A DEADLOCK

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLVI, Issue 10670, 15 February 1926, Page 5

A DEADLOCK

THE WIRELESS STRIKE, OWNERS' TERMS REJECTED. ATTITUDE OF THE OPERATORS. (Per Press Association—Copyright.) (Received This Day, 10.40 a.m.) LONDON, Feb. 14. Protracted negotiations between representatives of the striking wireless operators and the shipowners ended in a deadlock, with no immediate prospect of settlement, according to the Chairman of the Operators' Association, who said the employers simply repeated their terms and gave the Association seven days to accept, threatening, in the event of refusal, to offer certain conditions to men individually. The failure to agree was confined to questions of wages and the re-instatement of strikers, the employers insisting that the men resume at reduced rates and be re-instated only as the employers were able to offer service.

The Chairman concluded: 1300 ships are now going to sea without qualified' wireless operators; over 1900 men are striking. The Wireless Telegraphist's Association in a statement says the operators are prepared to submit the whole dispute to the Industrial Court, but are not prepared to prejudice their case, before the Court by accepting totally unjustified reduction. The statement points out that the wireless operators accepted reductions in 1922 and 1924, additional to any reduction accepted by other maritime workers.