AUCKLAND INCIDENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 143, 20 June 1939, Page 8

AUCKLAND INCIDENT

DISSATISFACTION WITH PAY . 500 MEN HOLD MEETING I Fer Press Association J AUCKLAND, June 19. Dissatisfaction with their rates of pay, which has been brewing for a long time among the Dominion ratings in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy, came to a head to-day when about 500 men from the cruisers Leander and Achilles and the depot ship Philomel walked off their vessels and held a meeting of protest in one of the hasp sheds. It has been made clear that the men hope for an early settlement of the matter and a future meeting is proposed for a few days time if the desired increase of pay is not obtained.

Representations by the men were I communicated to the commodore commanding the New Zealand Squad- 1 ron, Commodore Rivet t Carnac. and a | report was later sent to the Minister; of Defence, Hon. F. Jones. The commodore later left for Wellington, where the position will be discussed to-morrow. In the last few days the commodore has been ill with influenza and the ratings paid him a high I tribute for going to the base and giv- < ing attention to their representations. |

The meeting was pre-arranged immediately before it was held. The men in the Leander, which is at present in dock for refit, were called upon' to continue with the cleaning of the j cruiser’s bottom, but instead of doing , so the New Zealanders walked off the ship in a body and went to a nearby ; shed. Here they were joined by a I large group from the Philomel and! also by some of the New Zealanders i off the Achilles. Others from the lat- ■ ter ship, however, were not able to do ! so. They said later that a guard of ■ Royal Marines was stationed at the I head of the gang plank after a com- ■ paratively small number had left the ; ship. Such meetings, it was stated, were not provided for under the Admiralty ; regulations. In the Navy, service ' complaints or requests had to be made individually and not collectively. Fully aware of this, it was stated by j some of the men later that they would I have hesitated to take the step decid- i ed upon if they had not been fully satisfied of the justice of their claims. Spokesmen for the men said that j other methods of obtaining better; pay had been tried in the past and a j complete failure had attended their 1 efforts, although on at least two occa- i sions promises to have the matter attended to had been made.

Imperial Rating.’ Position. Although a few attended. Imperial ratings did not take part in the meeting. It was stated, however, that Imperial men have aiso been considering several matters concerning their pay. One of these is that they are called upon in New Zealand to pay social security charges. VVnile the ycould not see the justice of paying the previous unemployment and then later the employment levy, they said they were even less inclined to pay for the cost of social security benefits, from which they did not ex- I pect to derive the least benefit. Present Kates of Pay. It was stated by the ratings that the rates of pay to-day are exactly the ! same as in 1924, the average Hat rate i being 7s 6d a day. It was aiso statea that this rate would not compare favourably with 2s 6d an hour paid to a ; labourer outside. Further it was alleged that the marriage allowance in ' the New Zealand Division is 14s a' week, compared with 17s in the Roya.' Navy, notwithstanding that the cost oij living in England is lar cheaper than 1 in New Zealand. Another complaint i is that clothes are not free as is commonly supposed, an allowance of 3d or 4d a day only is given to the men to buy and keep up their compulsory :■ kits. The most that a married manmay allow his wife is £2 17s 6d

weekly, it is stated, which leaves, after all taxes are deducted, about 5s a week to pay his mess bill and other i items. The men say they have to pay the I same taxes as any civilian. They point out too, that the Government aims to have New Zealand-manned ships by 1941 but unless the conditions are improved this would be an impossibility. They state that in 1935 on two occa-1 sions in May and Octber, 10 stoker. ; were required and 500 applied, 2 ! »‘ boy seamen were required and 309 j applied. With conditions as they are for the civilian, however, it was not possible to get seven stokers when 15 were required and nine seamen when 30 were required. The men conclude their complaintby challenging the statement of a naval officer that the New Zealand ratings are satisfied with their pay and conditions. The men allege that the navy has been neglected in spite of the fact that the army and air i force have gained substantial in-I creases in pay and improved condi- J tions. They claim also that a naval rating has no chance of meeting on ’ terms of equality the men engaged on work of equal skill on the shore. It has been stated that the trouble had

its origin in the fact that naval ratings have been unable to protect their interests through the formation of organisations similar to the trades unions in the industrial world.