ineligible for reappointment to it or future membership of the Waterfront Industry Commission. Though the watersiders throughout the Dominion protested against this move by the Government, they would have had to consider replacement on the waterfront control bodies at the biennial conference. What will happen now, with the new Government is a matter for conjecture.

Another significant point makes the issue more confusing. At the time of the ban on overtime work Messrs Barnes and Hill made a tour of all branches of the union, and at each the were accorded full confidence. But about a month ago Mr Hill failed to secure the endorsement of the Auckland branch for his nomination as national secretary. For several years Mr Hill had enjoyed the confidence of the branch, the largest in New Zealand, but this year it gave the nomination to its own secretary, Mr R. E. Jones, who, it is believed, has more moderate opinions than his opponent. Whether it was for this reason or because the Auckland branch wanted its own officials at the head of the national body, it is difficult to determine. There is a possibility, however, that with a National Government in power, the Auckland watersiders may reconsider their decision.

Notwithstanding these contentions, the combination of Messrs Donaldson and Jones which represents the moderate section of opinion, is likely to receive strong support. At the end of October, Mr Donaldson resigned as vice-president of the Auckland branch to show his dissatisfaction with the manner in which the policy of the union was being interpreted, but the branch refused to accept his resignation by a small margin of votes. It was considered that the decision marked an important step in the turbulent domestic politics of the branch, and that it could be construed as a vote of confidence in Mr Donaldson. No nominations for the positions of president and secretary were put forward by the Dunedin and Port Chal-« mers branches of the union, but they will have delegates at the biennial conference in Wellington on Tuesday. The Dunedin branch will be represented by Messrs S. Atkinson and G. Smith, president and vice-president, and the Port Chalmers branch by Mr N. Crichton, the president. The actual election of officers will not be held until early next year.