SHIPPING NOTES.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17862, 7 September 1923, Page 13

SHIPPING NOTES.

LONDON DOCKERS' STRIKE,

(rSOJt OCX OWN CO3MSPOSMXT.) LONDON, July itS.

Overshadowing till other things of interest ia chipping quarter* to-day is ths strike. Xcw Zealand vessels have boon piling U P in tho decks or ia the stream. Fortunately the men at the West Coast porta have seen the error o! their ways and havo returned to work. Hull, where the trouble started, and London, arc now tho only places cc. It was anticipated that tho men at Tilbury would be back at work early t&is week. They were anxious to return, but ovring to istrmidat.on th>y were compelled to remain idle. In the meantime, the Port of London Authority and the shipping companies aro leaving the JSeu to fight the matter out vrilh their leaders. Last Sunday Ifr Harry Gosling, M.P. (president of the Transport and Gecoral ■Workers' Union), Mr Ernest Bevin (general secretary), and Mr J. T. Scou'.ding (area secretary) wero refused a hearing at a large mass meeting which was held *t Premierland, in Commercial road. Some 50CO dockers, at the request of their strike leaders, rose up, aad amid calls of "Kesign!" and "Traitors!" walked out of the building. It was a deliberately planned insult. Thus the matter stands. Tile Union officials cannot break their agreement, nor can tie employers. Of tho New Zealand Shipping Company's Teasels lying idle th«re are the Kaikoura Mid the. Hummii. These have the greater part of their cargo discharged, and for that very Teason the difficulty of keeping the refrigerating plant efTcctivo is ill the greater than if the vessels were fu*!. The Westmeath, Orari, and Opawa have come in since the striko begun, ar.d so are lying at the docks with full cargoes abcard. G the Shaw, Savill and Albion fleet, there aro the Mahia and the Waimar.a with full cargoes, and the Karanga ard tho Tainui, whose cargoes could bo got out in a day or two. The "Waiwera arrived & few days ago, and the Matakana is due in ten days, while the lonic is expecied in three weeks' time. Commonwealth aid Dominion steamers held up with New Zealand produce on are tho Port Napier and tho Port Melbourne.

In the meantime, oi course, overseas produce will be accumulating and somo disorganisation ia likely to result at a certain period subsequent to the settlement of the dispute. This applies moro particularly to Argentine meat. Fortunately for New Zealand, the strike has come at an opportune time. Even if tho dispute continues for ® few moro weeks, the vessels trading to New Zealand which will then be released will arrive there for the early dairy produce, but there will not bo much demand for space for wcol or meat. Short Freights. A matter which is displeasing the shipping companies at tho present time is the withdrawal of meat and daily produce from shipment in the Dominion. Owing to the temporary fall in prices, there is a decided tendency on the part of shippers to retain their produce in cold store. This will probably have a goad effect on prices at this end, but the shipowners maintain that in this respect their agreement is one-sided. They are bound to send their vessels out lo the New Zealand ports, but thero is no compulsion on the parf of the producers to ship their produce. Thus & number of Teasels recently arrived in London have «ome with short freights. Without specifying tho ex&ct vessels, the following numbers show the deficiency:—One .arrived short of 29,000 carcases of lamb and mutton; another 2000 short; another 16,300, and two others with 4Q,2t)0 and 19,500 carcases short respectively. The consequence is that several recent voyages have ehown a loss on the working costs, quite exclusive of insurance and depreciation.

It is pointed out that the lowering of freights a year ago" was based on the cheaper coal available, and on the hope of New Zealand charge® being reduced. Coal iiv this country, owing to the situation in the Ruhr, has pone up from 23s 6d to 375.6 d per ton, and there have been no reductions in the running costs while in New Zealand waters. Lijjrht due's rhave been raised by 'SO per cent, but there.