Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 18 September 1944, page 4


BUTCHERS' SHOP MEN'S

SATURDAY BAN

More Summonses Pending

More summonses would be taken out against employees in retail butchers' shops who did not work on Saturday, the secretary of the Meat and Allied Trades Federation, Mr. T. Herbert, said last night.

Against employees who had not worked on the previous Saturday, 127 summonses had been taken out, he said.

Practical^ no meat was available in the city on Saturday because of the refusal of the men to do Saturday work. No shortage of meat ia expected to-day. (

. There will be a special sitting of the Summons Court at 7.30 p.m. next Thursday to hear the first batch of summonses.

The application of the Meat and Allied Trades' Federation for a penalty 'against the Meat, Employees' Union will come before Mr. Justice O'Mara in the Commonwealth Arbitration Court next Monday.

A number of suburban huteher.s who do not engage union labour sold meal

on Saturday.

Mr. Herbert said last night that more unionists had worked in sub-urban shop3 than on the previous

Saturday.

STOP-WOEK MEETING

There are. about l,50f) shop em-ployees, but only 300 attended the stop-work meeting in the Leichhardt Stadium to discuss plans for the abolition. of Saturday morning trad-

ing.

The meeting overwhelmingly re-affirmed the decision not, to work on Saturdays. The men will continue to work on Wednesday afternoons if

asked to do so.

The men decided against the taking of a secret ballot by 238 votes to Ï.

A speaker said at the meeting that "there was scarcsly a butcher who w^s not selling meat above the fixed price, purchasing it on the black mar-ket, and buying black market tyres, and petrol to obtain it."

It was suggested by a speaker that for every summons issued against the men, 10 should be issued against the employers. The master butchers, he said, were committing technical breaches every day of the week, but so far they had been overlooked by the Meat Employees' Union. In future the union would proceed against those butchers. If employers laid infor-mation against the men, the men should retaliate by laying informa-tion against the employers for the

"black market" activities.

An official said he believed that in the country slaughlarmen would re-fuse to kill on Fridays, so that, re-tail butchers could not. work on Sat-urdays. If it was necessary the assist-ance of the slaughtermen should be sought to enable butchers to abolish

Saturday work.

RATION CHANGES

Butchers In the County of Cumber-land and within 14 miles of the New-castle post-office will ha required this week to confine their purchases of all classes of meat to flo per cent, ot their average, weakly purchases dur-ing the four weeks ended April 3(1, 1943. the Deputy Controller of Meat Supplies, Mr. Shute, has announced.

They will be entitled to 40 per cent, of rhe beef and ISO per cent, of the lamb they purchased during the base period. The remainder of their quota will consist, of mutton or veal.

An acquisition .scheme to meet the needs of the. Services will also be relntroriuced. All registered works within the County of Cumberland will be required l,o contribute 20 per cent, of the beef slaughtered by them daily. BAM AND BACON WORKERS

MEI.BOUTÎNE, Sunday.-The Arbi-tration Court ha3 granted members of the Meat Industry Employees' Union in the hp.m and bacon industry double time instead of time and a half for overtime after four hours.

Chief Judge. Piper recommended incrcasing marginal rates by 2/6 a week Ln certain sections of the industry.

These Increases s re subject, to approval of the Minister for Labour.