LONDON STRIKE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 135, 7 June 1912, Page 7

LONDON STRIKE

! TRANSPORT WORKERS' FEDERATION THREAT OF A NATIONAL STRIKE HOURS, 'WAGES, AND .WORKING CONDITIONS. SEPARATE CONFERENCES. ,By Teleatapli — Frew Association.— Copyright. (Received June 7, 11 a,ni.) LONDON, 6th June. The council of the Transport Workers' 1 Federation lias decided to affiliate with the International Transport Workers'Federation,- and is also arranging for ai national strike unlees it immediately; receives guarantees protecting hours, wages, and working conditions. Employers' and workers' delegates meti Mr Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, separately. Negotiations for a settlement of the dispute are progress* ing. Two (thousand additional men hove been engaged at the docks, making tho total employed eight thousand. DISCUSSION IN HOUSE OF COMMONS JOINT CONCILIATION BOARTi. A PRELIMINARY. MR. LLOYD GEORGE AND (THB MERITS OF THE DISPUTK. LONDON, 6th June. Mr. Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking in the Houso of Commons on the London dock strike, said that as a preliminary to the establishment of a Joint Conciliation Board, iOmpowered to settle all disputes, thd employers ought to form a board of their own in order to give wider effect and' more positive sanction to agreements made between tho employers and the men than was now possible. It was hoped that with a spirit of ttioderution on boila sides an amicable settlement would be found, ensuring a penna.ient peace pack Mr. James O'Grady (Labour member for East Leeds) said there were 100,000 strikers and £1,200,000,000 of capital' involved. Tho strike was the result of a policy of pin-pncknig. Mr. Lloyd George defined to discus* the merits of the dispute, but read a, guarantee, signed' by Messrs Gosling andl Anderson on behalf of the Transport' Workers' Federation, • endorsing the principle of the joint board with the. provision of monetary tf ttaratrtees on bothi sides to ensure the observance- of agreem«nte. Mr. Lloyd George added that for the first time London owner* had a &übstan» tial guarantee thab bargains would be earned out. He thought the men were entitled to ask the owners for a similar guarantee. The Chancellor appealed ta owners to do their best immediately t« form a comprehensive federation ; also to control under-cutting by employers. Ho urged the workmen to resume work meanwhile, as it was impossible to complete such a federation in a day, or ever* a week. Mr. Bonar Law, Leader of the Opposition, contended that .the men's ■wilting, ness to give a pecuniary guarantee was very important. It implied the recognition by the men's leaders Ithat the Trades Disputes Act was ruinous to tho trad* of the country and involved a repeal of the Act to a large extent. Mr. J. • Ramsay Mac Donald' (Labour member for Leicester) denied that the giving of a pecuniary guarantee was an, admission that the Act had been a failure. If the Government would guarantee that proper consideration would be given to tho men's grievances they would! return to work immediately. A motion by Mr. O'Grady that thc| whole question be debated was with ■ drawn.