IN OTAGO.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 9 December 1913, Page 5

IN OTAGO.

SPECIALS BEING REDUCED

IDTJNEDIN, Dec. 9 ..The membership pf the new Watersidersi' Uiiibh; is liow close* on 200. Although a number, of men have been released to'return to the country, there were 183 at work £his morning. • The Dorset is loading 1200 tons of frozen rabbits at Dunedin, and a special train will arrive in the morning from the Bluff with 6000 cases of rabbits for the same vessel.

The-remainder of the men at Tahuna Park were paid off to-day. "They, are still special constables, however, and Superintendent Dwyer has drawn up. a mobilisation scheme by means of which a force-' of over 100 T strong could be assembled for duty at an hour's notice or,less. In the present state of af-I fairs, it is not considered, necessary to j keep the mounted men on service. At ya. meeting of strikers this moi-n,-ing it is understood they decided that strike pay would be paid. 'A fortnight ago about half-a-dozen members of the Port. Chalmers Fire Brigade decided to resign as\a protest against* taking orders from an officer whjO was alleged to have worked on the Mokoia during docking operations, thereby doing work which would, have been done by unskilled labor if the men •haid, not been on strike. , At a meetling ' 'of. the Borough Council tp-night, it iv was reported. that vll; men out of, 15 had resigned. • The men will,attend fires as usual, pending a settlement of the difficulty. . ' -An adjourned _ ordinary meeting of the Seamen's TJnion was held this afternoon." There;was a good attendance." So far as can be gathered, the best oiiharniony did not-prevail at times, due mainly to the presence of a small' but noisy section of 'firemen from "down under." One result of the meeting was that a committee was appointed to deal with the question of relief pay. :•" The of this committee conferred to-night , with the Strike Committee and two representatives of the Carters' Union. The subject of the conference was to decide as to the disposal of relief funds, but the outcome of the meeting is not known. "