Mass Stopwork Meeting At Auckland

Wanganui Chronicle, 9 March 1949, Page 5

Mass Stopwork Meeting At Auckland

AUCKLAND, Last Night (PA>. A decision to recommend a mass stopwork meeting in Carlaw Park at 1.30 p.m. on Thursday of all trades unionists involved as a result of tlie carpenters’ dispute was made at a meeting of the joint action committee of unions.

In a statement issued by the committee the decisions reached at meetings held over the last two days were announced. These concern action against tlie Auckland Farmers' Freezing Company, the New Zealand Shipping Company and the New Zealand Glass Manufacturers’ Company Proprietary Ltd. Work by watersiders on the steamer Northumberland ceased today. One hundred watersiders declined to work on her. This follows the dismissal yesterday of 15 men who refused to unload from No. 6 hatch soda asli lor the Penrose glassworks. The Port Committed suggested that all cargo from the hatch be discharged and the soda ash isolated in a wharf shed. The men did not accept tlie proposal. “The production of glass at the Penrose glassworks will cease tomorrow morning when a quantity of fuel oil sufficient to keep the furnaces going is delivered to the works," said Mr. L. Leask, works manager of the N.Z. Glass Manufacturers Company Proprietary Ltd., tonight. He said the drivers’ union had agreed to lift its ban on supplying fuel oil to the works so that the furnaces could be kept going, and 'the company had given the union a written assurance that the fuel delivered would not be used in production. Tlie men employed at the works would be engaged in packing glass manufactured during the the past fewdays, and the company did not anticipate dismissing any employees within the next two or three days, said Mr Leask.

A relief fund for contractors who experience financial difficulty during the present dispute with carpenters is being established by the Auckland Master Builders’ Association. About £2OOO has already been received or promised. It includes a donation of £lOOO from the New Zealand Master Builders’ Federation, £250 from a private Christchurch builder, and £lOO from Manawatu maste r builders, with promises of £4OO from the Wellington master builders and £250 from Nelson master builders. The Waikato, Southland and Otago Master Builders’ Associations are meeting to decide on contributions. Work in the roof-tiling industry is rapidly coming to an end. '1 His is due to dislocation of labour arising from the carpenters’ dispute and the refusal ot’ tilers to fix battens on jobs from which carpenters have been dismissed. LATEST DEVELOPMENT The latest development in the industrial dispute tonight is that no produce will be loaded tomorrow into two food ships in port that have not yet taken their full cargoes for the United Kingdom. This follows the boycott imposed by the watersiders, drivers and railway workers against the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company because it would not undertake to employ dismissed carpenters. All butter and cheese exported from Auckland is handled by the company. Tlie loading ot produce from the company’s cool stores ceased at the port at 5 o'clock this afternoon, but the ban on deliveries to the stores will not be enforced until Thursday.