LONDON DOCK RIOTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15061, 2 August 1912, Page 7

LONDON DOCK RIOTS.

ATTACKS ON FREE WORKERS THE USE OF REVOLVERS. BLUDGEONS, STONES AND , BOTTLES. .. .. .'■..,. TWO ! STRIKERS . WOUNDED. CROWD CHARGED BY POLICE. By Tetesrciph.—Tress Association.— Copyright. (Received August 1. 11 p.m.)''•'■/: { ''■/ t;: LoNDbk?"Aiigusfc-l. Serious disturbances arising l out of the' dockers' strike, occurred at the docks yesterday. A fierce fight took place at the Customshouse entrance to the Victoria Dock. j The unionists attended on Tuesday morning outside the dock, but were not called, Yesterday they entered to compete with the free labourers. A struggle followed and developed into a free fight, stones and bludgeons being used. The unionists chased the ' free labourers, and some of the latter took refuge in the New Zealand Shipping Company's offices. Before they reached this shelter several shots were fired, but nobody was hit. The police dispersed the . pursuers. ... . Men on a Vessel Attacked. The fight' spread over the whole dock. Five hundred strikers attacked 290 free labourers, who were unloading grain aboard the steamer City of Colombo. Many men employed on neighbouring vessels ceased work and joined' in the attack. The gangway was then withdrawn. Two free labourers on a barge were severely handled. The strikers then attacked the men on the steamer with stones and bottles. The men aboard replied with a counter attack. Several Shots Fired. The strikers, who were sheltered under the ship's side, fired several shots. The conflict lasted for 45 minutes. Half-a-dozen constables were present, but were powerless. When reinforcements arrived the strikers were driven off. The captain of the City of Colombo denies that any shots were fired from his vessel. Two of the men on board the ship were badly injured by stones. Their comrades were terrified and abandoned the ship. , The strikers subsequently blocked the roadway outside the Customshouse and ignored the police's order to make way for the traffic. Mounted constables then charged the crowd with their batons. Six arrests were made,., ' •■ - , Two Men Wounded. '" Free labourers earlier in the day were greatly outnumbered and attacked by strikers at the entrance to the Albert Dock. One man named Norman, fired a revolver, and wounded two strikers, one being grievously, injured in the throat. Norman stated that the strikers kicked him. , Further riots are threatened. Twenty Men in the Hospitals. Similar outbreaks occurred at the West India Docks. Many men were injured during the t various fights. I Twenty men have been taken to ' the hospitals. ' I Apparently the riots have been 1 organised to clear out the free labi ourers, particularly those in permanent employment. CAUSE OF THE RIOTS. STRIKERS REPLACED BY OTHER MEN. (Recived August l, 11 p.m.)

London, August 1. Five thousand lightermen, acting upon the advice of Mr. Gosling (president of the Transport Workers' Federation) have decided to resume work. ".■■.■.';■'■ *'. .. ' ' . The lightermen have- been assured of work, but a largo number of dockers and stevedores have lost their posts, the employers refusing to dismiss efficient men who have been employed during the strike. This is the chief cause of the riots.

THE STRIKE'S SMALL BEGINNING. Tho dockers' strike, which began on May 23, originated over the refusal of a member of a foreman's union to leave that organisation and join the Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen, and Watchmen" A man named Thomas, who had been a. foreman, was employed 'by the Mercantile Lighterage Company, at tho Milwall Docks, as a watchman, i Tho lightermen declared that lie was a non-unionist, because they did not recognise the "Foremen's Union as a labour organist ion. They declined to work with a non-unionist, and withdrew thoir labour from tho Mercantile Lighterage Company without any notice. This precipitated a general strike in tho port of London. Sir Edward Clarke, in his official report, found that tho men, thinking that a supposed agreement to employ only unionists had been violated, stopped work; whilst in other cases , <>ij«ploy«rs. . (generally ,of i . the. smaller sort) had never given the wages agreed upon after the. last strike, and were not now giving them, and, when other employers tried to force them, simply left tho association which made the agreement. It is it singular fact, tho ])airly Telegraph recently remarked, that, several big labour disputes in the lash two or three years have had similar small beginnings. The one-day striko on the North-Eastern Railway was over a. question whether a man should work at one end of a goods shed in Newcastle or the other. The year before last most of the cotton mills in Lancashire were rendered idle for a. week because one man declined to do certain work in cleaning his "cards" and at tho end of last year there was begun another and much more serious deadlock in the cotton trade because two or three nonunionists were employed at certain mills. HELP FROM AUSTRALIA. Melbourne, August 1. The Waterside Workers' Federation baa voted £100 to the London dockers.