Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1935. THE SEAMEN’S STRIKE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 269, 27 August 1935, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1935. THE SEAMEN’S STRIKE.

The owners’ losses in connection with the strike of seamen in Australia totalled £30,000, while the losses in wages sustained by t'he men amounted to several thousands. This brief cable message published yester-; day gives the actual result of the stoppage of activities brought about by the dominance of the extremist section of the union. After nearly three weeks idleness, during which there was danger of a very serious position arising, involving loss to innocent parties, the seamen have accepted, by an overwhelming majority and with acclamation, the terms offered by the owners. The terms of settlement appear to be precisely those Offered by the owners some days ago, namely, that subject to the union and its members declaring the strike off and offering for all ships in terms of the existing agreement between the ship owners and the union, ali owners would instruct the pickingup officers to select suitable men for the immediate manning of ships, whether they had very good, good, or indifferent discharges arising out of the present trouble and that they would be selected without discrimination. The trouble had its beginning in the claim, subsequently dismissed by the court, of the members of the crew of the freighter Murada for overtime, and their resort to direct action in refusing to man the vessel. The Seamen's Union took up the case, and the re-engagement of these men was made an issue when a crew was being selected for another steamer at Sydney. The right of the shipping companies to free selection of crews was challenged, and the owners a< - e a position in which they felt compelleo to stand firmly for its vindication. By their acceptance of the terms the men pursued a course most praiseworthy but open to the comment that due consideration would have led to its adoption immediately the owners framed their offer. The manner in which the men received the announcement of a settlement is justification for the statement that the great majority of them became involved not from any sense of injustice as between themselves and the owners but from a mistaken conception of loyalty to their comrades. In the first place those comrades were led astray by an extremist element that, in order to gain what it considered an advantage against the owners, sacrificed the true interests of the teamen. Fortunately the rank and file realised the weakness of the extremist case soon enough to avoid extension or prolongation of the trouble. But in the meantime the men, as well as their dependants, have had to suffer the disadvantages of unemployment. It is regrettable that repeated demonstrations of the evils of stoppages of industry —justified no less than unjustified, regrettable in the first case but doubly so in the second—have not impressed upon the seamen m us tralia the utter foolishness of paying heed to extremists.