STEWARDS UNYIELDING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17660, 22 December 1920, Page 7

STEWARDS UNYIELDING.

READY FOR LONG STRIKE J IMMIGRANTS STRANDED. MANUKA MAY SAIL. B\ Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 1.30 a.m.' I A. and N Z. SYDNEY. Dec. 21. There is now a possibility of the i ; marine stewards' strike extending during ! j the next few days to ail inter-State i vessels. The stewards state that they are j > able to carry on the strike for a long ! period, the union being financially strong, j as months ago a ten-shilling levy was j j struck in anticipation of the strike. ! It is estin.ated that 2000 marine i | stewards are on strike. The number is j j increasing daily. A cablegram has been j I received from the Marine Stewards' Fed- i | eration in England offering to support j j the Australian Union. Forty or fifty ex-service immigrants, ! | with wives and families en route to New | | Zealand are stranded in Sydney as a re- | ! suit of the strike. They have been granted an allowance by the New Zealand Government Office to enable them to live until they can continue the voyage, There are comparatively few ; visiting New Zealanders, and cases of I financial difficulties have not yet been | reported. The L nion Steam Ship Company an- | nounce that the Manuka is sailing for ' Wellintgon on Thursday. The Moeraki i was despatched for Hobart this after- \ j noon. The stewards did not gire notice ; as the vessel was ready for sea before j the notices could have expired. ! The stewards on the Riverina intend | to tender notices on Wednesday. : Mr. Moate, the secretary of the i Stewards and Pantrymen's Union, replying to Mr. Justice Higgins' warning that I the Arbitration Court will not hesitate j to withdraw its protection from a union j i which takes all the award gives and j I strikes for the rest, states that the Judge ! is only heaping up trouble and will widen j the breach. It was recently suggested ! that the union should take a plebiscite to ascertain whether its members should be allowed to settle their own dispute or not. It is understood that as an outcome of the strike the owners will endeavour to abolish tipping. Following the strike of stewards the Tasmanian coastal shipowners have withdrawn from the agreement made with the Seamen s Union. The seamen now threaten to cut off all steamer services from Sydney and Melbourne to Tasmania. Melbourne shipowners have sent a communication to Mr. Hughes rejecting the offer of the Tasmanian Government to pay the increase demanded by the Seamen's Union for three months if the strike is not settled, on the grounds that it would only tend to perpetuate trouble.