SLAUGHTERMEN'S WAGES

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13242, 23 March 1907, Page 6

SLAUGHTERMEN'S WAGES

THE DIFFICULTY SETTLED. Per Press Association. ' OHRISTCHURCH, March 22. The" dispute between the slaughtermen rnd ths Belfast and Islington companies was settled this morning. A meeting was held at Belfast at 7 a.m., at which Mr Waymouth, manager of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, wtis present. The men ."decided, to resume woik immediately • and *kin theVtheep, according to the companies' interpretation of clause 4 in the agreement, which deals with skinning. The companies maintain that the head also must be skinned. The men, objected to skinning the heads, but to-day agieed to do this work' as in the past. The men at Islington had' decided to' follow the course adopted at Belfast, and operations .at both factories are being carried on as usual. \ The agreement t has not- been signed' yet, but 'it is not thought- that there will be any further hitch,' and .signatures will- probably be attached/tomorrow or early next week. * " '" Messrs Davey and Witty, M.H.K.s-: who successfully acted as mediators- when the ' i-ecent strike was in progress, were on ] their way' to Cheviot yesterday, with the Acting-Premier, when they received news of the trouble, and as it seemed a serious I matter they immediately returned at some :iicopvenience to themselyu*. Reaching | Chrisitchurch late ac night, they saw smne of the Belfast men, discussed the position with them,'in view of-the meeting; to be held this morning. This morning the two M.H.K.s Vent out to Belfa-t as early as possible, and found the .slaughtermen working away quite cheerfully, evidently fully satisfied to continue work under the agreement.

Inquiry at the Timaru offices yesterday elicited that there had been no trouble at the local works regarding the " skinning of heads." This term, we are informed, does not. mean the skinning of the whole head, bnt ."oE'the under part" "of the neck that carries- some wool, and the custom has been to take this off in such a marineras to leave it attached to the rest of the skin. There were over 30 butchers at work on freezers at Paieora ■■ yesterday, including four young men who have taken up the work during or.since the strike, and are shaping well at it. Nothing was being done on potters yesterday, there being none at the works-, and the men who had been engaged on that class have most of them returned to their former work in other departments.