INDUSTRIAL AFFAIRS

Otago Witness, Issue 3470, 14 September 1920, Page 17

INDUSTRIAL AFFAIRS

(By Cable.) BRITISH MINERS' STRIKE . INEVITABLE. LONDON, September 7. The National Union of colliery engineers, mechanics, and electrical workers has decided to give notice of cessation of work at the same time as the miners. Mr G. W. Barnes (Labour M.P cpeaking at Glasgow, said that the miners' demands that coal prices be dropped 14s 2d was illegitimate. The demand was outside the scope of any sectional body in the country. It would not mean a present to the consumers of coal, as it would have to be paid for by taxation. The Government might reasonably say, " Let things go on for two or three years, during which nationalisation and wages might be fully are freely considered." September 10. At a conference between the Miners' Executive and Sir Robert S. Home (Minister of Labour) the latter suggested that committees representing the -miners and the- coal-owners should discuss the wages anomalies. Mr Smillie, replying, rejected Sir Robert Home's views and suggestions, and maintained the attitude that the price reduction of 14s 2d per ton was inseparable from the wages claim. After he had pressed the miners' views at length, the Miners' Executive separated to consider the points raised. It then' intimated to Sir Robert Home that there was no new proposal in his statement which it con sidered could lead to a satisfactory settlement of the claims. The conference sat nearly three hours. Sir Robert Home interviewed, declared that a strike was inevitable if the miners refused to abate their demands, which were unjust. The Government was menaced by an industrial strike for' political reasons. ■ ■■■'•'■ ■■■■.:.;: ■•■*:, COUNTRY'S POOD SUPPLIES. LONDON, September 12., Mr M'Curdy (Food Minister) states that while a strike in a great key industry like the coal mining industry must lead to hardship, he was satisfied that, given the loyal co-operation of the community and a general determination to maintain civil order, the arrangements made would secure for the country adequate, if restricted, supplies of food. ' THE MINERS' EXECUTIVE. LONDON, September 12. The miners' strike notices have been sent in, but a substantial percentage from Rhymney Valley withheld theirs, while considerable hesitation and indifference is shown in Yorkshire and parts of Northumberland. Hopes are now centred in the Miners' Executive meeting in London on Tuesday. MESSAGE TO CANADIAN MINERS. According to a message from Calgary the One Big Union Convention received a cablegram from Mr Robert Smillie demanding simultaneous action with the English miners to bring about a general strike on September 28. The convention will appoint a council to consider the matter. Both the Alberta and Nova Scotia miners have been advised regarding Mr Smillie's message. PROVISION FOR 48-HOUR WEEK. LONDON, September 7. The Labour Party has introduced in the House of Commons a Merchant Shipping Bill, based on the Australian Navigation Act, providing for a 48-hour week. ENGLISH PRINTERS' STRIKE. LONDON, September 6. The Lancashire and Cheshire newsagents are losing owing to the printers' strike. ELECTRIC TRADE UNIONS. LONDON, September 6. Anticipating a lock-out, the electric trade unions have withdrawn their members at Barrow employed by firms belonging to the Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades Federation. September 10. The Electrical Trades Union has given a week's notice of strike in sympathy with the workers who have been locked out by the Engineering Employers' Federation over the dispute respecting the employment of a non-union foreman in London. The strike will affeot 25,000 workers, and will stop trams, tubes, and all electrical works. ACTION BY ITALIAN WORKERS. LONDON, September 6. According to a message from Milan the workers who seized the factories are putting up strong defences, including stout networks of barbed wire. In some cases the men have secured machine guns and

