HISTORY OF TROUBLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27498, 19 September 1950, Page 4

HISTORY OF TROUBLE

Negotiations For Extra j Payment PROMISES BY UNION PA WELLINGTON, Sept. 18. To clear up any misapprehension, Captain M. T. Holm, secretary of the New Zealand Port Employers’ Association, said today that he wished to emphasise the following facts in relation to the waterfront hold-up regarding the handling of carbon black — “ which,” he said, “ is not lampblack 1. The Waterside Workers’ Union promised the Government to accept and abide by the decisions of the Waterfront Industry Authority (comprising two representatives of either side, presided over by a deputy judge) as the final arbiter of claims and disputes. 2. The unions’ representatives placed their case for an extra rate for carbon black in the hands of the authority for decision. 3. The authority, after hearing all the evidence and examining all aspects of the work, in a lengthy decision, drew attention to the following;—

(a) Less than two years ago the Waterfront Industry Commission (including a union representative) recommended to the authority an extra rate of lOd an hour for carbon black. (b) The authority (including two union representatives, Messrs H.

Bar«6s and T. Hill) in considering this recommendation, agreed tc increase the figure by 2d, making the extra rate Is an hour.

c) In February last the union asked the commission to increase the

rate to 2s 6d and to prescribe the provision of protective clothing. The commission maintained the rate of Is an hour, plus protective clothing. (d) In the Myrtlebank dispute in June the chairman of the Port Com-

mittee ruled that there were no ex-

ceptional circumstances about that vessel’s cargo and confirmed the extra rate of Is. (e) A day or two later the commission ruled that on another ship (the Kelvinbank) exceptional circumstances did exist and made the rate for that job 2s an hour extra. (f) A day or two later again, when the port of Wellington was held up over the matter, the Commission made its recommendation to the Authority that the rate should

be a minimum of 2s 6d extra even when there were no exceptional circumstances and*that in addition to protective clothing, a payment of 10s a man should be made for damage to clothing.

(g) On the evidence placed before the Authority, both by the union and employers, it was shown that the extra rates now awarded by the Authority and rejected by the union were higher than at other ports of the world. (h) On any job where exceptional circumstances are found to exist, the port committee has power to increase the hourly rate above the minimum fixed by the Authority.

namely Is 6d. (4) The (triotex) bag in which carbon black is exported from USA is the accepted standard package for world wide distribution and as New Zealand is a very small consumer in the world market, it is not possible to obtain at the present time a different package.

(5) The present “ triotex ” bag was evolved after representations had been made from New Zealand and other countries some two or three years ago and represented an improvement on the previous type of paper bag and this “ triotex ” bag has been approved for ocean carriage by the British Ministry of Transport as a suitable pack for this commodity. (6) Present waterside workers’ strike is only another one of a series of hold-ups brought about through the waterside workers rejecting decisions which they do not like even though they gave their written pledge to accept such decisions.