Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1935. A MISGUIDED DISPUTE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 16, 31 October 1935, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1935. A MISGUIDED DISPUTE.

Should the restlessness of the seamen at Sydney develop into a recurrence of the trouble experienced in connection with the Niagara it will afford a striking example of unwarranted dislocation of trade and commerce. The whole trouble hinges on a waterfront dispute at Vancouver, the Australian seamen objecting to cargoes by their vessels being handled by non-union labour. In the case of the Niagara, an assurance was given that her cargo would be handled by a union recognised by the Government, but the deck hands would not accept that statement. After considerable delay the vessel sailed, manned by a volunteer crew, having to go direct to Suva, instead of making the usual call at Auckland, in order to pick up her scheduled running. The action of the Union Steam Ship Company did not meet with the approval of the Seamen’s Union, which now threatens to involve the other boat in the service. The weakness of the men’s contentions is clearly shown by the fact that a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada who investigated the strike m Vancouver blamed the men for the trouble, finding that the majority had been misled by unsound destructive leadership. With a perverted sense of the solidarity of labour the Australians have thrust themselves into a dispute that does not concern themselves or their fellow-country-men. This action threatens to have serious results for them, because it has been intimated that continuance of the trouble will lead possibly to the replacement of Australian crews by Canadians; thus depriving the former of their employment. That the action of the men is open to objection is shown by the fact that their own comrades on the vessel, the stewards, are not supporting them. Further, the union officials are anxious to confine the trouble, as a new award for the shipping industry is pending. Extension of the trouble would be disastrous, but even the interuption in the service that has already taken place has had serious effects for shippers and passengers whose business and other arrangements were upset, the great pity is that the trouble should arise from such an unwarranted attitude. _