Sydney Strikes

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 268, 4 April 1913, Page 5

Sydney Strikes

RAILWAY -MEN" GO OUT SERIOUS DISLOCATION. AN" UGLY OUTLOOK.

By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Sydney, April 3.

Four. hundred men are out at the Darling Harbour yards, which are closed for the present, the clerks and officials alone remaining on duty. Enormous quantities of goods are piled in the yards, awaiting delivery. The dislocation of business is very serious. Arrangements are being made to clear perishable goods. The strikers' ranks have been swelled bv thirty railwaymen working in Darling Island wheat sheds.

The trouble is the outcome of the reiusal pi the Railway Commissioner to grant the men's demand for 4S hoars & week, instead of the present 102 hours a fortnight; an increase of wages from :Bs. to 9s. a day, with an overtime rate •of time and a half, and other concessions.

The commissioners have definitely refused to treat with the strikers until they resume work.

At a mass meeting of the men the seriousness of their position was pointed out, in view of the regulation which provides that striking railwaymen lose all their service towards a retiring pension. Some of the strikers have 30 years' service to their credit.

The meeting appointed a committee to meet the industrial inspector to discuss the situation. It was resolved to allow the gatekeepers and watchmen to Temain at work to protect the commissioners'' property. Mr. Carmichael, after receiving the Teport of the industrial registrar, declared the outlook was ugly, and there was no cliance of work being resumed at present. He added that lie intended to prosecute both the Darling Harbour men and the ferry strikers.

A meeting of the Wharf Labourers' Union to discuss the question of demanding 1 2s. an hour for ordinary work and ss-an hour for overtime, broke up !n disorder. The 'minority displayed strong resentment, and did not allow the speakers to) proceed. In some cases they used physical dissuasion. Darling Harbour strikers and the industrial registrar will confer this mornins: with a view to reacliing a basis of settlement.

The strike has caused surprise and resentment in business circles. Practically all the city goods traffic is held up. THE STRIKE EXTENDING. ALL RAILWAY HANDS DISAFFECTED PRODUCE TRADE DISORGANISED. Received 3, 9.45 p.m. Sydney, April 3. It is understood that the primary grievance of the Darling Harbor railway porters is that they have been debarred from representation before the Wages Board, which is now considering the claims of the transport workers.

At a conference between the Industrial Registrar and the men's representatives, the Minister handed in proposals to overcome the difficulty. He proposed that the men should resume j work, Mr. Carmichael promising that they should have a hearing before the Wages Board. He undertook also that, if any portion of the award was unsatisfactory, to carry to the Court of Appeal, those portions objected to and to secure' for the strikers adequate representation before the Wages Board and the Court. The men rejected the proposals, declaring' that the present representative of the employees on the Wages Board was unable to put forward their claim for 9s a day, because he was instructed by the anion choosing him to ask only Bs. It is understood that, if free labor is employed, the clerical staff will discontinue. The locomotive department's loading .staff has struck. There is unrest also in the Alexandria yards and Central railway station; in fact, it is alleged there is general unrest in the railways throughout New South Wales. It is reported that the men admitted that they were prompted by the success ,of other strikes, which they declare were more effective than Wages Boards. The trade in wholesale dairy produce and the fruit markets is demoralised, country supplies being practically cut off.

THE STRIKE OF MINERS. Sydney, April 3. The Earrier Mine Managers' Association has agreed to refer the unionists' grievances to the Arbitration Court. Meantime the tramway and other services are held up and business generally is dislocated. The few trams ran by the officials carry passengers only. The food supplies are so far not seriously aff.cted. All the men working in the mines undergo a most careful scrutiny. If any are found without union tickets they must either join or leave, otherwise the unionists declare they will continue the strike. Practically all non-unionists have been weeded out as far as the mines themselves are concerned. MAY SPREAD TO NEWCASTLE. <--■ A GLOOMY OUTLOOK. Received 3, 10.15 p.m. Sydney, April 3.

Mr. Willis, the Ulawarra miners' presi- | dent, states that it is impossible to con- j vene the conference suggested bv Mr. Carmichael for Friday, because tlie notice is too short, and owing to two of the executive committee and a number of delegates being absent from the district.. He added that a meeting of the executives flf the Northern and Southern Colliery Employees' Unions would probably he held next week. The outlook for' a settlement on the southern fields js gloomy. Mr. Carmichael announced that his proposal to the Northern miners is that Newcastle should have a special Mining Court of its own, with the powers and functions of a Wages Board. The men's executives are considering the proposal. Mining circles in Sydney believe that there is a big chance of the Southern trouble spreading to the Newcastle district. BROKEN" UIIX DISPUTE. RAILWAY TRAFFIC SUSPENDED. Received 4, 1.20 a.m. Sydney, April .3.

The trouble at Broken Hill is not yet settled, and it is feared it may further develop. The British mill has shut down for lack of trucks to remove the ore. Adelaide, April 3. The raihvav traffic between Broken Hill and Cockburn, the border station, is suspended. ' PETER BOWLING'S THREATS. TO HOLD UP COAL VESSELS. Rvdnev April 3. Pater Bowling stated' that it was possible that, unless something was done to relieve the position, the southern coalfields strike might extend to the boats of the southern collierv proprietors which were being loaded at >iewcistle This was a question of principle

so far as it concerned the men producing tile coal. Those loading and unloading the vessels in Sydnev were assisting the southern proprietors to defeat the men. They know that the union will not give them this assistance if asked not to do so. The union wants to avoid extending the trouble if possible, but is free to act if need be.

The northern miners' delegate board decided financially to assist the southerners 1 conference.