The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1935. THE SHIPPING DISPUTE.

Evening Star, Issue 22106, 13 August 1935, Page 8

The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1935. THE SHIPPING DISPUTE.

Horns were entertained yesterday of a quick settlement of the shipping dispute in Australia. A meeting of the Seamen’s Union was held at Sydney, and the moderate section of that body urged a peaceful solution of the trouble. Their counsels fell on deaf ears, and the, seamen reaffirmed the decision, unless they got their way, to maintain the “ black ” ban on the Huddart-Parker ships. The Federal president of the Seamen’s Union declared that the seamen did not regard the issue as a strike. He said the shipswere idle as the result of a boycott by the owners following victimisation of men dismissed from the Murada. This is juggling with words with a vengeance. Simultaneously with the Sydney meeting one was held in Melbourne. Here apparently there was no hesitation about using the word “ strike,” and it was agreed to support the Sydney decision. Thus, unless the nest stage is guided by wisdom, there is a probability of a serious shipping upheaval. A matter of principle is involved in these developments. The spectre of “ job control ” appears, and the inalienable right of an employer to use his discretion in choosing his workmen is challenged. It is an issue that has been fought out in the ports of the Commonwealth before, with immense loss and inconvenience to the men themselves, the shipowners, the business community, and the general public. Obviously the employers cannot give way in such a development as this, for it strikes at the very root of industrial efficiency and organisation. Trouble began at Sydney nine days ago on the interstate vessel Zcalandia owing to the refusal of the Huddart-

Parker Company to sign on certain firemen, Negotiations for a settlement followed. These failed, and the company paid off the Zealandia’s crew. Then at a meeting in Sydney the militant group of the Seamen’s Union carried a motion that all the HuddartParker Company’s ships and the Union Company’s freighter Talune be declared “ bladk ” until the Zealandia dispute was satisfactorily settled. The reason for the action in the case of the Talune was that this ship was chartered to transport the Zealandia’s cargo to Hobart. A disagreement on the Murada at Melbourne about overtime was the root of the trouble. When the company declined to pay this extra money the crew refused to obey orders, and were consequently dismissed and given endorsed discharges. A man presenting one of these applied for employment on the Zealandia at Sydney. He was rejected, and so the trouble developed. It was claimed by the Australian Steamship Owners’ Federation that the union, in resorting to illegal action at Melbourne to enforce its claims, had committed a distinct breach of the agreement, which provides that all disputes shall be referred to a board of conciliation. The overtime claim is now under consideration by the Arbitration Court, and the Federal Cabinet is holding its hand until a decision has been given. News from Sydney and Melbourne to-day indicates that so far ten ships are affected, and that complete paralysis of interstate shipping is likely, as owners and seamen alike recognise the impossibility of confining the hold-up to the Huddart-Parker Line if the dispute lasts a few days longer.

The Seamen’s Union has thrown down the gauntlet by declaring that the Murada’s men must be employed when vacancies occur. Unless the union retreats from that position it is difficult to see how serious industrial strife can be avoided. It would seorn that with returning prosperity in Australia and more opportunities for employment the militant sections of the unions are becoming aggressive. , The basic case for the shipowners in the present dispute is that they are again defending their legal and ethical right to the free selection of those whom they employ. On this vital point they are bound to make a determined stand.