THE WATERSIDERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 53, 4 March 1925, Page 10

THE WATERSIDERS.

BIG STRUGGLE STARTED.

TWENTY-TWO SHIPS IDLE. CARTERS RECEIVE NOTICE. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") WELLINGTON, this day. A significant reminder of how rapidly shipping trouble may affect general employment was given yesterday, when a large number of carters and motor lorry drivers employed by leading transport firms in the city were gii'en a week's notice. It was explained, by an employer that this is a precaution against a continuation of heavy .losses which they must sustain if the shipping trouble continues. Wellington appears to be well supplied with coal for industrial purposes, and when the ships can be worked there are three with coal cargoes alongside the wharves.

Altogether 22 vessels will be idle in port, including the arrivals of Wednesday morning. Intercolonial and San Francisco mail steamers are able to land passengers' luggage, as the Harbour Board's permanent staff deal with this class of goods, and no complication is likely to result. The Ulimaroa, which arrived to-day from Sydney, landed mails and luggage, but" no cargo, the Huddart-ParkeF- Company announcing that if the trouble lasts over Thursday, when the steamer is due to return to Sydney, the cargo must be carried back to Australia.

It will be noticed that the watersidera have appealed to the unions for funds, though no mention is made of the Alliance of - Labour, of which the Watersiders' Federation and the New Zealand Seajnen's Federation are the most important affiliations, the railwaymen having been obliged to cease their association with that body. The drivers' unions, are also in the alliance, but many members of this union may themselves require assistance if the trouble is prolonged. A good deal seems to depend on the financial resources of the watersiders and their supporters in determining the duration of the struggle.