THE STRIKE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 618, 12 November 1913, Page 6

THE STRIKE.

EVENTS AT THE CENTIiES. A uck 12no, Iviondsy. The long-threatened general strike has eventuated ni Auckland. Un Saturday the waterside workers' otrtUo extended to the carpenters, Ujs? Uvic;-;-layers, the painter?, tb* t?s. taz enginedrivers, the Harbour employees, the conl miners, lac ; v 2r.«rra» labourers, and the cooks* r.nd waiters. Other unions are stated to have indicated to the Strike Committee that they ate ready to join issue; and amongst these is mentioned the gas works employee?. In other trades men are idle because of the shortage in coal, the tramwaymen, to the number of 750, now being amongst those out of work. It is estimated that approximately 5000 men are on strike, and tnafc with the tramwaymen anc employees in other trades which are idle the number out of work total? nearly GOOO. The general strike waa precipitated by the arrival on the waterfront at daylight on Saturday morning of SOO Bpecial constable?. The unions above enumerated had carried resolutions affirming their intention of coming out on strike the moment that special constables arrived un the waterfront. Consequently, when the men belonging to the various unions arrived in the morning at their places of occupation the word was given to cease work. The men went oat on the passive resistance principle, and proceeded straight to the-Trades Kail, where a centra! strike executive was set up to conduct strike affairs, after which the great majority )f the men quietly dispersed. It is understood that the' union leaders made a strong pJea that the men on strike should avoid aggressive tactics, and keep out of any street disturbances.

It is significant that no "free labour" in the unionist sense of the I term ia being empluved on the ' wharves The men working the boats are members of'the new union, which" as recently been formed and is to be registered under the Arbitration Act. It is understood thac.it is not proposed to use what is know as "free labour" at all, and that from now on the waterside work will be udertaken by unionists only At the direction of the magistrate of the city, all the hoteis in Auckland are closed. NORTHERN CO.S' 'EMPLOYEES DECIDE TO GIVE NOTICE. A meeting was held oi Saturday morning ofi-the majority of-the seamen engaged .in the Northern S.S Company's fleet, to discuss the situation as it affected them. It was explained that the 3eamen did r.ot desire to involve themselves or their union in <:ic prevailing troubl?, snd the meeting unanimously agreed that the best way out of the difficulty waa for the men individually tern inate their engage ' ment with the company by giving the necessary 24 hours' notice. The meeting decided to follow that course, end the men of one ship have already handed in notice. FREEZING WORKERS OUT. On Saturday afternoon all the workrs in the F;eezing Co., at the Railway wharf, and at the Southdown works came out. It is understood that the Enginsdtivers and the Stokers, and the other workers joiner! in with the freezing chamber hands, RAILWAYMENS' ATTITUDE. Wellingont, Ivlondy. The Petone Railway Workshops emloyees on Saturday passed the following resolution"That this meeting of Petone Workshops employees wishes to show its practical sympathy in assisting the lock-out Waterside Workers' Union and other labofar bodies in their fight for freedom and right- We recognise the fact that the men are fighting passively for an important principle, that principle being the right to maintain their organisation from being wrecked at the dictation of the employers' combine. We further recognise that their cause ia our cause, and are determined to assist the dependents of the men, their mothers, wives, and children, in every way possible. PROPOSED AGREEMENT REJECTED. | Wellington, Monday. I Tha Citizens' Defence Committee to-day rejected the new conditions submitted with the consent of the wat< rsiders through Mr Mssey. These proposed that a new agreement be entered into be enforceable under the Trades Union Act, in the Magistrate's Conrt, and that the union be protected by registration. The committee pointed out that a new union has now been formed and di/iy registered , and no further negotiations will be entered into with any other organistions. TIMARU'S POSITON. Wanganui, Saturday. Regarding'Timaru being declared a "scab" port, the of the local Waterside Federation says:— "Tirvaru being registered under the Arbitration Act, the Waterside Workers' federation will continue to recog- , nise and work with it. If there were , any necessity to declare Timaru ■ 'scab'' it should have been done when < the Arbitration Union was formed ] there, instead of waiting til! now." , He points out also that those de- j ncuming Tiniai'U have til] now noi: re- : ; fused to handle cargcs •ZyomTiiraru. ; The Watersiders' Federation's atti- , ; tude to the new Wellington rnicn : must, by virtue oI being reigstered . under the Act, be th" same as that j ; shown towards Timaru. I j: COAL MINERS OUT. j Invercargiil, Monday. i Of 130 miners employed in the Nightcaps mine, 100 downed tools on a Satu raay morning in response to the j " call of tha Federation The men are 1 not working under an Arbitration i award, being affiliated to the Fede- i*• ration. j

