PRINTING INDUSTRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20512, 2 September 1936, Page 11

PRINTING INDUSTRY

HOURS OF WORK DISSATISFACTION IN WELLINGTON By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, September 1. Following & largely attended stopwork meeting of representatives of the printing trade in Wellington this morning, practically the whole meeting marched to Parliament and assembled before the steps of the main entrance. Mr C. H. Chapmaii, M.P., president of the New Zealand Printing Trades Federation of Workers, Mr Baxter (secretary), and Mr Baker (vicepresident of the Wellington Union) went as a deputation to the Minister of Labour, who had two resolutions placed before him. One expressed lack of confidence in the ability of an Arbitration Court Judge to determine the hours to be worked by employees in the printing industry, and because of lack of confidence in the Court, the Federation Executive should be asked to withdraw the New Zealand printing and related trades dispute from the Conciliation Council and the Cpurt. Another resolution instructed the Executive of the Union to open negotiations with the Minister, with a view to arranging a conference of employees and employers for the purpose of bringing wages and conditions into line with the conditions prevailing in the majority of secondary industries in the Dominion. Mr Chapman stated that the Minister had carefully investigated the matter and undertook to arrange a conference as soon as possible. “Childish.” The Hon. H. T. Armstrong, in an interview, following the printers’ deputation, declared that the resolution of no confidence in the Arbitration Court Was childish. "It is a wonder,” he said, “they did not think of that before they submitted their case to the Court. I am an old time industrial unionist, with a pretty wide experience, and I can only term the resolution childish. More than that, the Wellington branch is part of the National Federation, and to pass a resolution of that kind without first consulting the national organisation, seems to me to be an act of disloyalty to its own body. What was the object of the demonstration? Why march particularly to Parliament Buildings, where their own friends are in control? If it was not a demonstration against the Government, then it was the act of madmen.” The Minister explained that on the previous afternoon he had discussed matters With the employers of the printing trade, and was assured by them that they would be quite willing to meet the men either in the Conciliation Council or out of it. He had met the men’s representatives in the evening, and told them of this undertaking, which he confirmed by telephoning one of the employers’ representatives during this interview. Mr Armstrong declared he could not understand the resolutions of the morning’s stopwork meeting, when they knew that the conference they demanded had actually been arranged the day before. Employers’ Attitude. Interviewed regarding the motion passed asking the Minister to arrange a conference with the employers of the printing trade, the secretary of the Master Printers' Federation, Mr Clarkson, and the secretary of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, Mr Berry, stated that there was not the slightest reason for such a motion. The employers at all times had been willing and ready to meet the employees’ representatives, in fact, the Conciliation proceedings had been adjourned by mutual agreement between the Employers’ Associations and the Workers’ Federation, pending the Court’s decision on the hours question. Those proceedings could now be resumed at any time suitable to the parties. Probably early next week would be suitable, in view of the fact that representatives of both parties had to come from distant parts of the Dominion. The action of the workers in ignoring the law, and by a stopwork meeting dislocating the work of the establishments, came as a surprise to the employers in view of the undertaking of both employers and employees to accept the decision of the Arbitration Court with regard to hours of work.