THE WATERSIDERS’ DISPUTE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4472, 13 February 1917, Page 5

THE WATERSIDERS’ DISPUTE.

GISBORNE’S COMPLETE ISOLATION. SHIPPING PROSPECTS. PASSENGER SERVICE DISLOCATED. POSSIBILITY OP NO VESSELS THIS WEEK. Inquiries were made by a representative or the limes yesterday regarding the prospects of the week so far as the steamer service is concerned, and tlie position disclosed was nit very cheerful, for according to the situation yesterday afternoon, there seems to be very little prospect of any passenger steamer arriving at Gisborne either from the north or south this week.' V

As indicated yesterday morning, the Arahura is held up at Auckland awaiting developments in the waterside situation. This steamer’s movements are very indefinite, and it is impossible at present to state when she can be expected back at Gisborne. Her advent here is eagerly looked for f°i she lias 300 tons of cargo overcarried from Gisborne, and some of this cargo i s urgently wanted here by business people. The Tarawera. which arrived here on Sunday evening in place of tne Arahura, landed some overcarried cargo. She sailed again yesterday morning for Wellington. Lyttelton and Dunedin. Her passenger list was a large one, necessitating two launches.

So far as the Huddart-Parker Co.’s vessels are concerned, th l e position is equally unsatisfactory. The Westralia, which was to have arrived here on , Wednesday from Sydney and Auckland, will not come now, but will sail from Auckland for Sydney again. There is no indication as to the sailing of the Victoria, which is held up at Wellington. The position, so far as the steamers mentioned above is concerned, is that unless the Arahura is available there will be no passenger steamers here for a week at least. The Richardson steamer Ripple has gone back to Wellington, while the ~Mako is engaged on Coast work. Whether any of the smaller coastal vessels will be available to maintain communication is difficult to say, but it is understood that the Richardson Company’s Tangaroa, which was utilised -during the waterside troubles two or three years ago, is not available this time. The position was discussed by the local shipping representatives yester-. day afternoon, when it was decided to await further developments. An emergency committee was appointed to act if required.

PRODUCE SUPPLIES. t'.'MF LINES SHORT LOCALLY. DUE TO THE WATERSIDE TROUBLE. POSITION THREATENS TO BECOME SERIOUS. As a sequel to the waterside situation. Gisborne is being handicapped and is suffering from a certain scarcity of supplies due to the bolding up of vessels n other ports. Yesterday afternoon a Times reporter made inquiries from many of the wholesale houses in town, and learned that- there was a scarcity in flour and potatoes, and to a less, degree in sugar. So far as sea-borne supplies are concerned, the position threatens to become more acute as the week passes unless it is relieved by arrival of vessels with supplies. Considerable quantities of Gisborne cargo, including sugar and potatoes, were brought to Gisborne by the .Arahura some days ago, "ii owing t > the watersiders refusing to work it this cargo was. taken back to Auckland. .Then on Thursday the vessel came hack to Gisborne with the overcarried cargo, but owing to the rough state of the sea in the bay it could not be lightered, and consequently had to he taken hack to Auckland again. But for the timely arrival of the Monowai on Friday evening and the Tarawera on Sunday with some of the overcarried cargo, the position with regard to flour would have been very acute indeed, as it was very short in supply and at least one baker was hard pressed to find sufficient floui* So far as N -ffour is concerned, there is a supply in store in wholesale houses for about ten days, and it is confidently hoped that before that- is exhausted shipping will be again running as usual. With potatoes the position, so far as- wholesale houses are concerned, is more serious, as stocks are very The supplv of locally grown tubers : s never very great at any time, but this seasoivs crop is v more or less a. failure, and local demands are being met almost entirely by supplies fiom other parts of the Dominion. A portion of the ove’.-carried cargo of tlie Arahura included potatoes. A'ot onlv are the wholesalers carrj ing verv small stocks of potatoes, but the retailers are in the same position, and it is understood that one letan firm, at least, is limiting the quantities sold to consumers. The produce steamer Te Anau left the Bluff for Gisborne on Saturday, via Uamaiu and Timaru, and will probably cany supplies of potatoes. -Hie time of her arrival here, however, is at present- somewhat indefinite and to all appearances it looks as if Gisborne householders will have to economise for a while in tins homely and mdisPO s"“ e article' much in demand, but. .in this commodity the shortage is more apparent than real. According to the manager of the produce department of a wholesale hmise which claims to carry the laigest ■-took of sugar in Gisborne, his firm yesterday afternoon sold the remainiinr stocks of sugar, and he remarked ihlt it was likely that other houses would be in the same position. He pointed out, however, that there was no fear of a shortage of .any. conse-. nuence for a week, or . a fortnight, His firm had been limiting the supply to its clients, and had been supplvinc them in even quantities. . retailers adopted the same principle the Wy would last longer than usual The shortage was caused by the inability to land the supply cairiecl 1 on the Arahura. which -usually brought dov- u a week s supply. The in certainty of the steamer .service f om Auclv nd was complicating the nosTtion, brt the reporter was assured that tb re was no cause for any pot i™ with t» t‘? T uff serious, for, from what the reportw was told, he gathered these th?' locally the case of I» \ cha g i s not grown supply of oats and cnai _ of any magnitude, wllolesa le P° rtec J also dependent upon the houses aie als “ f es in these comTe Anau a dvent Til Si be eagerly looked forward

