LABOUR TROUBLES

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21191, 14 August 1940, Page 6

LABOUR TROUBLES

WATERFRONT POSITION COMPARISON WITH AMERICA “SAN FRANCISCO A DEAD PORT” (By Teleg-rapn.—Press Association) AUCKLAND, Wednesday “Don’t growl about your unions here; you are lucky to be the way you are. “In these words Sir Walter Carpenter, the noted Australian shipping leader drew a sharp comparison between labour conditions in New Zealand and in the United States when he arrived by the Mariposa from a business trip to America. “It is a tragedy to see San Francisco today,” he said. “Once it was a flourishing port, but now it is dead. Before leaving to return to Australia I stood on a hill above the bay and looked over the 150 docks of the vast waterfront. There were only five ships there. Labour troubles at the port are such that no shipowner will -send his ship there if he can help it. “Control is Rigid.” “The control of the waterfront by the various unions is rigid. When a captain enters he cannot be sure when ho will get out again. All the ships that can cut out San Francisco do so. The people are inclined to blame the union leader, Harry Bridges, wholly, but it is not his fault entirely. It is the waterfront unions and the unions behind them that control the position.” Sir Walter bought two ships in the United States, the Admiral Chase and the Admiral Day, each of 5500 tons. These are now on their way from Canada to Australia, and will trade between the two countries. If sufficient inducement is offered they would include New Zealand. On the trips south they will carry timber, general cargo and sulphate, returning to Canada with copra from Fiji and New Guinea. The Hon. W. Lee Martin, Minister of Agriculture, met Sir Walter, and welcomed him on behalf of the Government and later discussed shipping matters with him.