IN ASHBURTON COUNTY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8726, 27 November 1913, Page 4

IN ASHBURTON COUNTY.

LABOUR'S VERSION OF THE STRIKE.

MR J. THOEN AT RAKAIA,

BKAMES THE UNION COMPANY..

FAiIMEIIS, SUPPORTING

MONOPOLY

(By Tolegrapli —From Our Special* Hoporter.)

J4AKAIA, November 27. ' At the Oddfellows' Hall, Rakaia, last* evening, Air James Thorn, the dele--gato . Irom the Christchurch Strike- . •OomiuitU'<\' gave an address on the causes Uncling up to the present indus- . . trial upheaval, and/the proposals made v by ih<i Koilersition of Labour to settle the dispute. The hall was crowded/ and i' lair hearing was accorded 'the speaker. ' . ... , .^)r -ill. ICninedy, socreLaty the INiiMii nalnnii-ors' Unjon, occupied, tiio chair.

Mr Tlmi-v. in outlining the" early' history oi" rlic strike, s'-iid that ' i'or years it- Ji:><l. been the, custom to pay the' shipwright and watersiders 'of Wellington for time occupied in 'going to, and coming from, work up to "the wharves. Several months ago . the ITnicj-'i Company, without consulting the, men. reduced this, "payment from the mon's wages, which meant a reduction of from three to five shillings weekly. The men. who have not had a dispute for 40 years, complained, and suggested a conference. This the company refused. In Juno last the company wrote to the men saying the men were entitled to some payment for this time, hut since then the company had refused to make the payment. When tho company rejected a further sugges- , tion of a conference, the shipwrights / joined tho Wellington Watersiders' Union, and the union asked_ tho com- , pany to discuss the matter with a view to an amicable settlement. The com- . pany again' refused, and then the, "stop-work" meeting was held, a practice prevalent on wharves for years. This tho company held was an abrogation of the agreement, and it put on other -men to do the watersiders' -jobs,l thiis causing irritation, which led tothe stoppage of work. The Federation of Labour had nothing to do with the dispute until • eight days -after , the strike was called, and the first thing it did was to accept the terms of settlement made by the Union Company.,, When tlio Federation accepted .the terms the Union Company withdrew them, and the Employers' Federation. insistod upon registration under the Arbitration Act. This, although theWellington Watersiders by a .secret ballot had legally repudiated that system, was declined, the voting being 1 1048 against Arbitration and only 88' in favour of it. The speaker stated that this insistence of the - employers ■ w,as-..,..,,,. calculated io defeat the indention #F . legislation, because* the law allows, a trade union.' tho right of choice between • the Arbitration Act and the Trade.. Union Act. The men were not fighting for one additional penny of .wages, or one hour's reduction of work. They had stated their willingness* to return . to work under tho old conditions, to . hold no more stop-work meetings, put themselves under a financial bond,.and to make the agreement amenable to the jurisdiction of the Magistrate's- , Court. They had .compromised; everything but their rights -under the law. Those tho employers sought to destroy;hence the continuance of strife and the stoppage of work. The speaker referred to the astonishment of the democratic elements in the towns at, thereadiness of the farmers to lend them- ■ selves to the monopolist Union Company and the Employers' Federation. - - The .attitude of the farmers had done t much to deepen the misunderstandingbetween town . and ' country, and had' ' -; j reared up an obstruction to the co-, I operation- ■ which was necessary to ' I secure tho progressive legislation . „ i needed to ameliorate tho conditions | against- which /the farmers were constantly complaining. Evidence of how the Union Company discriminated 1 against. ihe Xew Zealand farmers was given before the Cost of Living Com- . : mission, in which it was pointed out, for instance. that the Union Company charged Australian fanners 15s per ton , to carry Australian .chaff from Sydney to Auckhi'id. while, at the sajne time, it charged Canterbury farmers 22s 6d per ton to cany chaff from Lyttelton to Auckland, where, of course,' Aus- - tralian child' csnno into competition ■ ■ with ii. Mr Thorn stsited that he- -- understood and sympathised with' the anxiety of farmery, about the removal of thoir products.-'but urged .that tbo,, right action could be taken jdftor a^ consideration of the merits of the" case. Had the' farmers refused to play -th« game of tin* monopolists, the,.men's case' ■must .have lieen conceded weeks ago, the strike ended, and the farmers' products handled by the men who had handled them peacefully for 25, jears past. ' " ■ The speaker made, a passing,reference .to tho special constable's, whose maintenance! was sustained by public monies, and whose only purpose was" 1 tho support of Ihe Employers' Federation in its atiom.pt to deprive a legal organisation of its rights under the law. lie also dealt with'the attitude of the Press, and said that in connection with certain journals there was a deliberate attempt to isolate the strikers from the sympathy of the public by a Homing criminal acts against the trmle unions. Tn several causes .i -•■.,. which he ineniioncd vii was"shown that' '».".,'; these si.ilciiKuils wore simply canards, " ' utterly bfimOess in fact, and obviously / intended to productl a condition of mental panic on the part of the public. No resolution was passed, but a collection was taken up, amounting: to £4 3s. lOd.

Aupliiuso greeted tho speaker's remarks (it intervals.