COOKS AND STEWARDS

Otago Witness, Issue 3487, 11 January 1921, Page 18

COOKS AND STEWARDS

POSITION IN AUSTRALIA. SYDNEY, January 3. The Union Company announces that it is despatching the Manuka on the 13th and the Moeraki on the 20th. At a mass meeting of stewards it was resolved unanimously to remain on strike until a satisfactory agreement with the owners is reached. Nearly 200,000 tons of shipping have been rendered idle in the commonwealth as a result of the stewards’ strike. MELBOURNE, January 5. The commonwealth steamship owners have rejected the Trades Hall proposal for a conference. As a result of the coal shortage caused by the stewards’ strike the Coal Board has curtailed the use of gas and electricity for household purposes and drastically restricted the train services. Many factories that closed for the -Christmas holidays are unable to reopen. ■ January 6. The city is practically deserted as i result of the curtailment of the tram services. Mr Hughes is still out of town, but is expected back at the end of the week. Ten thousand five hundred people are unemployed, and 42,000 tons of shipping are idle. A meeting of the stewards reaffirmed the decision not to return to work until the dispute has been settled. BRISBANE, January 5. The shipping strike has caused a food shortage in the north, and many towns are suffering. Cairns has petitioned Mr Hughes to despatch a commonwealth steamer with supplies. WELLINGTON, January 6. The stewards of the Baloona, which has arrived from Melbourne, not being members of the Australian Union, were not affected by the strike. LONG STRUGGLE IN PROSPECT. SYDNEY, January 7. Mr Moate, general secretary of the Stewards’ Union, stated that members were preparing for a struggle to last for months. Their finances would hold out for half the year. Shipowners state that they have decided to make a fight against what they term

“the ever-changing agreements” asked for by the men. They say that even if the stevyards’ dispute is settled the ships may again be held up because of the seamen’s and firemen s demands. The owners declare that until all budding disputes are overcome and there are reasonable chances of giving vessels long periods of uninterrupted services there will be no move for settlement on their part. January 8. It is estimated that there are 60,000 unemployed in the commonwealth as result of the strike. In New South Wales alone 30,000 are out of work. Union officials state that the stewards strike has only just started, and if the owners refuse to grant their demands the dispute will eclipse the maritime strike of 1890. MELBOURNE, January 8. Renewed efforts to secure from Mr Hughes a tribunal to deal with the strike have .been unsuccessful.