H—4s

Auckland.— ln co-operation with the Auckland Harbour Board, improvements have been made to the present waiting-room accommodation, and modern canteen facilities are being provided in the main waiting-room and at all main wharves. Some delay has been occasioned through shortage of building materials, but in the circumstances satisfactory progress has been made and it is anticipated that the canteen facilities will be available within the course of the next few months. Wellington. —lmprovements are being effected by the Wellington Harbour Board in lavatory and washing accommodation. The Commission has purchased the equipment of the Wellington Catering Co. and has effected a number of improvements in the main cafeteria. The Wellington Branch of the Union has accepted the responsibility for the management of the cafeteria, and hot meals are now being provided. Negotiations are still in progress with the Wellington Harbour Board regarding provision of canteen facilities at wharves distant from the main cafeteria. Lyttelton. —A number of meetings have been held with all interested parties at Lyttelton,. and it has been agreed that there is an urgent need for the provision of a new waiting-room at that port. The Harbour Board has given instructions to its architect to proceed with detailed plans of the new building, which it is estimated will cost over £40,000. The erection of this building, having in mind the present acute shortage of building labour and material, will no doubt take some years, and the Harbour Board has decided, in the meantime, to effect urgent repairs to the present waiting-room. Nelson. —The Commission has let a contract for the erection of a modern waitingroom and administrative offices at this port at an estimated cost of over £12,000. Work has commenced and satisfactory progress is being made. Timaru.— lmprovements to the accommodation at Timaru were effected during the year, and the facilities at this port are now satisfactory. Oreymouth. —The modern waiting-room and administrative offices erected by the Commission at Greymouth was officially opened by the Hon. James O'Brien on the 19th October, 1946. The facilities at this port compare more than favourably with facilities provided for any other body of workers. Bluff. Arrangements have been completed for the erection of a modern waitingToom on Harbour Board property at Bluff. Detailed plans and specifications are being completed, and it is expected that a start will be made on the building in the near future. Apart from the buildings referred to above, the Commission has erected modern waiting-rooms and administrative offices at Napier and Westport. The Commission has spent over £30,000 in the erection of modern waiting-rooms and administrative offices and is committed to further expenditure estimated at approximately £30,000 in respect to waiting-rooms at Nelson and Bluff and canteen facilities at Auckland and Wellington. 9. ANNUAL HOLIDAYS AND STATUTORY HOLIDAYS (a) ANNUAL HOLIDAYS An improvement was made during the year in the qualifying conditions for the granting of annual holidays for union waterside workers. The original basis adopted whereby a unionist qualified for half a day's annual holiday for every fourteen days or fraction thereof that he was working or available for work was amended to provide that the unionist would receive a half-day's holiday for every eleven days or fraction thereof that he was working or available for work. It was also provided that where a unionist had worked or been available for work for not less than 1,800 hours during the holiday year he would be entitled to receive the full two weeks' annual holiday.

11