1 SIR ,7:>S. MiLi.S INTERVIEWED. WV.Hinp/con, Handcy. Biiini'.'ji l v.", i'L'f?rred 'bo statement:"- of ] Labour official?; «"iiici revised I::nr T i to the strike. lie fi:wl i? elenr the trouble did r:c : , mise fro:;! n looker; i:, but iron) u withdrawal of labour be '.l\9 Union ExscrJive in breach of lb* ifeo clause of the agreement. wlilcb clause was an inducement offered to the shipping companies to enter into tho agreement under the auspices of the Federation ci Labour. The Federation, instead of persuading the local workers to return to work, or, as an alternative, con fining the strike to Wellington, had extended the ares of the trouble and done its best to paralyse trade and injury large bodies of workers. I Under the circumstances, it waa not surprising that the employers were not prepared to accept the guarantee of the Federation again. The statement that an attempt was being made to crush unionism was absurd, and merely a revival of an old cry. Employers preferred to deal with organised workers. He added £1 at he hoped it would be possible to resume many services at a very early date, and there was reason to believe that a number of the company's seamen and fiEemen would abide by the current agreement. Sir Jas. Mills publicly acknowledged fiis gratification at the spontaneous assurance of loyalty. WELLINGTON SEAMEN OUT. Wellintgon, Monday. At a meeting of the Seam*n'B . Union on Saturday morning, it was decided that all crews shall give twenty-four hours' notice. A CHRISTCHURCH INCIDENT. BOYCOTTING CRICKET. Christchurcb, Monday. On Saturday morning, the Strike Committee asked Mr Orchard, the manager of the cricketers for Australia, to make a statement regarding the report that he had asked a member of his business Sitaff to voluntetr for labour on the wharves. Mr Orchard refused to make a statement, and the committee stated +hat word would be sent to Australia to boycott the matches. Offers of assistance are reaching the committee from many quarters, including farmers offering camping grounds and food. Lyttelton continue.3 quiet. The ferry boat will probably be unable to get away, and the Queen of the South takes ths mails north. GOLD MINES AFFECTED. Waihi, Monday. The closing down of the Talisman mine at Karangaiiake on aaccount of scarcity of coal means that 250 men will be out of employment. Pumping wili ne kept going, also repair worK. Work stopped at 4 p.m. on Friday HOTEL EMPLOYEES OUT. Auckland, Monday. That ihe strike fever is catching waa evidenced in Auckland on Saturday morning, when the cooks and waiters j on strike did a round of the hoteh i where members of the union were still at work. The secretary of the union j (Mr T. Long), seated in a spring cart, headed a procession up Queen Btreet. Addressing a crowd of about a thousand people outside one hotel, he said that his union waß fighting a big fight, and that whether the waterside strike was settled or not, his union would not go back to work until the employers would agree to a six day week. They wanted one day off in seven, and they were gojng to get it. As Mr Long's discourse ended, a union official, accompanied by three apron and be-capped men, came on to the verandah of the hotel, and announced that if given a quarter of an hour to get perishable stuff into the freezpr they would join the crowd. Other hotels were visited, and in nearly every case the employees to cease work did so.