*°The wlsjnformed that there alarm m so far as coa had receivas all the local m violls to the ed supplied of c°a Piev, co]lier rt a of coal' for the Gaseompany so for a few weeks supplies of, lipUt cl ' would he assured. , ± n Householders. are. advised not to view- the -position with alarm, but for a few days at least a certain amount of economy would lie advisable, foi

retailers generally do not carry large stocks of supplies of the lines mentioned above. Should no relief be given by the arrival of vessels with supplies, before the beginning of next" week, then the position will indeed, become serious, but it is hoped, witli a reasonable amotmt of assurance, that supplies will be replenished, before long.

OFFER FROM RETURNED SOLB-

lERS

The services of the members of the Returned -Soldiers’ Association have been offered 1 to the Government in connection with the waterside dispute. The offer was contained in a telegram sent yesterday to the Acting Premier, Hon, James Allen, bv tlie President of the Association (Captain W. J. Pitt). The message was as follows: ‘‘ln the event of the Government finding it necessary to take control of waterfront, I desire to offer services of Returned Soldiers’ Association in order to maintain supplies for boys at front and to aid - Motherland in present grave crisis. This offer is made subject to approval of my executive, who, • I feel confident, will endorse my action.”

Speaking to a Times reporter last night, Captain Pitt said that he desired to make iU quite clear that the Returned Soldiers’ Association was not concerned in any local dispute, and, so far as his Association was concerned, it would disassociate itself from any trouble involving only coastal or intercolonial shipping, as it was no part of its policy to interfere or even make suggestions in such a matter. What his Association wanted to ensure was. that there should be no humbug with ships which had any bearing upon the present great .Empire crisis, and particularly upon the welfare of the N.Z. Expeditionary Force. -'The members of the Returned Soldiers’ Association were not prepared to sit idly by and see their brothers in firms suffer by so much as a jot as the result of any paltry industrial conflict in this country. The war must be pushed on to the bitter end with the greatest, rapidity and expedition, and the Returned Soldiers’ Association was prepared to go to any 'lengths possible to ensure that their comrades at the front got the best of the deal. ,

Captain Pitt, added that the executive of the Association had discussed the possibility of such a crisis arising, and had practically agreed on a course of action, more or less outlined in his telegram to the Minister. Captain Pitt also stated that he received last evening a telegram from the general secretary of. the Association in Wellington, stating that the situation was apparently much more settled, and probably no action on the Association’s part would be necessary. Captain Pitt has not yet received a reply from Mr. Allen.

PROTEST AGAINST CAPTAIN PITT’S ACTION. At a meeting of t’he Freezers’ Union held last night strong disapproval was expressed’ upon the action of the president of the R.S.A., Captain W. T. Pitt, in offering to the Government the services of tlie returned men ?n the watersiders’ dispute. It was stated that his action was an abuse of the objects of the R.S.A., and also that such a course would tend to cause friction between returned soldiers and the Labor organisations. The hope was expressed that the executive of the R.S.A. would carefully consider the question before endorsing their president’s action, as the waterside workers had not ; terfered with the overseas shipping.

