SHIPS HELD UP

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19827, 16 June 1934, Page 18

SHIPS HELD UP

QUESTION OF WAGE CUTS UNION'S STATEMENT By Telegraph —Press Association WELLINGTON. June 15 The cooks and stewards of the Monowal, which is due to sail for Sydney today have given notice to the Union Steam Ship Company. Referring to the statement in the Press yesterday, that owing to the refusal of members of the Cooks’ and Stewards’ Union to answer calls for employment. the sailing of the Makura has been cancelled —Mr Kennedy, secretary of the Union, said that the matter in dispute between the Union Company and the Union went back to the time when 10 per cent, was taken off wages in June, 1931. From time to time, the Union had asked for the restoration of ! that cut. They had had meetings before the Conciliation Council, and no agreement could be reached. Therefore, the award was cancelled under the amended Arbitration Act, so that there remained no award cr any agreement, the Union being left with only the contracts they uigned from time to time in the articles. On February 26. 1934. the Union made application that the 10 per cent, cut be restored to members of the Union employed by the Union Company. The Union suggested tha'; the matter be discussed at a round-table conference. The manager was sick, and on the Company’s suggestion, the matter was put off. Later, it was again taken up with Tie Company by the Union, and the Union was told that the conference could not take place, one reason being that the other maritime unions had an interest in the matter as well as the cooks and stewards. The secretary of the Union suggested to the Company that it would b advantageous to have a conference of all the Unions concerned with the Company. The Union had discussed the matter with other maritime unions, and on Monday last, representatives of the Seamen’s and Cooks’ and C wards’ Union waited on Mr Smith of the Union Company, and discussed the natter with him. Question of Wage Cuts. The Unions’ proposal was that the employers be informed that the Seamen's Union and the Cooks’ and Stewards’ Union desired to meet them in Conference early in July for the purpose of discussing the question of the restoration c c wage cuts, the work to proceed normally pending some decision. The reply to that was that the Company would meet the: - to discuss their agreement. That was not the matter it was intended to discuss at all. The matter to be discussed was one cf wages. The Press statement said that it- was the attitude of the Union that stopped the Makura from leaving. That was not so. The responsibility was put on the owners themselves by their refusal to meet the Unions in conference to discuss the question of wage restoration. Had that conference been arranged the Makura would have been worked in the ordinary course. It seemed that the employers blamed the Union for something it was not responsible for, and by refusing to meet the Union in conference, the responsibility rested on the owners and not on the Union, Shipowners’ Attitude. Mr Bishop, secretary of the New Zealand Shipowners’ Federation commenting on Mr Kennedy's statement, said that it was substantially correct, but not entirely so. For instance, while it was true that the awards were cancelled, a letter was sent to Mr Kennedy on December 14, 1933, advising him that the Federation members were prepared to endorse the articles with a statement that the wages and the conditions of the expired award would continue to be observed, on the understanding that this arrangement was i temporary, until such time as the question for a new agreement between the Federation and the Union had been finalised. This had been done at Mr Kennedy’s own request, and had the effect of continuing the old agreement in operation, pending the making of a new one. As to the mmediate cause of the present dispute, the Cooks' and Stewards’ Union and the Seamens’ Union had asked for a conference in July for tin. purpose of discussing the restoration of wage reductions. The Federation had replied that the employers were prepared to meet the Unions jointly, or separately, as they might prefer, for the purpose of discussing their agreements. The Seamen’s Union agreement does not expire till August 31, but the undertaking given to meet in July, a month before its expiry, was in accordance with the usual procedure. The shipowners were not prepared to limit the discussion to the one question of wages, but were prepared to discuss complete new agreements in accordance with the invariable cust mi of many years. Government Watching. It is announced that the Government is being kept well informed of the developments in the shipping dis- | pute, but up to the present it has not i been considered necessary to inter - | vene in any ■ ay. TWO MORE BOATS AFFECTED. CREW OF MONOWAI PAID OFF. j By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, June 15. Two more vessels became involved ! in the dispute between the Union Com- I pany and the Cooks’ and Stewards I Union at Wellington yesterday. The four now affected are the Mono- j wai, Makura, Maori and Kaimai. On Thursday, while the liner Monowai was bound from Auckland to Wellington. a number of stewards gave notice, and on her arrival in Wellington yesterday morning they refused to reconsider the matter, and early in the afternoon 44 men were signed off the vessel. These men all had their home:in Wellington and were nearly all bedroom stewards. An attempt was made to despatch the Monowai for Sydney at 3 p.m., but it is understood the remainder of th? crew refused to take her to sea shortstaffed and as a consequence the Union Company cancelled the vessel’s sailing and gave notice to the remaining 140 members of the crew, of whom 57 are members of the Cooks’ and Stewards’ Union. To-day the second vessel to be affected was the collier Kaimai, which arrived early yesterday from Westport. One of the stewards had become ill on the trip from Westport, and wen 1 , ashore on arival in port. Several attempts were made yesterday to replace this man, but all proved unsuccessful and during the afternoon the company j gave notice to the crew, who are to oe : paid off. The Post and Telegraph Department, when regular mail steamers are held | „.p, transmits all mail by the next best j despatch available.