KAITI WORKS LABOR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17945, 24 November 1932, Page 6

KAITI WORKS LABOR

200 MEN NOW AT WORK Go BUSY ON KILLING FLOOR A total of about 200 men are now employed at tho Haiti freezing works by the Gisborne. Refrigerating Company, Limited, and it is stated by the management- that apart from the men engaged on the killing floor and the fellmongery, practically 80 per cent, of the present employees are members of the Freezers’ Union.

Of the 63 men now engaged either as experts or learners «m the killing floor, about 45 pei- cent, are unionists, and the chamber-hands are almost all members of the union. The works are not yet staffed to full capacity, of course, hut there lias been no scarcity of expert of semi-skilled labor, as from time to time in the lasi 11 days it has been necessary to increase the number of hands to deal with an increasing volume of stock. The killing-floor received the services of another expert butcher, a union member, this morning, and has now a satisfactory complement, of experienced slaughtermen. Additions will he made to this staff as may become necessary, as the season approaches its normal turnover.

The Gisborne branch of the Freezers I iiiiai held a further genera! meeting last evening, with the object of tightening np the ranks of unionists against the possibility of further defections. The meeting carried a motion pledging all uiescnt to reject the present offer bv the freer.in'"' companies, {tending the acceptance of arbitration. The. meeting was informed that the defections from tho union ranks during the past few days bad been inconsiderable, and that the slaughtermen in particular were making a determined stand on the question of wages and conditions.