STRIKE STORIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11508, 2 October 1915, Page 6

STRIKE STORIES.

JUST PORE INVENTIONS. THE MEN AND THE BETTER WAY.. [From Ovh Corkesfondext.] WELLINGTON, October 1. On several occasions lately the ferry steamers have been held up for ten or twenty minutes at this end. .by convivial fireman, who appear to have-- thought it necessary to assert themselves in this fashion lest their personal independence and professional importance should bo overlooked by the shipping authorities and the travelling public. Beyond provoking a few impatient words on the bridge and prolonging the sweet sorrow of the partings at the gangway, the delays themselves have been of little consequence, but probably they are mainly responsible for some alarming stories concerning an impending strike which are current in Wellington at the present time. CIRCUMSTANTIAL DETAIL. The stories grow in plausibility and circumstantial detail as they pass from lip to lip. The casual spectator who saw two jovial firemen of unsteady gait clambering as best they could up the side of the ship, remembers next morning that the delinquents greeted their officers with easy familiarity, and were encouraged in their "take it or leave it" air by the lumpers and seamen hanging about the wharf. By the end of the week the "signs of trouble" are as plain as a pikestaff to the man who has cared to look for them, and he will tell you what is going to happen when the wool comes down from the country and the farmers' sons have gone to the war. IN A POSITION TO' KNOW. But people who are in a position to know what is in the minds of the seamen and firemen and waterside workers laugh at the idea of the men selecting this as an opportune time to settle their old scores with the employers. " First of all," said a prominent member of the Seamen's Union, who was asked about the stories, "the men are just as loyal as other members of the community are. Of course, they have their grievances, and to some of us they seem very good grievances; but they are not going to hold up the trade of the country a,t a time like this. There are six or'seven hundred of our members at the front, and if for no other reason, we should wish for their sake to keep the shipping going." THE MEANS RECOMMENDED.

"But," this sturdy patriot continued, "there are many other reasons why these stories can never be true. We have not forgotten the lessons of the last strike, and we are not going to put our heads into a noose to be tightened up by people who have no sympathy with us just whenever they please. We believe there are other ways of getting our rights, and we are going to use them whenever _ the opportunity occurs, without doing injury to * anyone. Look - at the new rules and regulations we're discussing, and listen to the men who really, count in our. union, and you won't be under any delusions about a strike. We're going to try the means that were recommended to us/by the employers a couple of years ago. and we believe diey'll serve our purpose well enough.

NOT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE. A representative of the waterside workers was just as emphatic in scouting the idea of a strike, though he had more to say about the grievance!* of the men. " The bogus unions at Auckland and Greyniouth would have created trouble long ago," he declared, "if we'd been looking for it, and the way labour is treated' on the Wellington wharves is in. some respects nearly as bad. Men are kept waiting about all day for a job, afraid of missing a chance to make a few shillings, and then find there is nothing for them in the end. This will always be the case till the Harbour Board takes over the business and runs it in some systematic way with conditions fair to everyone. At present the shipping companies run the wharves sq> far as the men are concerned, and pick and choose at their own sweet will, with the result that the work is often very unfairly distributed. But there will bo no repetition of. the strike of two vears ago, when the wool comes down' or at any other time. Wo are looking for a better way to improve the conditions, and wo ought to get the help of the politicians and the public," THE FIREMEN. The firemen stand m a somewhat different position from that of the other workers, and tho nature of their employment seems to induce a rather irresponsible view of life and its serious side. Few of them have .settled homes at one end of the ferry run or the other. When in port they ■nro exposed to all sorts of temptations, and it is easy to understand that their power of resistance is not strengthened bv a night spent in the stokehole. They appear to have a hand in most of the minor that occur along tho waterfront, as often as not "oiit of pure cu'-'sedness," as one of their j friends has put it; but allowance must j be made for their disagreeable occupation, and for tho fact that they receive much less attention than they should from the people who ought to be looking after their material and moral welfare. Taken all in all. the attitude oi tho maritime workers suggests that they are wiser and no poorer than they were in 1913, and that they will not invite j a-other trial of strength with the employers without first exhausting every constitutional means of settling their troubles. _____________