MEN ON STRIKE

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20841, 27 June 1939, Page 9

MEN ON STRIKE

MANURE WORKS IDLE REVISION OF WAGES BOUGHT FORMER AWARD ABROGATED (Special to Times) AUCKLAND, Tuesday A strike involving about 400 men employed at the chemical manure works at Otahuhu, Westfield and Te Papapa was declared yesterday, following stopwork meetings. Action was initiated at the Otahuhu works of the Challenge Phosphate Company, Limited, where the 220 employees held a meeting. Delegates proceeded later to the Westfield works of Kempthorne, Prosser and Company's New Zealand Drug Company, Limited, and the Te Papapa works of the New Zealand Farmers’ Fertiliser Company, Limited, and persuaded the men there to cease work. The strike is the culmination of dissatisfaction with the Arbitration Court award made in October of last year. Since then several conferences between the employees and the employers have been held and the parties agreed to an abrogation of the award. The rflen’s decision to declare a strike is a the result of the employers declining to consider demands for substantial increases in wages. Statement by Employers The position was reviewed in detail in a statement issued on behalf of the employers. “An award for a new scale of wages which was to have effect for two years as made by the Arbitration Court and came into force on October 24, 1938,” it stated. “The men were dissatisfied with it and at I heir request a conference was held on May 17 last, at which were pcesent representatives of all the manufacturing companies in New Zealand. It was presided over by Mr C. L. Hunter, acting on behalf of the Labour Department. i “At the conference the employers were given to understand that the chief grievance of the men was that the award had not been retrospective and was for two years. It was decided, by consent of both parties, to cancel the award on June 14. The employees w’ere under the impression that th,e men would at once apply for a new award, but the union representatives pressed for an immediate revision of wages without going to the court and following the normal procedure. The employers could not agree. The union had demanded a minimum wage of 2s lid and a maximum of 3s 8d an hour, which were considered by the employers to be impossible of achievement. The aw r ard rates provided for payment at the rate of 2s 4Ad and 2s 7Ad an hour. Expense to Plant In advising the management of the works of the men’s intention to strike, the union delegates stated that the acid plant would have to be slowed down and manufacturing stopped by 8 a.m. today. The management replied that a slowing down of the plant would be inevitable but that it would be disastrous to the industry and the farmers if the acid plant were allowed to burn out. It was pointed out that the fires in the plant operated ceaselessly year in and year out and considerable havoc and expense would be incurred should the men’s demands in this respect be conceded. managements at the three w’orks are reducing the operation of the plant to a minimum and an effort will be made to maintain the w’orks at a pitch that will ensure a complete resumption of production on the settlement of the differences. The works have been operating at full pressure recently in producing supplies for top-dressing. “The shortage of trucks for the carriage of fertilisers has just been overcome,” stated an official. “It is unfortunate that the farmers are denied supplies of manures at the time when the Railway Department is in a position to meet all transport requirements.”