WATERFRONT AFFAIRS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2996, 6 February 1917, Page 7

WATERFRONT AFFAIRS

—. 0 '■ WORK RESUMED' DISPUTE TO BE SUBMITTED TO COMMITTEE : Work was resumed on the waterfroafc ; yesterday, and all tho available labour was absorbed. The obstacle hitherto ' has been the dispute as to the unloading of the cargo of ;i certain' Homo steamer. The owners required that the cargo should be unloaded in nets instead of slings, and the men refused to use nets. Thou the employers of waterside labour said that until tho men agreed to work this ship no other labour would bs engaged. This was tho position at the end of last week. At the morning call for .labour yesterday, however, the secretary of the Waterside Workers' Union (Mr. J. fi. Bruce) announced that he bad received the following lotter from Mr. Bullock, manager of tho New Zealand Shipping Company:—. ;■ . . "I; shall bo glad to know if the members of your union arc prepared to work the , dumping cargo if required in this only, provided that no further dumping is done until the mattar has been dealt with by tho Disputes Committee. In the event of your acquiescence in, this suggestion, I, shall endeavour to arrange for a meeting of the Disputes Committee as soon as possible." .. . .. . This proposal was acceptable to the men, and labour was engaged for this ship and for others' on the 'berth. The : delay that..has occurred has paused , some congestion of shipping in the port* and there was .a considerable-unsatis-fied demandfor labour yesterday. A hieetiniT of the; Dispute^Committee Trill be held as soon as possible to deal Ti-ith this point about "dumping" cargo; and also with other questions that have been raised recently.. A REPLY TO MR. NATHAN (To the Editor.) ' Sir,—Mr. Hubert' L. Nathan, shipping agent, is \ very much upset over two resolutions passed by a meeting of Wellington waterside workers, which was attended by 1400 member?. So much upset is Mr. .Nathan,' that . ho asks "Are the people of-New Zealand going, to sit down any longer and .aU low a body of men to defy the laws of the country, more especially seeing that the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Federation' is encouraging the in-, troduction' of: the liW.W. ..principles in carrying out their work—tho 'go slow , policy," I should say. it depends what laws they are.- One thing certain, the peoplo of this country.'had to submit to the increased freight imposed on them by the shirh iping companies; for instance, Id. per 'pound on wool. Take into consideration that a. dump:of wool averages ■SQOlbs., the incroaso on each dump .would .amount-to £3 6s. 3d.; As wool I is one of ,tho. chiof exports of New ■Zealand, the rake off made by tho shipowners has by the farmers to amount to a million poupds. •How did the shipowners get this increase? ' Did they convene a conference of the wSqlsrowers and shipown'ersj and discuss the proposed increase'r . No chance'.- Tlie shipowners may not [believe in the 1.W.W., but they certainly aro direct actionists, as they ! fixed their rate without consulting tho producprs. The producers not havino; any ships of their own, hud to submit .•with tho best grace possible. Apparently they have not forgotten.{ho tactics of the shipowners, as they are con'mdering tho . advisability . ;: of.-_owning their own Rhips, which would- be a benefit to the people of New Zealand, Ss the profits derived from such ships -would come to this country, and not go to a , crowd of people who "have no other interest in New Zealand than tho profits thpv wriiijj out of .the people. Who are these shipowners? Look up the share lists of jhq different companies, and you will find many names that by no stretch of imagination enn >bo called British. • Was it not {he direct action, tactics' of the shipowners that forced the Australian Government tn purchase several steamers to convoy I'tlie Australian wheat crop homo? Have not the people of'this'country •had to submit to' the prices charged liy tbe butter rinc;? Are not the freezing works full up of meat at the present time? Yet the people have to submit and pay the prices .deni!>"ded. The Government had to step, in and fix the price of butter, but the price is a tonij way hipTTer than before the war. T)id Mr.'Nntlmn rush'to tho Frees with his comnlaint then? Have tho intercolonial shipping , companies reduced ' tho passenger rates tbnt were raised throufh the Australian coalminers , .-■ strike? Diroct action again. Mr. Nathan assures the public that the demands placed before tho employfirs by the Federation were simply impossible, and had the shipping companies conceded any one of them they would have crippled every trade and industry in this Dominion. Tho public should thank Mr. Nathan for his assurance, for if it is true, every trade and industry is in a bad state, Notwithstanding the fact stated by • tho Government and other public mon that New Zealand was never more prosperous. . . . -. •Again, the proposed working conditions are the most absurd and unworkable lot over placed before any body of employers, and any employor who would give them favourable consideration .would bo encouTaging'l.W.W.ism, says ; tho oracle. It may .surprise Mr.. Nathan that tho greater part of those demands 'aro in opor'ation-in some porb or .another- in Now Zealand. Is it not strange that, the stevedores who work tho ships Mr. Nathan is.agent for never dump cargo? Tho next timo lio assures the public he might'tell them how many ports in Now Zealand dumping operations are carried on in. Jt used to bo tho "Ucd Fed" bogey, now it is I.W.W. ' Try something original. If I.W.W.ism moans improving the working conditions on tho ■waterfront, let us hnvo it. What do you call the present system of working, where the watorsiders average an accident per day? It savours more of speeding up than going slow. The second resolution Mr. Nathan objects to, re the unimpeding of troopships and ships! carrying foodstuffs for the Imperial Government, is the opinion of one of the largest meetings of water-, siders. ever held in this, port, and ono they intond to cany out. Mr. Nathan' says tho spirit of the , resolution has not been carried out in the past. ]n referring to tho past, bo quotes no further back than Jnmitiry 30. Strange. Has there been no meat or other foodstuffs loaded beforo that date. Ho might assure the publio on the ques,tion of tho watersiders going slow. And be sure that he is correct. Take the period of the last agreement as a basis. It will bo interesting to have the figures. Let him ask the Harbour Board, they ought to be alilo to tell him. Re his patriotic appeal as to our members having relatives at tho front. It is tnin; men who wero knocked down in the Post Office Squaro by the batons of special constables wero amongst the first to join. , Close on 500 membors of our union havo enjistcd; how many shipowners have gone to tho front? It would ho interesting to know. Mr. Nathan says he thinks that wo have in our midst a small body of men willing to hinder our troops in obtaining their supplies froni thiscouniry If'we havo, thoy are not on the waterfront. Perhaps he'is alluding ! ;fco the , men who refused to sell their

cheese 'to tho Imperial Government except they got thoir own price, and tho mon who haggled over tho prico they wanted for their wheat. He mentions the word Britishers. Havo tho shipowners acted in a way that Britishers would? When thoy agreed to meet the watersidens' delegates, and put them to tho expense of bringing thorn from Auckland to tho Bluff to meet/ a. crowd of mon who absolutely rofu&ed to discuss a. clause of tho proposed agreement? Would.it not havo been moro honest and manly to have notified tho secretary of tho federation that they were not prepared to meet them? If Mr. Nathan wishes to work for the best interests of New Zealand, bo is not doing it by trying to forco the waterside workers to tho Court of Arbitration; as conditions forced on any body of people against thoir will can only bo earned out by threats, etc. A discontented, sullon crowd of -workers, compelled to work under conditions that they never agreed to, will bo bad for New' Zealand, and incidentally Tor tho shipowners.—l am, etc., J. G. BRUCIO. February 3.