STRIKERS HARASS FREE LABOURERS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8561, 25 October 1913, Page 5

STRIKERS HARASS FREE LABOURERS

POSSIBILITIES OF A SETTLEMENT

With fine weather to cheer them the waterside workers on strike mustered in full force at the head of the Queen’s wharf yesterday morning and found the gates closed against them. From an early hour Harbour Board officials stood at the only open gate and demanded the business of all who desired ingress. The morning passed quietly enough, and beyond a few exhibitions of fisticuffs nothing of any moment happened. In the afternoon things assumed a more serious aspect, and on three occasions there were some unruly occurrences and actual rioting was narrowly averted. A serious invasion of the Navua was followed by an unsuccessful attempt to break on to the wharf, but the culmination was reached when the crowd broke on to the wharf shortly after 4 p.ra. and, catching those on board the Rimutaka unawares stormed the gangway, knocked down and injured the second officer, who attempted to bar their progress, and gained a footing on the deck. Their search for free labourers revealed nothing. The police in attendance did their best, as did the board’s officers, but they were hopelessly outnumbered and practically helpless. The mood of the strikers was distinctly ugly, and despite the conciliatory eforts of the union officials, they were ready for trouble at any time.

He complained that when the men wont to resume work again after a delay of a “paltry hour and twenty minutes” the employers were miserable enough to replace them with other men. W T hy had the meeting of the men been called? Because the executive was not going to involve the men in an industrial struggle without placing the whole of the facts before them. If the general manager of tho Steam Ship Company, a man who had more tact than any of the officials here, had been in Wellington, he would have realised that it was folly for the ship-owners to take up the attitude they had adopted. Ho (the speaker) knew the waterside workers, and ho know there was a no worse body of men than a body of watersiders who went back to work defeated after a strike. Tho men /rover looked for this trouble. It wise foisted on them. They were willing to meet tho bosses in order and decency and say to them, “Give these men back their jobs and work will start, but lie and every member of tho executive would say that no man was going to cruel another man’s job. As far as the men were concerned, they wanted peace with honour. The waterside workers of New Zealand were with them to a man, and they simply wanted a word from headquarters as to what was to be done. He knew very well that the federation would not stand the handling of “scab cargo in New Zealand. REASONABLE MEN. Mr Farland said there had been SO-no talk about a conference, but the proposal had not originated with the union. At tho same time tho whole lot of them were reasonable men, and if they were invited to do so they were quite willing to meet and talk the matter over. Then they could probably settle the whole thing. All that was asked of tho men was that they should allow tho strike committee a free hand until negotiations wero over. He appealed to the pickets to do their best to persuade the men who were working to leave their jobs. But they must uso peaceful methods. Possibly the matter might he settled in a few days, •ind they might have some vain regrets for what had been done. "When they saw men taking away the bread and butter from their wives and children, what did they feel like? They did not wish this disturbance to spread throughout the country. It should be the duty of every waterside workers’ union to settle its own differences before it involved fellow-workers. There had been talk about the strike, not being unanimous, but at the meeting on Thursday afternoon when tho motion had been put 1500 hands went up in favour of it, and no man jvas going

bo put up his hand if he was not in favour of the strike. It was not a ■ trike that had been fomented by a bow individuals. The whole organisation was in it, except one poor unfortunate man. who had gone hack to work. The only thing to do was to teep life in the game and not leave the picketing to a few individual men. NO USE FOR “SCABS.” The assistant-secretary, Sir G. Sruce, said ho was going to try and iook into the future and seo what was going to happen. A “scab” union would be formed, but a “scab” union was absolutely useless unless the strikers joined it. The position was that if this “scab” union was formed every man in New Zealand who professed to be a unionist would have to come to the aid of the men who were out. That had been the attitude adopted in the Waihi and the Timaru strikes. After all was said and done, the strikers were the men the bosses wanted, for the “scab” was generally no use to the boss as a worker. If the other unions did not come to their assistance as they should do another meeting would bo held at the end of the week to consider the position they were in. It was nearly impossible for them to win the strike on their own. Industrial unionism wan the only thing that could help them to do so. If they were defeated it would be not only a blow to the unions in Wellington, but a blow to the unions all over New Zealand. “Yesterday was a depressing kind of day, but lot us avail ourselves of the fine weather to-day and enjoy ' our selves,” he went on. ‘lPon’t get worried over it. Give Us a week and we will find out whether wo have a chance of winning tho strike or whether wo have not. W© can then seo what we ire going to do. I don’t believe in a long-drawn-out strike, for a strike that lasts over ten days grows harder to win every day.” Pressmen present were at this stage asked to leave the meeting, which then preceded to deal with strike business not of a public naturre.

EMPLOYERS APPEAL FOR MORE POLICE PROTECTION