POSITION AT WELLINGTON. WANGANUI* BOATS WORKED. VICTORIA STILL HELD UP. AN INTERESTING POSITION. Bv Telegraph—-Special Correspondent WELLINGTON, Feb. 12.

A very great change-in the situation on the waterfront occurred to-day. In the morning the Union held a meeting at which the decision was made to work the Wanganui steamers previously held up. This afternoon a call for labor for these boats was put up, and gangs, were engaged for all of them. These gangs subsequently went to work. After the Wanganui steamers were supplied with men the Victoria was the next ship for which labor was invited. No men came forward and no other labor wa.s engaged for other -ships, although there was work for several hundred. It was thought that when the men accepted engagement on the ..-anganui boats the trouble was over, and the refusal of the Union to work the Victoria is not so easy to understand as was their objection to handle the Wanganui cargo. The Victoria was not worked at any port by free labor, but she was listed ‘‘black” by the Napier Union on account of what happened on ner last call there. The Victoria came down the coast from Auckland to Napier, and as she had Napier cargo to discharge the company’s agents at Napier engaged labor as soon as the ship was sighted, about 9 a.m. There was industrial trouble at the port then, but the men engaged there were union men, and they were engaged under the conditions prescribed in the industrial agreement now in force at Napier. There is an Employers’ Committee affiliated to the committee at Wellington, and the committee represented to the committee that the committee’s position in regard to other boats then held up would be very much weakened if men were allowed to work the,Victoria as usual. The owners decided to place the case in the nands of the local committee, and, in consequence of the committee’s decision, brought the ship on to Wellington without discharging Napier cargo. The men engaged were paid the ifsual award allowance in consideration of having been engaged and discharged again without any work. Another ship worked at the wharf to-day was the Antarctic ship Aurora. The Marine Department communicated direct with the Waterside Workers’ Union asking for labor for the -chip, and the men engaged this morning. The only significance of the incident is in that the Department absolutely ignored the employers’ organisation for the engagement of labor on ships. All labor for ships is engaged through the Wellington Waterside Labor Employers’ Association, and through the office of this association the men are paid for work done. Under any circumstances there would probably have been no difficulty . about getting men for the Aurora. The sitting of the Conciliation Council to consider the dispute cieated by the application on behalf of the employers for a renewal of the existing agreement should have been held this morning. The employers’ representatives arrived at the appointed liour, and about the same time the Commissioner (Mr. W. H Hagger) was communicated with by telephone bv the secretary of the Wellington Waterside Workers’ Union. The union asked Mr. -Hagger for an adjournment until this afternoon, by which time the representatives of the union would "be able to attend.!. This arrangement was not convenient to the employers’ assessors, and! a postponement until to-morrow _mor.nmg was arranged. It seems . probable now 'that the union will be represented on the Conciliation Council, but it is not at all probable- that any settlement will be reached by the Council at today’s meeting. If the Conciliation proceedings end in an agreement, it is not all likely that this agreement will be reached without another adjournment.. . .

. There is no news as to when the Government proposes to take over the control of tlie wharves. It is now suggested that decision on tlie point will be delayed pending the result, of the Conciliation proceedings. This must mean the loss of more time for there will be further delays after .the Government comes to its decision. Assuming that a Controller has been selected, there is still a Gazette notice to be prepared and published, and there are other arrangements to he made. ■ r The decision of the Union here to work the Wanganui steamers may or may not be important. The Wanganui unionists are now back at the work and the holding up of the ships here) is not to their interests. This may have been the reason for the unionists’ decision on the point. _ On the other 'hand, the Union may have decided not to protest further, but if this were so they would probably have worked the Victoria also. There is no disorder or trouble of any sort on tlie- wharves now, but the idle men are not at all content. About half of the members of the Union are working. Men employed by the Harbor Board are busy in the wool sheds and in the other sheds and some cargo is being handled from ships that have been unloading for some days, but no new gangs are engaged l and the number of men engaged is steadily being reduced .

NAPIER SITUATION.

FREE LABOR STILL USED

By Telegraph-—Special Correspondent NAPIER, Feb. 12.

