PATEA WATERSIDE WORKERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15063, 9 February 1911, Page 4

PATEA WATERSIDE WORKERS.

A PROTRACTED STRIKE. Tim I'atca County I'iws of Monday Fays: " Efforts aro still being made to embarrass I'aloa cargo on arrival at Wellington, although t» far they luivo not resulted in anything more than a tempore,ry inconvenience. The attempts made so iar appear to lie the result of advice from representatives of the unions to lumpers on the wharf, and an incident that occurred one day last week shows that that pressure) is now being brought to boar upon the Patea steamers in order to bring their ownors to lorms. On Wednesday morning the Mana was berthed in readiness to discharge a cai'go of chccse, and a gang of men were instructed by tho Harbour Board tho previous evening to lx> ready to start unloading at 7 ii.ni. When tho time arrived six of tho men doclincd to handle the cargo, but several turned to and worked on until 8 a.m., by which time tho Harbour Board 'lokl off another gang of men, and these promptly took the places of those who had left, ancl no further trouble ensued. "A peculiar feature of this dispute is

the fact that many men who have been appealed to and asked to refusa to handle Paten cargo, have »a-id they would do so promptly if a general strike was declared, but until such an event happens they_ apparently feel that they are quite justified in .handling if. As matters now stend, tho companies interested find no difficulty in obtaining men to work cargo, as the rates of pay are Is 6d per hour for ordinary timo and 2s for overtime, and as better wages can bo made- at that work than ordinary- manual labour, tho induoemont is obvious. As scon as harvesting, etc., is oyer, it is probable that there will be considerably more Labour offering than there is at present. '' Meanwhile the steamers come and go without any apparent trouble, and although t.hero aro various rumours concerning tho means likely to ta adopted bv the unions to forco the shipping companies into subjection, it would appcai that if anything of tho kind is done, it will only bo by mcOrvs of a general strike, in which oasa tho whole of the shipping throughout tho Dominion will be affected. "Tho only alternative to this course is to refer the matter to tho Arbitration Court, but as tho local union has sJiown a decided aversion to that course, tho end of tho present trouble can only be conjectured."