WILL THERE BE A STRIKE?

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1265, 21 October 1911, Page 5

WILL THERE BE A STRIKE?

. » THE SHIPPING TROUBLE. UNION COMPANY AND THE GUILCk A DELICATE POSITION. Tho situation is somewhat delicate ii» tho dispute between llio Merchant Service Guild and tho Union Company, Captain Watson, secretary of tlio guild, returned from Dunedin yesterday, and a meeting of the members of tlio guild who happened to bo in Wellington was called , to hear his report as lo the proceedings bufore tho Conciliation Commissioner. Tho meeting heard what lie had to soy, ( and t»mo of those present expressed opinions concerning it, but nothing definite was decided upon. Tho meeting was, of course, a private one, and Captain Watson rciuscd to tell tho press anything whatsoever about what occurred in Dunedin, except that tlio position now is about tho samo as it was left by the conference thrco weeks ago. A 1 the last conference tho company submitted certain proposals, ottering conditions which approached, but did not quite reach, these proscribed in tho Commonwealth award. Those are practically the samo proposals which the company now oiler to the officers. Tho guild 13 | by no means satisfied, for tlio company refuses to consider overtiuio lor tho officers. What Will the Officers Oo? Tho guild members now in Wellington arc said lo 1)0 in invour of holding out lor something bolter than what is offer- ; cd, but, as shipping men say, this does ' not necessarily represent tho opinion of | members of tho guild. Many ot tho Onion Company officers havo been far av.-ay in distant ports or on tho high j s.'as, while all (lie business has been ' donu irom tho guild oliiee, and it is by no means certain that thc.-.c officers will welc'ino tho proposal to strike if things do not turn out as tbty" wish. They mv manly men who havo served their apprenticeship in divers inter-ocean trades, and Ihcy know, a.i others know, that the Union Company service is the best in ail the world. This is not the statement of tho Union Company, but tho opinion of men who havo 1 had some knowledge of shipping in other l countries. The Union Company officers ' work under conditions more nearly approximating to those of a man-o'-war , than those of any similar tervice. Tlio ollicers know this rather better than anyone cite, and tlivre is just a possibility that they will rtfuso to, say "Yes to every proposition put forward by Wellington members. Also, there is this to consider: That tho Union Company are an influential company, and a man turn- ■ cd down by them lias kss than an ordinary chance of getting into another 1 good service. These are tilings to which tho officers and masters most concerncd will, no doubt, give somo thought. Tho Penal Clauses, Concerning the ballot for cancellation of registration—tho idea appears to 1» current that tho officers can do as they please so far as Iho law is concerned once the registration is cancelled. Tho fact is otherwise. Proceedings have l>eon .tillered upon under (lie Arbitration. Act, and even if the Union Company insist umu taking tho case into the Court without consulting tho guild fuithor, the officers will be still bound by tho award, ami subject to the strike penalties in tho Act. It is known to tho guild executive as to the owners that all the mates and masters arc not discontented; thcro.ara eomo who nro ready to go on as things are. i Strike Prospects. Tho lot of tho ships' officers does not greatly concern the public, who are .interested only in tho prospects 01 a general laymp-up of boats, and consequent interruption of trade. If all the officers go out, they aro likely to be supported by other unions. 11 only some go out, the waterside men and the seamen and firemen will dccide for themselves ns lo whether a general strike will follow. So, at any rate, states Mr. T. Smith, secretary ol' tho Wellington , Wharf Labourers' Union. Tho main 1 trouble is expected when tho seamen bring their case forward. They lwvo stated that they will not submit to a rebuff, and if they go out, tho wharf ! labourers may havo their choice between doing no work and going on strike. Thcro is no groat sacrifice involved in their choice of the latter course. "Let It Come." Current opinion among men employing labour is that a strike must come, ana that soon. Some of them go so far as to say—"Let it come, and the sooner tho . , better. Let's get it over and dono with, and then wo can clean up tlio stablea afterwards." And they say ('his'because they recognise that there is unrest in the air, and that whatever is dono now, a strike will surely come before many months, or weeks, or days. The strike of wharf labourers in Syd.. no.v is causing shipping men hero eomo i anxiety, for there is such a good under- ; standing among union organisations separated even by hundreds or thousands of miles of blue water that they fear (hat (here may bo a sympathetic striko ! in Now Zealand. Mr. Jl\ Smith, secretary of llio Wellington Waterside Workers' Union, was, however, satisfied that there was no immediate causc for alarm. So j far tis he knew (he New Zealand Podcr- j ation had had no official communication concerning the Sydney striko, and he be- j liovod that it would bo short-lived, There , , has been another report current for a week or two that tho local men would rcfuso to unload the lonic when she ar- 1 rives next week on tho ground that slio liad been loaded during the striko timo in London by non-union labour. This report Mr. Smith denied absolutely. "Such a courso of action would be insane," ho said. "The thing is all set. tied now; if the strike had still been oil the position would lravo been altogether different."