STRIKE ENDED

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 April 1924, Page 5

STRIKE ENDED

CALLED OFF BY A.S.R.S. WORK RESUMED TO-DAY (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, April 29. The representatives of the A.S.R.S. men announced that the strike had been declared off. This followed the interviews and conferences which occupied the day, and' continued to-iiight till within about an hour of midnight. Mr. M., Connolly, President of the A.S.R.S.; made the announcement in these terms: —“The strike is called off from midnight. All members are instructed to return to work. Negotiations will be entered into with the Minister at 9.30 to-morrow (Wednesday) morning.”

RUSH TO WORK. WELLINGTON, April 30. There was not much activity at either the Thorndon or Lambton stations this morning, but it is expected that the men will all be back at work this afternoon. Numbers of the men were not aware of the order to resume work until after the prescribed time for returning to duty. Some reported early in the mbrning and went off to don their uniforms. x The inactivity chiefly is due to the fact that a meeting oi the men was called for about ten o’clock for the purpose of explaining to them their position. The ordinary suburban time-tables will not be resumed until to-morrow. Meanwhile, a temporary service is being continued, engines being sent out along the lines to make ready for full traffic services. Telephones and points are being put in order again. There will be no New Plymouth or Napier trains until Friday, and the Main Trunk express service will recommence on Saturday. The Petone men did not receive official news of the ending pf the strike until 10 a.rn. Many men, however, who had heard the news went down to the workshops gate ready to start, and some resented the action of the pickets in refusing them entrance, stating that the official news should have been given earlier. Later the local president instructed the men to go to the station, get their pay and reassemble at the meeting this afternoon. Some men, under instructions, started work getting the shop engines going. CANTERBURY DEVELOPMENTS. (Special to “Star.”) CHRISTCHURCH, April 29. The “A” goods shed has lost the dead appearance it had last week, the advent of the casual labourers making all the difference. These men have been doing good work in the circumstances, and a considerable clear'ancq has been effected from the sheds, and goods which might otherwise. have laid there for an indefinite period, are now in the hands oi the Christchurch consignees. It appears, however, that in order to get the goods away .as early as possible, a number of clerks in the goods office are acting as tally clerks, such work being usually done by men in the second division. The present tally clerks, it is. stated, have not offered for such duties. The. Secretary of the Railway Officers’ Institute states that these men are doing the work on the understanding that a refusal means suspension. The secretary states that the threat of suspension is in. direct opposition to the promise given that there would be no coercion, and he accordingly telegraphed the general executive in Wellington for instructions. He received the following reply:—With reference to the performance of second division duty by first division men, the General Manager has stated definitely that he‘had asked for volunteers only, and that no me.n who declined to do second division work would be. penalised. The executive would be informed of any alteration in the Department’s policy. The. view of the matter taken by the Railway Department is that tallying is a branch of clerical work, and therefore comes within the scope of the duties of first division men, although it is admitted that such work m Christchurch, at least, is usually done by second division men. From enquiries made to-day, it was understood that the freezing works in the vicinity of Christchurch would be in full swing by to-morrow morning. The Canterbury Froze.n Meat Coy reported plenty of stock no trouble having been experienced, and everything was working smoothly. The New Zealand Refrigerating Coy had sufficient stock on hand to keep the works going, although more could be handled without straining the resources. The fact that the emergency train services were carrying some stock to the works has improved the situation. The stock that has travelled by road fairly long distances to the work is being given a chance to freshen up before being killed. T. Borthwick and Sons are opening their works to-mor-row morning.

RESUMPTION POPULAR. CHRISTCHURCH, April 29. Several strikers returned to duty at the Christchurch Station this morning in addition to those who resumed duty yesterday. The District Traffic Manager stated to-day that among the men who had gone to work again were guards, signalmen and porters, totalling a dozen altogether. It is understood that several platelayers, bridgekeepers, and other men in the Maintenance Branch have also started work. The feeling expressed by departmental officers, is that the returning to work of strikers in large numbers is a sign that an end is. near at hand. “I believe to-niorrow morning there will be. a regular stampede of men back to duty whether the strike is. settled or not,” remarked one official to-day. His opinion is shared by others, who say the morale of the strikers is distinctly weaker. ASHBURTON, April 29. It was reliably stated to-day that a big percentage of the Ashburton strikers are anxious to resume work to-morrow, and also that the Executive have, been informed of the local opinion. The branch held a meeting this afternoon. Though it was confidently expected by a number of strikers that a decision to resume would be. reached, the officials, declared there was nothing to report. It is expected that a number will report for duty

