SHIPPING DEADLOCK.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1926, Page 7

SHIPPING DEADLOCK.

STRIKE OF WIRELESS OPERATORS. OPPOSED TO PAY REDUCTION. By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. i . London, Feb. 14. Protracted negotiations between the representatives of the striking wireless operators and the shipowners ended in a deadlock with no immediate prospect of a settlement, according to the chairman of the Operators’ Association, who said the employers simply repeated their terms and gave; the association seven days to accept, threatening, in the event of a refusal, to offer certain conditions to the men individually. The failure to agree was confined to the questions of wages and the reinstate-' ment of the strikers, the employers insisting that the men resume at the reduced rates and be reinstated only as the employers were able to offer service.

The chairman concluded: "Thirteen hundred ships are now going to sea without qualified wireless operators. Over 1900 are striking.”

The Wireless Telegraphists’ Association in a statement, says operators are prepared to submit the whole dispute to an industrial court, but are not prepared to prejudice their case before a court by accepting a totally unjustified reduction. It points out that wireless operators accepted reductions in 1922 and 1924, additional to any reduction accepted by maritime workers.