WATERSIDE TROUBLE

Otago Witness, Issue 3495, 8 March 1921, Page 43

WATERSIDE TROUBLE

IDLE WATERSIDE WORKERS. HOPES OF A SETTLEMENT. There is no change in tne position with regard to tne watersiue worxers trouble ao ior as Dunedin 13 concerned, and no wore was done on the steamers in tire bpper Harbour. At Port Giiarmeis, on the outer hand, work is going on witnout interruption of any kind. Ide Dunedin men are marking time awaiting the decision of the Federation with headquarters in Wellington. So tar as can be ascertained a majority of the men in Dunedin would be prepared to resume work at once. The employers insist on receiving a guarantee that work will be carried on in accordance witn the agreement recently concluded alter a conierenoe with the Federation, but the executive in Wellington appear to be unwilling to give a reply of any hind to the letter sent by tile employers. The trouble originated tnrough the decision of the Arbitration Gourt supporting tile contention that the acting Governntent Statistician, in the absence of 'hi» °hief, had made a mistake in calculating the amount ot bonus workers were entitled to owing to the advancing cost of living. The waterside Workers, d*. spite a specilio clause in tffe agreement that “no restrictions relating to overtime work shall be permitted” inaugurated a policy of pinpricking, and commencing with Auckland the movement declining to work overtime spread from port to port, a “go-slow” policy being also carried out in some of the northern ports. In response to the representations of the employers that the agreement was being broken the Federation denied that the men were acting under instructions from the Federation, and that if they were declining to work overtime they were doing so as individuals and not as a body. The employers then asked for a guarantee that the work would be carried on in accordance with the agreement, and as this has not been forthcoming vessels were tied up as they arrived. The hold-up of shipping caused the wool sale which was to have been held in Dunedin on F’ebruary 22 to be postponed till the trouble was over. Buyers from overseas vyere not prepared to operate if they were to have the wool left on their hands through inability to ship. At the Dunedin wool sale 19,000 bales were to be offered. Since then wool has dropped in price by about 2d per lb. The direct result, therefore, is that the wool growers in Otago have lost an amount totalling several thousand pounds. Wool growers in the other provinces have also lost heavily. At Wellington the non-discharge of vessels is causing serious trouble, about a score cf vessels are in harbour idle. The Manuka left for Sydney with the same cargo that she brought over from Australia. Supplies of sugar, flour, coal, coke, etc., are becoming scarce and it seems probable that tlie gas works will " have to close down early this. week. Sixty per cent, of the drivers in the employ of members of the Carriers’ Association are idle. Rather a singular circumstance in connection with the trouble is the fact that the waterside workers undertook to unload the Admiral Oodrington, owned by the Farmers’ Meat Co., of Poverty Bay. She has about 1600 tons of coal on board and a large quantity of hardwood timber. At Auckland 27 vessels arc idle and some 1009 watersiders are unemployed. Here, also, one vessel is being worked, the Cape Premier, which arrived from Durban, S.A., with a cargo of 5700 tons of coal. The oaptain had no difficulty about securing sufficient labour, but has had much trouble in securing appliances such as buckets, shovels, ets. The local Stevedores’ Association could not see its way to place equipment at the captain’s disposal. The trouble did not spread to Lyttelton and work went on briskly for some timo. The Canterbury Farmers r Union were so gratified with the work of the men that they passed a resolution thanking the men for sticking to their work, and the Lyttelton Harbour Board followed suit. Instead of being pleased, the watersiders resented the resolutions and proceeded to decline to work overtime. This, however, only lasted {ot one day, and the men resumed work as required on the 4th inst. HOPES OP A SETTLEMENT, (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, March 6. A further ccnteience between representatives of the Employers’ Federation was held on Saturday, the watersiders? representatives having consulted various affiliated unions and made their reply to the conference, the conference ended for the time being without coming to any agreement, so it may safely be assumed that the reply was not altogether satisfactory, and that the shipowners are as determined as ever in maintaining their attitude in regard to guarantees. The conference is to be continued this week, and this may perhaps be taken aa an indication that before very long the waterside v o l e s will be back at work. Many of the nno are getting tired of the present indefinite: • £» -of the situation, and it is beginning to awn upon then} that in the present financial stringency, from which the country is suffering, there is a near possibility of unemployment, and even of reduction in wages.' With meat and wool unsaleable at a satisfactory profit, it 18 recognised that shipping freights must come down, and that they cannot be reduced without a reduction of wages. Though, according to the Finance Minister the income tax has come in as well as usual, it is well known up and down the country that many have had considerable difficulty in paying it up to time. Trade generally is anything but brisk, and the cost of living is gradually being reduced. Under all the circumstances it is very doubtful if wapes can be maintained at their present high scale. 1