RADIO OPERATORS

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 121, 16 February 1926, Page 7

RADIO OPERATORS

DEADLOCK REACHED IN STRIKE NEGOTIATIONS 1300 SHIPS WITHOUT TELEGRAPHISTS London, February 14. Protracted negotiations between representatives of. the striking wireless operators and the shipowners ended in a deadlock, with no immediate prospect of settlement, according to the chairman of the Operators’ Association. He said the employers simply repeated their terms, and gave the association seven days to accept, threatening in the event of refusal io offer certain conditions to the men individually. The failure to agree was confined to the questions of wages and the reinstatement of the strikers. The employers insisted that the men should resume work at reduced rates and should be reinstated only as the employers were able to offer them service. The chairman concluded by saying that 1300 shins were now going to sea without qualified wireless operators, and there were 1900 striking wireless telegraphists. The association, in a statement, says the operators are prepared to submit the whole dispute to an Industrial Court, but are not prepared to prejudice their case before the Court by accepting a totally unjustified reduction. It is pointed out that the wireless men accepted reductions in 1922 and 1924. in addition to any reduction accepted by other seafarers.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.