PEACEMAKERS OUTVOTED

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14472, 12 September 1910, Page 5

PEACEMAKERS OUTVOTED

LONG LOCK-OUT FEARED.

BOILERMAKERS' BALLOT.

DISCONTENTED MAJORITY.

By Telegraph.—Pres3 Association.—

(Received September 11, 5.5 p.m.)

London, September 10. The result of the boilermakers' ballot is causing great comment in industrial circles in England and Scotland. As the result of some sectional strikes against the wish of the executive of the Boilermakers' Association 25,000 boilermakers and 15,000 platers and riveters were locked-out. The executive sought an agreement with the employers and by a ballot of the members of the association hoped to get endorsement of their action. The ballot resulted in a vote. adverse to the executive by 10,321 votes to 5431 votes. The majority ballot came from the workers on the Clyde and the Northeast coast of England, the minority being principally employed in Government yards, and in inland towns. The executive does not regard the result as a vote of want of confidence, but interprets it as showing the desiro of the men to be consulted. A representative meeting is being arranged, the majority vote empowering this. Several lodges declined to vote owing to the absence of information regarding the nature of the assurances the executive propose to give to the employers. Thirty-six thousand boilermakers did not vote. The newspapers universally deplore the result of the ballot as involving a grave outlook to trades unionism and encouraging a mutinous spirit. The Daily Chronicle declares that the smallness of the ballot denotes that the men are in a sullen and dangerous mood.

NO LOCK-OUT PAY.

UNION FUNDS LOW. (Received September 11, 5.5 p.m.) London, September 10. Serious protests are coming from the Clyde owing to official announcements that no lock-out money will be paid this week. The executive possess the right to retain sufficient reserve when the funds are below £2 per member, as is the case at present. It is stated that the employers are prepared for a lock-out lasting six months, if necessary. They are firmly fixed, to the principles of working agreements and the necessity of all parties abiding by agreements.

GETTING QUITS. RESULT OF GOOD TRADE. (Received September 11, 5.5 p.m.) London, September 10. Mr. A. Henderson, Labour M.P. for Durham, interviewed, said he failed to see what the men hope to gain by their unfortunate attitude. The Edinburgh agreement was sullenly acquiesced in at the conclusion of a long strike, and the present good state of the trade had incited many to seize the opportunity of getting quits with the employers.

A BAD PRECEDENT. HIGH PAY FOR AGITATORS. (Received September 11, 5.5 p.m.) London, September 10. The newspapers recall the fact that the Edinburgh agreement, which settled the strike of two years ago, was accepted after a pooled vote of the shipyard trade unions, but the majority of the boilermakers were then opposed to settlement, and the discontented men earned the highest wages paid to any class of manual labour, riveters getting as high as £6 and £7 a week.