H—ll

by the decision of an independent arbitrator. Work was resumed when the arbitrator ruled that the men should be paid extra, at the rate which waterside workers received for unloading phosphate cargoes. There were four strikes lasting more than three days in the coal-mining industry. The action of a mine-manager at Ohai in putting a day-shift worker on to the backshift caused a four-day strike, which ended when the workers' claims were withdrawn. The management of the State coal-mine at Stockton were alleged by the workers to have engaged a shiftman as a miner, when sixteen others on the waiting-list had priority. A five-day strike by three hundred men ended when, after discussions with the Coal Council, the man in question, and five others from the union waiting-list, were engaged and commenced employment. Miners in Huntly ceased work as a protest at alleged delay in payment, in several cases, of workers' compensation. They also objected to what they declared was an erroneous impression given by the newspapers reporting the strike, that negotiations concerning the delay had not previously takeft. place. Work was resumed on an understanding that the mine superintendent and the union would confer with a view to expediting compensation payments, and that the press reports would be corrected. In March, 1947, miners in seven mines at Huntly ceased work following the refusal of the management of one mine to accede to a request that 1.10 p.m. (instead of 2 p.m.) be the recognized time for stopping work on " wet shifts." Work was resumed after nine days, when it was agreed that if men, through no fault of their own, had to knock off during a " wet shift " they would receive a full two hours' wet-pay allowance. Should they cease work without a satisfactory reason, they were to be paid a proportion of the allowance according to time worked. _ There were six stoppages of more than three days in other industries, of which the more serious may be summarized as follows : —■ To enable them to see relatives in the Armed Forces in privacy, female domestic workers at an hotel were allowed during the war years certain privileges in respect of the entertainment of men friends. The withdrawal of these privileges resulted in cessation of work for five days, but the workers resumed on the advice of their union. Roof-tilers stopped work for ten days, requesting the dismissal of a foreman who, they alleged, used insulting and obscene language. Work was resumed when the foreman resigned. Nine Public Works Department workers lost thirty-eight days, when they claimed payment of travelling-time for the time occupied in travelling from and to the job in each alternate week-end. In the negotiations between the parties the usefulness of the work was questioned, and the claim was dropped when the job was abandoned. Flaxmill employees complained that the water used in the milling processes which was drawn from a river backwater, was offensive, and they claimed compensatory payment. An Emergency Disputes Committee decided that a special payment of Is. a day be paid to the workers until a certificate was issued by the Health Department and the Inspector of Factories that the nuisance had reasonably abated. Forty-two men lost four days in the dispute. Two other disturbances may be mentioned. The " Wanganella " dispute, upon which considerable attention has been focused, was still the subject of negotiations and bad not terminated at the end of the year under review. It will be reported in the Department's next report. Waterside workers at the ports of Auckland, Onehunga, Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Wellington, Picton, Nelson, Greymouth, Westport, Lyttelton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Port Chalmers, and Bluff refused to work overtime after 5 p.m. on week-days or on Saturdays during the period from approximately the 29th November, 1946, to approximately the 18th January, 1947. Their refusal of overtime work was stated to be a protest against a pronouncement of the Chairman of the

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