SLAUGHTERMEN’S STRIKE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 19, 21 January 1913, Page 3

SLAUGHTERMEN’S STRIKE.

“OUT FOR BLOOD.”

THE CASE FOR THE MEN

(Per Press Association.)

Wellington, January 20,

“Out for blood this time,” In these words the secretary of me Mew Zea land Slaughtermen’s Federation (Mr. M. J. Reardon) to-nignt summed uj the position so far rs the men ar» concerned in the dispute which en tered upon its most serious phase tbit afternoon. He indicated clearly tha the men are determined to fight L the very last to secure that which the; consider they are justified in claim ing.

Knives were sheathed and work w<r stopped at the Petone and Mgahau ranga works in the after/non. Hr Gear Company’s slaughtermen cut on at about 2 o’clock, when each man hac averaged about sixty sheep for tin day. At Ngahauranga the supply o' sheep was greater, arid the last wa; not killed until just on four o’clock when the men had an average of abort eighty each. Mow there is not a ]iv< hoof on the premises, with the excep tion of the decoy sheep. There was no demonstration of am sort when the men knocked off work They simply passed a few cheery re marks to one another as the end came, then gathered up their tools and all they possessed, and walkec away. Thus did the strike—if legally it is a strike at all—begin.

The Wellington Union has not ye sent any reply to the company’s ul timatum, and so far as can be ascer tained does not intend to do so. Th( men will let their action of to-daj stand as indicating their position and determination. The Conciliation Commissioners. The Conciliation Commissioner, Mr Hally, who has just returned from official visits to Wanganui and Napier states that he intends to remain ir Wellington in order to help in the settlement of the trouble. It is more than likely, he said, “that before tinend of the week I will make a move in the direction of bringing the parties together.” the Secretary Interviewed.

This evening Mr. Reardon was asked by a pressman to make a statement on the position from the men’s point of view. “Three-tenths of a penny per head is all the difference between the company’s offer and what the men are prepared to accept,” he said. “On the total export of frozen sheep for the twelve months ending October 31st last this would represent £6816 13s 6d. In other words, this is the total sum required to settle the dispute throughout the Dominion at the present time. At a re•cent sale in Pahiatua it was reported that sheep dropped Is 6d per head, because of the threatened slaughtermen’s strike. It would in the aggregate, taking the same export figures as before as a basis of calculation, mean a loss to the farmers of the Dominion of £409,012. I cannot believe that the farmers are going to sacrifice that great sum for rather less than £7OOO, which is all that is needed to secure an end to the trouble. I am convinced that in this dispute the interests of the small farmers, who, finfortunately, are not shareholders in the meat companies, are not being studied. I am of opinion that if the meat trade of the Dominion were controlled by the farming interests ’ll- - of by the commercial interests, there would be no dispute at the present time.”

How is that? the reporter asked A Quasi-Political Fight.

The fight, I believe, is a quasipolitical one,” said Mr Reardon. ‘‘lt is not a fight over a mere question of wages, but a lust for victory. Events over which tlxe slaughtermen have had no control; and, indeed, have little sympathy for, have occurred in recent months, and have brought the employers together, strengthened and more determined than they have

hitherto been. It would seem that the desire is not for a settlement, but for war. My opinion has been emphasised by the attitude of the employers during both of the conferences we have had. At our first conference in July, although we were met at the invitation of the employers, and although they knew we were asking for an increase, they simply sat down and said : ‘We decline to consider anything unless you will agree to the old conditions.’ The conference lasted probably one hour, during which we were doing all we could to get the employers to discuss the situation as if they meant business. At the second conference, last month, when we entered the room the chairman briefly announced that they were prepared to give 27s Lid. Men’s Proposals not Discussed.

But the employers object to some of yoiur proposed conditions, don’t they? asked the reporter. “They were never even discussed,” Mr Reardon replied. “At our first conference we laid our conditions on the table and retired from the room. When we returned in an hour the conditions were face downwards on the table, and we were assured that they were not even looked at. At the second conference the employers said that the existing conditions must remain. Mo clause was examined and no papers were looked at. I feel that there will be a disposition to fight anybody and everybody, and our anxiety is to confine the struggle to those immediately concerned. We have asked for assistance from none, and we desire none outside to come to our assistance until we do ask. If any effort is made to spread the trouble to other industries it will be without the consent or approval of the slaughtermen.” Gone Back on a Contract. “These men have gone back on the compact they entered into three years ago when, under a new agreement, they got a substantial rise in the killing rate.” -This remark was made to a representative of the New Zealand Times yesterday by on© in a position to know how matters stand. He declared that the meat companies only agreed to the advance in rates in consideration of what appeared to b© a good prospect of five years’ peace. When the agreement was drawn up, he said, both parties were willing to give it a trial of five years, but it was found that under the Ar-

bitration Act no agreement could be registered for a longer term than three years, so the agreement was given the shorter term.” The Christchurch Abattoirs. It seems unlikely, in the event of a strike by the slaughtermen in Canterbury, that the Christchurch Municipal Abattoirs* will be affected. Councillor C. D. Mortis, chairman of the Abattoirs Committee of th© City Council, in reply to a reporter’s question on the subject, said: “We are working under a very satisfactory award, and I have not heard a whisper of any discontent. The slaughtermen at the-abattoirs, I suppose, have the best awsfd of any slaughtermen in New Zealand. Thtey all seem satisfied, and!l do not anticipate any trouble. There is not the slightest hint or suggestion of discontent, and the men say they are satisfied with the award at present in operation; That award does not expire till September, 1914.”