in| the morning. several gangs oi surfacemen and a guard resumed work this morning. CHRISTCHURCH, April 30. ’ Normal train services resumed on the Lyttelton line at 10 o’clock and all other lines in the North Canterbury section at noon. SUPERANNUATION FUND. DUNEDIN, April 30. By .11 o’clock this morning 500 of the 600 employed at Hillside, casual and permanent, had returned to work. As it was pay day, the men were much puzzled that no deduction was made from this pay for superannuation. The full railway service, with two expresses for Christchurch and two for Invercargill, will resume to-morrow. The service north to-day extended only to Oamaru. The goods service will be easily re-established. There was no serious accumulation in the Dunedin sheds. DISTRICT REPORTS AUCKLAND, April 29. A train will le.ave Auckland for Wellington at seven o’clock on Thursday morning, passengers spending the night at Ohakune, and arriving at Wellington next day. TIMARU, April 29. At a meeting of business men this afternoon it was decided to establish an information bureau in a central position, and an officer was appointed whose duty will be to give all information concerning times of running trains, and motor vehicles between Christchurch and Dunedin, and accommodation in them for passengers and goods. It was stated at the meeting that the South Canterbury district is now ■ well served by motor vehicles and the skeleton train service. No 1

wharf to-day was converted into a cart wharf, and a steamer discharged and loaded at it. HASTINGS, April 29. At a meeting' of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce, a resolution was adopted regretting the action of the A.S-R.S. in taking direct action without regard for convenience of the public, in existing circumstances, according whole-hearted support to the Government in its. efforts to resent any attempt ,of the Associaion, claiming to represent only a comparatively small section of tire community, to transfer to itself power and authority : rightly vested in the government of the country. NEW PLYMOUTH, April 30. Every railway man reported for duty this morning. A skeleton service is running to-day, and a full service is expected to-morrow. The loading of the steamer Piako with frozen meat from Waitara was resumed, but is hampered by rain. SCENES AT GREYMOUTH. WHEELS AGAIN TURNING. The sound oi locomotive whistles, after more than a week’s silence, was welcome at Greymouth this morning and quickly produced a more cheerful atmosphere among townspeople generally. The news that the strike was over spread rapidly, and considerable interest was taken in the departure of the first train from Greymouth. This was the food train for settlements beyond Moana, which was arranged by the Railway Department yesterday. The original intention was to man the train with administrative officers; but the action of the A.S.R.S. in terminating the strike rendered such measures unnecessary. After the men had confirmed the A.S.R.S. decision, the train was manned by the regular locomotive men and guards, and left shortly after 9.30 a.m. The train consisted of two vans and one passenger car; the latter of course, would not have been placed on the train had the strike been in operation. From 8 o’clock a line of carts and motor lorries was drawn up alongside the Riverside Station and the representatives of the various firms assisted in loading all kinds ot foodstuffs, a motor-lorry load of bread. It wa,s stated that

the two vans contained a week’s supplv of provisions. The preparations were supervised by the head officers of the Department, and the Disti-’U Traffic Manager (Mr J. L. Morgan) travelled on the tram. Good-natur-ed chaff was exchanged between the train crew and watching members of the E.F.C.A. as the train pulled out. The ordinary train service could not be resumed this morning a,s the lines must be \inspeoted, minor repairs being necessary after the cessation of maintenance work and the heavy weather. The District Traffic Manager issued the following statement: —“Owing fio the late receipt of the information regarding the railwaymen resuming work, arrangements could not be made for a through train to Canterbury, nor for local morning trains to run. The track has to be inspected, and minor repairs effected. It is expected that the ordinary services in Westland will be resumed from about midday to-day.” A further handicap to the running of trains this morning was the fact that the staffs had not all .returned to work, some of the men living out of town being unaware that the strike was called off. It is expected that the usual trains will run this afternoon, including those to Dunollie Reefton and Hokitika, and that a full service ' will be available morrow. The express for Christchurch is expected to carry a large number of passengers, including

members of the Linwood Salvation Army Band, who have been held up at Greymouth since Easter. “We’ll retire now,” said a smiling taxi-driver. “It has been a pretty strenuous week and we can do wi'fh a rest.”

Conditions will not become normal at the mines and mills for a few days, as the' accumulated coal and timber will have to* be removed before further output is possible. The resumption of running on the railways will remove the blockade on the wliarf and discharging and loading operations will commence in earnest as soon as the weathed moderates and the bar is workable. LINES CLEAR. The Railway _ Department stated this afternoon that the food train reached Otira according to schedule, the line being in good order. The train returned to Greymouth this afternoon. An. inspeoti on of the Rewanui and Reefton lines proved that they were in a satisfactory state for the resumption of the usual services, but a report on the condition of the Hokitika line had not been received. Shunting operations have been resumed on the Greymouth wharf.