' tanks, and if the police venture near, they are greeted with a stream of boiling water pumped from hydrants. September 7. The workers are extending their movement for the control of industry. They are kidnapping technical experts and directors in broad daylight. They threaten to occupy every factory in the foundry industry in the country, including the land, if the masters do not yield. September 8. The seizure of property is extending to glass and chemical works. Armed bands of peasants are seizing the baronial estates in the Palermo district. The miners threaten to occupy the mines at Tuscany, Liguria, Sardinia, and Sicily. I September 10. Four-hundred thousand workers are involved in the oresent movement. A big exodus of families from Milan has begun owing to the fear of outrages. The seizures include the Michelin tyre factory. The workers are also seizing the coal supplies and taking- them home. Signor Labriola, Minister of Labour, interviewed by the correspondent of the German paper Allgemeine Zeitung said, "It is the State's duty to maintain public order in the streets only so far as private nremises are concerned. It is open to the owners to take judicial proceedings against the workmen. The Riot Act cannot be applied to 1000 workmen. Besides the workmen are armed, and intervention miarht lead to revolution. The guilt for the crisis lies with the employers. The guiding principle of Signor Giolitti's policy is so to adapt the country's institutions that they can be utilised forthwith if a change from the Capitalist to the Socialist system is made. If the owners decline to give up the factories they can be compelled to do so, because the general welfare must stand before the welfare of the individual. September 12. A conference between the delegates of the General Workers' Union and the Executive of the Socialist Party led to a complete victory for the Moderates. A large majority passed a resolution in favour of a settlement of the strike through parliamentary action. STRIKE IN SOUTH AFRICA. CAPETOWN, September 7. All the workers in the Government services in Lorenzo Marques are on strike. Martial law has been proclaimed. The strike was caused through Che arrest of three leaders of the railwaymen, who issued a manifesto containing a gross imputation against public bodies. Troops are guarding the railway. LORENZO MARQUES, Sept. 10. \ It is officially stated that the strike is f)ractically over. Twenty-four strike eaders have been transferred to another part of the province. AUSTRALIAN DISPUTES. • SYDNEY, September 6. A majority of the engineers at Cockatoo Island, Garden Island, and Mort's Dock continued work on Saturday, but the b'oilermakers downed tools. September 7. When the engineers and boilermakers reported for duty they were asked to sign an agreement to work 48 hours. A large number refused, and were told their services were not wanted. The men, after leaving the shops, proceeded to the Trades Hall, where they expressed their intention of seeing the fight through. The leaders claim that the men have been locked out, and express fears that there will be a big extension of the trouble. The Clyde works refused to grant a concession to the men,. 250 of whom refused to commence work. The naval dockyards so far are unaffected. The management of Metters' Stovewcrks has decided to close the works, as the men refuse to work 48 hours weekly. Five hundred employees are affected. So far the dispute is confined to the iron trades, but the leaders of the men refer to an upheaval similar to that of 1917, and hint that the strikers will not be so orderly as they were then. It is known that the leaders have a big union move in view, but their intentions have not yet been divulged. The men are still working at the naval dockyards. Cabinet has considered the position, and has decided to frame legislation to reduce the hours of labour where it is found practicable to do so. September 8.. The Newcastle trimmers have agreed to work overtime- on all inter-State vessels, but not on oversea or New Zealand ships. A small New Zealand vessel required only two trucks to complete- her cargo at 4 o'clock yesterday, but the men downed shovels when the whistle blew, compelling the vessel to- wait overnight. It is suggested that the embargo on overtime may be lifted entirely within a few days. Metters (Ltd.) have paid off the men and closed the works. This action affects the moulders, who state that although . they were working 48 hours, they have been locked out. September 10. The Federal authorities have issued a proclamation to employees in regard to-the naval dockyards stating that »if the men cease work on Saturday to hold stop-work meetings the works will Monday. A pamphlet circulating among the ironworkers states: "We do not desire this fight to be a 1917 fiasco. An example is given us by our comrades in Italy." The pamphlet continues: " Let us nave no starvation strike. Why should you and your wives and children starve when there is plenty of everything in, Australia produced by you?" September 12. The position of the iron trades over the "demand 'for a 44-hour week and no Saturday work, is still uncertain. In some sections of the trade many men worked yesterday, while in other sections the majority of the employees absented themselves. The employers show a solid front in resisting the demands, and declare their intention of closing down if the demands are persisted in.

At a mass meeting of the trades involved speeches were made advocating lowing the example of the Italian workers bv taking over and running the shops. One speaker said, _" If we are locked out' we will work the shops and pay the bosses." More moderate speakers disclaimed ex- * treme action and foreign methods. The meeting adjourned till next Saturday aa it is impossible to declare a policy straight out until negotiations with the Government over the question of shorter hours reach finality. MELBOURNE, September 7. Ab the result of a conference betwe—i the shipowners and the Waterside Workers' Federation, the dispute regarding overtime has been settled. It has been ar» ranged that the men in future shall apply for work at the ship's side, Instead ol being engaged at the Labour Bureau. GERMAN LABOUR. _ LONDON, September 7. Large importations of unmarked hosiery, underwear, fabric, and gloves, made h{ Germany by workers working 12 hours A day, are causing widespread unemployment in the British Midlands. The Chamber of Commerce is petitioning the Government on the matter. Meanwhile the Midland factories are - working only two or thred days a week. BERLIN. September 7. The Labour Minister is introducing, a Bill providing for general compulsory' labour, with the purpose of improving! economic conditions so that Germany may, carry out her economic obligations under, the Peace Treaty.