United Action Is Sought By Auckland Men

Wanganui Chronicle, 22 December 1950, Page 6

United Action Is Sought By Auckland Men

AUCKLAND, Last Night (PA)—Between 2000 and 2500 railway workers held a two-hour meeting in the Town Hall this afternoon. They passed a resolution calling on the national ex* ecutive for united action throughout the Dominion in today’s negotiations With Cabinet failed. No definite arrangements for further meetings were made before the workers dispersed. It had been hoped that a decision from the emergency meeting of Cabinet, which began at 11 a.m., would be known before the meeting broke up, but no communication of any sort was received from Wellington.

The Press was not admitted. Mr H. Pooley, secretary of the combined railwaymen’s organisations, said afterward that the meeting had been orderly and that the resolution calling for a “combined front” had been passed unanimously. Among those in attendance was Mr L. Robertson, secretary of the Dairy Factory Employees’ Union, who has instructed its members to refuse to load out dairy produce to any form of road transport in the areas affected by the strike

The strike committee met for two hours at its headquarters in the Trades Hall this morning. Two representatives of the Waterside Workers’ Union, Mr A. Drennan (president) and Mr R. Jones (secretary'), were in attendance for a short time. Mr Jones said afterward that he and Mr Drennan had been present as observers. No meeting of their union had yet been arranged to consider the strike.

Sympathy with the railwaymen was shown by officials of the Auckland Drivers’ Union today in issuing instructions to members not to take goods or passengers normally came by rail. “Under no circumstances will the Drivers' Union do anything that will impair or weaken the efforts of the railway workers to secure their demands,” said the secretary (Mr L. G. Matthew’s). “We will continue to do our normal work.”