COMPLICATIONS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10522, 25 February 1920, Page 7

COMPLICATIONS

THE MARINE TROUBLE SEAMEN THREATEN TO PROLONG HOLD-UP. ■ ENGINEERS RESUMING. By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright February 24, 9.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, February 24.

Though the engineers may resume in a few days, a mass meeting of seamen resolved not to man the ships until the federal Government removes the section of the War Precautions Act preventing seamen boarding ships to ob-

,:mi work. Similarly they refuse to man any ship until tuo accommodation is satisiactonly altered. It is .officially stated that the strike position is unchanged. Until'the Queensland representative reaches Melbourne it is unlikely anything will to done towards settlement. On the other hand Melbourne reports that mere will be a general resumpion by the engineers tomorrow. VICTORIANS ADOPT CONTROLLER'S TERMS. MELBOURNE, February 24. The Federal Government has suspended the coastal provisions of the Navigation Act till the end of June. The Victorian branch of the engineers has formally adopted the Shipping Controller's otter and decided to resume work. SYDNEY, February 24. The marine stewards have decided not to resume work until their demands are granted. Meetings of engineers in Brisbane and Adelaide decided to hand control of the strike to the executive. INCREASES FOE STEWARDS,/' (Received February 25, 12.20 a.m.) SYDNEY, February 24. The owners have agreed to pay the stewards a minimum wage of £l3 per month for a ten-hour day and 2s per hour overtime, including Sundays and holidays. HISTORY OF DISPUTE SERIOUS DISLOCATION OF INDUSTRY. TWELFTH WEEK OF STRIKE. The strike of Australian marine engineers has now entered its twelfth week. Practically all inter-coastal traffic has been brought to a standstill, and the consequent dislocation of industry is rapidly bringing about a critical state of affairs. At the end of January it was estimated that 25,000 men were idle in AuwraUu as a result of the strike. In Sydney alone over' 15,000 workers have been thrown out of employment, 10,000 of whom belong to the Transport Workers' Federation. In Melbourne the number of unemployed is considerably over 7000, including 1100 wharf labourers. Owing to the cutting off of supplies of coal from the East, drastic restrictions of the consumption of gas and electricity have been enforced in Melbourne. The great smelters at Port Pirie, customarily employing 2000 workers, are now almost entirely shut down. The whole of the meat-canning factories in New South Wales have been closed. In North Queensland intense privations exist owing to the flour shortage caused by the strike. . . The engineers are claiming new rates of nay ranging from £l9 os a month for junior engineers to £6l 10s a mouth for chief engineers on ships of 1000 tons and over. The last offer made by the Commonwealth Shipping Controller on ■ehalf of the shipowners ranged from £l9 to £sl. Thus the full claims of the lower-paid men have practically been granted, and the main question at issue concerns the highest-paid engineers. THE QUESTIONS AT ISSUE. . The engineers base their claims on tho percentage- increases recently granted to firemen. In a statement issued on February 7th they set iorin their case as'follows: —“The fact that the firemen’s wages in six years have, been advanced by 60 per cent,,-that is. from £lol in 1913 to £l6 now current, and that during the spme period the highest paid chief engineer had advanced a fraction j of 10 per cent, only, and the junior ongmeer by per cent., justifies our claim as a fair and reasonable one. It is found by careful analysis that the present rate of tho highest-grade chief engineer in America is five times that of his fire, man; in Britain the same chief receives four times the pay of his fireman, but in Australia the highestgrade chief receives only 2.6 times a fireman's pay, while the lowest-paid chief tngi neer of an inter-State vessel comes down to 1.7 times the pay oi a fireman. Tile unfortunate junior is found in the humiliating position of being rated) at -10 s per month less than C?le ftfeman of his ship. Nor should it be forgotten that at the present time their fellow junior engineers in America receive 1.8 times and those of, Britain 1.4 times more than tho pay o f their respective firemen." The shipowners, in reply, contend that tho increases demanded nro obvipusly of suejh a nature that the shipping industry would he unduly penalised if they were granted, and for that reason they would react on tho general public. They further point out Chat until tre present strike was precipitated the shipowners were paying increased rates of pay over thoso ordered (by the award of the Arbitration Court in 1918, which was to bo current until 1921, and that the additional increases which they .now offer are more than a liberal allowance for tho increase in the cost of living. In regard to the comparison between 1 rates paid on the Australian coast and those paid overseas, put forward by the engineers to justify their demands, the owners’ rejoinder is that tho engineers in 1918 supported their case by illustrating these comparisons, but tlie precident of the court in effect stated that the increases were abnormal, and due, no doubt, to the war risks and the alarming increase in the cost of living in Groat Britain and the United States, and therefore there was no ground for raising tho pay in Australia in the same proportion as in the countries mentioned. - FAILURE OF LAST BALLOT.

On February 3rd the last offer made by the shipowners was submitted to a ballot of the engineers in nil States, and the result was a. majority of 315 against resumption, M OMbpirnsJ v..

a majority of 49 against resumption vn the previous ballot. Mr V/. M. Hughes, Federal Prime Minister, commenting on the decision, asserted that the engineers had not only defied. ,tbo law,, treated with cont^wp.L.every effort that-had been made to induce them to return to r.'ork. -.11107 had been offered reasonable concessions, and q tribunal to sottlo their dispute. Ho regarded the result of the ballot as an ultimatum. This declaration was followed a. few days Inter by the issue of a proclamation by the Federal Government, under the War Precautions Act, proTubiting all strike contributions, loans of money or gifts of goods to the marine engineers, and forbidding banks to permit any member or agent of the Marino Engineers’ Institute to withdraw funds deposited .by the institute.