UNION, BREAK-AWAY PLANNED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 167, 18 July 1939, Page 7

UNION, BREAK-AWAY PLANNED

NORTHERN CHEMICAL WORKERS DE-REGISTRATION UNDER ACT ' FIRST CASE UNDER LABOUR GOVERNMENT i 1 I Pri Pres>s Asaociatinn I AUCKLAND, July 17. Chemical manure workers now o i strike at the works at Otahuhu, Te Papapa and Westfield arc to meet on Wednesday to consider a motion to make an immediate application to cancel the , registration of their union under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. It it» anticipated j that do-registration of the union under the Act will be adopted by the workers. In that event it will involve the first break-away by a union from the principle of settlement of industrial disputes through th? Arbitration Court since the advent of the Labour Government. The intended action by the union ! was communicated to representatives 3 of the owners this afternoon by the > Disputes Committee of the Auckland i Council of the Federation of Labour at a conference presided over by the ) Conciliation Commissioner, Mr. Price. > A request was made by the union to ; the employers that they should en- - deavour to effect an early settlement of the dispute by consetKing to meet the union without delay on the question of an agreement under the Labour Disputes Investigation Act notwithstanding that, de-registration [ under the Arbitration Act will take ! some time to accomplish. The em- ) ployers’ representative undertook to get in touch with Ihe directors of the companies concerned on the question on Wednesday so that their attitude will be defined, provided the resolution mentioned is adopted by the , workers. Statement Submitted Proceedings were opend al the conference i<y the submission ol the following statement by the Disputes ' Commilt e of the Council oi. the 1 Labour Federation; - ’ “We desire to inform the employers involved in this dispute tout the union is taxing steps io cancel its registration under the Industrial ana Cou- ' dilation and Arbitration Act, a special meeting for that purpose having been called for Wednesday morning next. [ In anticipation of the rank and file of the organisation endorsing this pro- ( posal, we request the employers Lc ] immedial-ly appoint representatives t - med r ;rosenicitivcs ol the union and the Disputes Committee of the r eder- ( ation or Labour with a view to negotiating a new agreement. “The altitude of the employers up

to the present time has been that they arc agreeable to submit the ? whole matter to the Arb.tration Court, - out this attitude can no longer be pei- ) sisted in if the union concerned decides to de-register under that Act. > There is one position, however, which must be laceu up to, and that is the 1 fact that de-registration under the < Arbitration Act will not lake effect for 30 days and the union therefore I cannot register under the Labour Diss pules Investigation Act until this s period has expired. The Disputes - Committee of the Auckland Council of the Federation of Labour is anxious - to do everything possible to facilitate - an early settlement of the dispute, and in the circumstances we would asx • the employers to waive the legal formalities involved and agree, should the suggested negotiations fall, to make a joint application with the workers to the Minister of Labour to set up a tribunal comprising represntatives of employers and workers with an independent chairman appointed by the Minister as provided under the Labour Disputes Investigation Act. “Although the Disputes Committee has made every endeavour to stop this dispute from spreading to other I centres ;nd to avoid involving union.; other than Ihe Chemical Manure < Workers’ Union, it is obvious that :1 s the dispute continues this will become increasingly difficult. For that reason I we urge that the employers should do ! : everything within their power to! ? facilitate an early settlement of the I - dispute. f Attitude of Farmers. t “Furthermore, the workers have no desire to inconvenience the farmers by a curtailment of the supply of fertilisers which, if it occurred, would in turn reduce our primary production to everybody’s disadvantage. We do feel, however, lhat representatives of the farmers appreciate the rotten conditions under which members of this union are employed and the inadequacy of the present wage rates. We believe, too, that the employers agree that the viewpoint of the farmers would be sympathetic towards the workers in this particular case and that it was for this reason the employers hastily rejected the suggestion made at the last conference that a tribunal comprising representatives of the workers and the Farmers’ Union, with an independent chairman, be set up to adjudicate on this dispute. ‘lf the, employers are not prepared to assist us in bringing about an early settlement of the, existing dispute, we think it is opportune to point out that now the, matter is being handled by | the Auckland Council of the, i Federation of Labour, it is unlikely that members of any union affiliated to the federation will take part in any work that might be, calculated to break down the fight at present being put up by members of the Chemical Manure Workers’ Union, and it seems equally certain that if the fight continues, substantial finacnial assistance will be forthcoming from the unions affiliate*! with the Auckland Council to assist the men concerned. “In the circumstances, we trust j that the employers will adopt a rea- < sonable and conciliatory attitude, and i if that is done we feel certain that : ways and means can be found to af- 1 I

feet n early settlement of th:- dispute.” The Original Proposal For the employers, Mr. Ander-on pointed out. that he considered the committee had incorrectly stated the position regarding the farmers. As he understood it. the original proposal put forward was that a representative of the ’"armers’ Union. Ihe employers, workers, and an independent chairman be set up to deal with the dispute. The reason for its rejection by the employers was not because they considered a Farmers’ Union representative might be biassed but because a tribunal to deal with the case was already in exigence, namely the Court of Arbitrat’on. The workers’ representatives replied that the proposal made was on the lines set out in the original statement and that when th? suggesion was put forward, one of the employers’ representatives stated that h? objected to the proposal because he considered a represehtative of the Farmers’ Union would definitely be biassed in favour of the workers.