Tlie position in regard to the watersiders’ trouble is unchanged. The men state that they want tlie Government to take over Imperial vessels and they express confidence that this will eventuate. The loading of a liner in' the roadstead with free labor was continued to-day. . . , The men at the North British freezing works are reported to have ceased work, but subsequently met the management and are all at work again. At a meeting of the Farmers’ Union the following resolution was carried : “That in view of the serious effects to our own soldiers and to those of the whole Empire likely to be caused by the present deadlock at the port of Napier, this mealing, considers it necessary, for the welfare of the said soldiers and of the coninmnity, that a band of voluntary workers be for nod to prevent a recurrence of the present position.” Organisation is now proceeding on these lines and tlie Women’s National Reserve is to be requisitioned for fruit-picking, so as to release male assistants for works at the port. The watersiders are holding a public meeting to-morrow night to lay their case before the citizens.

Several wool stores have discharged hands owing to a disinclination to work with free labor.

THAT LAMENTABLE CASE OF DAN. GREEN’S. ' (To the Editor.) Sir, —As a reader of your paper andi one of the general public, I must disagree with you when you state that Dan. Green ~ ‘makes a lamentable attempt to convince the public that the Watersiders of Wellington have right on their side in adopting the attitude they have taken up.” Why did you only deal with one statement in his letter, viz., "the Arbitration Court and obvious reasons.” You do not deny that the old agreement has expired, nor that on its expiry the employers, refused to discuss the watersiders’ new claims. Furthermore, no contradiction comes from you “that they did not strike.” As iar as I can see, if the statement be correct that there wa-s provided in the old agreement a Disputes Committee, andjtlmf’ the employers did not call a meeting of same to discuss difficulties seeing a dispute had really occurred, then the employers must he held in a large measure responsibleafor the present state of affairs oil the waterfront. I-s it true that a “black list” was drawn up containing 62 names of men who were not. to be employed by the labor foremen? If this be so, is it not a distinct breach of agreement which was arrived at at the last conference? Is it true that only, in this wide world, at Wellington .is the dumping system in existence? Are foodstuffs mixed -with bags of guano, bonedust, cement, etc. ? And what about the 300 accidents Dan. claims

have been caused by the process? Now, if all this he true along with the claim that the watersiders’ demand for pecuniary increase is a moderate one compared with the wage standard m Australia, where the cost of living is not so high, then ,the sympathy of the general public must go out to the watersiders, and you have made a bad case against Dan’s position. A few persons are saying that it is wicked, very wicked, for the watersiders to be demanding in this resolute manner some of the spoil of commerce. I have heard their action likened to that of a brigand. The general public, however, is concerned over the action of those individuals who demanded and obtained 55 p.c. on previous prices for a certain product of this country, which is indispensable to the men in the trenches. Of course the Imperial authorities had only offered a paltry 45 p.c. increase. The general public, is thinking very hard over that cheese for which the authorities, offer 9d< per lb, but for which a certain section oi tli© community is holding up for lid per lb. Grant now that the action oi the watersiders is one of pure brigandage, what are the other actions. The watersiders have lost faith in the Arbitration Court. Were I a watersider, or for that matter a manual worker of any kind, my faith in that Court’s decision would have received a -considerable shake- after reviewing that pitiless award in respect to the carters it gave last year. I think 1 nave given one of the “obvious reasons.”—l am, yours, etc., J.G. [We are afraid that “J.G.” has quite missed the real point. Our correspondent wished to ’make out that the waterside workers had a perfect right to. go past the industrial tribunals of this Dominion. But the missing "obvious reason which “J.G.” now. supplies on his behalf does not advance bis argument one iota. If the men, are working under disabilities andi if the rates oi payment are inadequate—these are matters upon which evidence . should be brought before the Conciliation Council or the . Arbitration Court. The Disputes Committee could never have settled the dispute. For the purposes of the hearing of this particular dispute, the employers, it must not be forgotten,'- agreed not to raise any objection if the men wished expert assessors to be appointed. Sympathy for the watersiders will not exist -so long as they continue their present tactics. The point is that ho section of the community can be permitted to override the industrial laws of this country. The tactics of the leaders of the men—we are not blaming the rank and file—savour far too much, of 1.W.W.-ism. It'may be addled that it is pleasing to find, according to latest reports, that the watersiders see the folly of the tactics which have been adopted on their, behalf, and already they have retreated very considerably from, what the general public must regard, as an entirely untenable position.—Ed. G.T.]