The Hawera Star. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1925 THE SHIPPING STRIKE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 30 September 1925, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1925 THE SHIPPING STRIKE.

Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock *n Hawera, Manaia, Nonnanby, Okinawa, Elthara, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Alton, Hurleyville, Fatea, Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamara, Ohangal,, Meremere, Fraser Hoad, an Ararat*.

Although it may possibly give offence to one small section of the community, the. Prime Minister’s attitude with regard to the shipping trouble will win applause from all parts of the Dominion. The, announcement that, unless a settlement be arrived at before long, it. will be the duty of the Government, to take steps to see that the ships are unloaded, loaded and sent to sea, is an indication that Cabinet is not disposed to stand idly by while the primary industries of the country, and the livelihood of a majority of her people, are sacrificed to the whim, not of an organised' labour union, but of a few unattached and irresponsible firebrands. Whatever his polities or his place in the industrial scale, the average New Zealander is not hostile to trade unionism. He is sufficiently alive to the benefits of organisation ancF to the power of collective bargaining to admit the right of the men in any industry to club together for their own protection. And the strike, although it is a weapon which should be used sparingly and not, until every other means of redress has been tried, can at time be justified, for it presents the decision either of the whole body of workers or of its responsible and elected heads. We do not suggest that every strike will bear the searchlight of impartial .investigation; far from it; but there have, been just strikes, and it is by no means improbable that there will be others, although the unfortunate present-day tendency is to use the weapon more as a sandbag than as the flashing rapier of honourable combat. That, however, is wholly apart from a. consideration of the present position, since the seamen’s refusal to work constitutes a defiance, of their union leaders and a repudiation of the wages agreement which lias been accepted by their executive officers. This is more than a. strike; it is mutiny within the ranks of the British Seamen’s Union. Mr Coates explained briefly the steps by the Maritime Board which led to the recent reduction in wages; and the figures of idle shipping which he quoted indicate the evidence on which the board based its decision. Readers may welcome some further information concerning this Maritime Board, a body which owes its establishment to the war period, having been formed to ensure stability in the shipping industry; Members of the Seafarers’ Joint Council —representing all sea-going employees —have stated emphatically that the formation of the Maritime Board was the greatest advancement in British seafarers ’ interests that had ever

been made. Prior to its inception a company was free to make the hardest bargain it could with its employees, and the less reputable shipping firms took the fullest advantage in times of depression to secure crews at starvation wages. Now, under the, board’s ruling, no company can under-cut the standard rates fixed. The system of coming to agreements affecting wages and conditions is that each distinct class of seafarers —sailors, firemen, cooks and stewards, engineers, etc. has its own panel, which confers witih the employers and settles the terms by a method of round-table conferences. When all the panels assemble in full meeting with the representatives of the employers the National Maritime Board is constituted. This, then, is the body which decided on the reduc-, tion in wages which is the reputed cause of all the fuss, a reduction, be it noted, which was afterwards confirmed by the executive of the Seamen’s Union. At first sight it may appear strange that any alteration in wages should become operative during the, currency of an existing contract, as lias happened, in the case of those men now on strike in Australia and New Zealand. However, a provision was inserted in the ships’ articles during 1923 whereby the crews sign on subject to any increase or reduction which may be agreed upon by the Maritime Board. This was the men’s own wish, so that uniformity might be secured throughout, the service at all times. And, of course, the provision cuts botli ways; when the increase of £1 a month was granted last year those men who were at sea reaped, the benefit immediately, without waiting a return to their home port. So much for the ins and outs of the position as it affects the men who are holding up the commerce of this country. What of the consequences to New Zealand? It is sufficiently serious that, no matter how soon the strike may end, shipping services between the Dominion and the Old Country must be disorganised for weeks to come. But it is much greater cause for concern that already four. and a-half million jiounds worth of produce is being held up at) our ports, that shipping is being diverted to other countries, and that our hold on the world’s markets for butter and cheese and meat is threatened by foreign competition. If Ncav Zealand is to live, her primary products must be allowed to find their market, and it is vital to the prosperity of every one of the industries, involved that tlie supply of produce should not be interrupted for any length of time. The Prime Minister has stated that the Government will step in to save the situation unless it) rights itself in the. near future. Most people will hope that such intervention may not be necessary, but it is comforting to know that the Government is fully prepared to act should the need continue. And anyone who questions its right to act is no friend of Ncav Zealand.