CARGO HANDLING AT PORTS

Southland Times, Issue 23610, 10 September 1938, Page 21

CARGO HANDLING AT PORTS

SABOTAGE DENIED BY UNION SECRETARY . —' |: WORK AT NEW PLYMOUTH DESCRIBED (United Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, September 8. “Mr W. J, Polson may be a practical farmer, but his effort as a fountain-pen stevedore has been an utter, failure.” In these words Mr S. Flood, secretary of the New Plymouth Waterside Workers’ Union, commented on statements by Mr W. J. Polson, M.P., alleging extensive sabotage of cargo by waterside workers and a great increase in the cost of handling cargo. The waterside workers at New Plymouth took very strong exception to Mr Polson’s statement that cargo was being sabotaged and destroyed by waterside workers, said Mr Flood. Speaking for New Plymouth, he could say it had been the waterside workers’ endeavours for a number of years to stow farmers’ produce in a satisfactory way and with butter and cheese to see that no broken boxes or crates went into stow. Where one was accidentally broken it was set aside and mended.

“I am of opinion,”, said Mr Flood, “that Mr Polson is trying to mislead the fanners, but farmers have enough average commonsense to know that if cargo arrived in England sabotaged or damaged a report would be asked for by the Dairy Board or Meat Board at the port where the damage was alleged to have taken place.” So far there had been no inquiry at New Plymouth, he said, but watersiders had been complimented at various times by inspectors on the satisfactory way the cargo was stowed. He did not know where Mr Polson got his figures about the increased costs of working vessels, but he considered them such wild statements and so far from fact that they were not worth a reply.