The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1920.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 17021, 18 December 1920, Page 8

The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1920.

Trouble on the Sea. Tho various coastal and iutcr-State steamship services of Australia and Now- Zealand appear to bo on tho verge of a labour dispute whicli, if it de- ' velops along tlio lines at present indicated, may become a very serious matter. In this Dominion it is restricted, according to common but well-grounded report, to tho cooks and stewards of the ferry steamers, who have decided to hand i'n to-day their notices announcing their intention to cease work in 2-1 hours —to become oporativo 011 Monday, unless tho Union Company agrees to pay ttfiem the extra £2 a mouth that they demand. This will mean, in the event of tho company refusing to bo held up in this manner, the cessation of tho service, for tho firemen are said to jhavo declared their intention of walking out if an attempt is made to'fill the cooks' and stewards' places with volunteer labour. It matters nothing, apparently, to thoso who are threatening to tio up the ferry service at one of tho busiest times of* tho year and thu9 spoil the holiday that many • people intended to enjoy, that tho point in disputo has already been before tho Court, whose decision has yet to bo given. They seo in this occasion, it would appear, *an admirable opportunity to enforce their claim, and they evidently mean to make tho most of it. In Australia two disputes are engaging tho shipowners. One, which has developed to the extent that the sailing of two, and possibly four, steamers for Ne\v Zealand (ono being t'ho Vancouver mail-boat Niagara), has lveen _ postponed, lias arisen from tho demand by the stewards and pantrymen for an eifeht-hqur day at sea. Apparently ono shipowners' organisation granted this demand, as we had cable advice to that effect, but that tho otlier owners refused to do so Is evident from the fact that, as stated, several steamers have been laid up. Tho other dispute,.-' which seems not to liavo advanced during the past ten days, concerns tho frequent claims put forward by the Seamen's Union for additional manning of steamers and more accommodation. These have been made at intervals for m«iths past, and have lately been renewed, notwithstanding that in anticipation of the coming into force of the. new Navigation Act, shipowners have increased their crows and enlarged the accommodation*for them in accordance with the terms of that Act. Tho union, which submitted 92 amendments of the Act- while it was bet'oro Parliament and secured from the iiovernment the acceptance of most ol the vital alterations that they required, has now put forward demands for concessions far in excess of anything specified in a meqsure which they appear to have assisted largely to frame. For mouths past every demand made by the union -noon the owners, as it wei'e at tho point of the bayonet, has been granted, sooner or later, and this attitude of weak acquiescence has doubtless encouraged them to believe 'that there is no limit (o the amount of .squeezing which the owners, and eventually, of course, the public, would endure for tho sake of pe'acc, But this time the union has overstepped the mark. The limit of the owners' patience has .been reached, and with ib, as they no doubt recognise, that of their ability to pass on to tho public the increasingly heavy charges necessitated by. past concessions. Early this month, therefore, the Australian Steamship Owners' Federation announced definitely that tlio position had become so intolerable that they had no alternative but to make a firm stand. "It has therefore been determined," they continued, "that any further de- " mands in exce-ss of the requirements

[ " of the .Navigation Act will be resisted '"and that any steamers on which the "crews refute to go to sea unless sutl " further demands aro conceded will be ~ f laid up." In thus intimating that il the union wants war it can have it, the owners appeal confidently for the support of the public. They will, of course, j receive it —they could hare had it lont i ago if they had adopted the same* attiI tilde and had shown any disposition ioi j the struggle which a stiff refusal to be j bullied into conceding incessant and unreasonable demands might have precipitated. If wo are now to be involved in such a struggle we must meet it as best wo may. It is better f°r the community to suffer temporary inconvenience and loss than to put its neck meekly under tho heel of industrialists whose mission seems to He to wage war on rvi' ,-y class but their own.