ON THE WATERFRONT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 26 February 1914, Page 5

ON THE WATERFRONT.

LARGE NUMBER OF MEN IDLE. (By TeUoravh—Frw A Moctotiow.l AUCKLAND. Last Niglit. The state of affairs just? now prevailing on tho waterfront with regard to labour ia distinctly unsettled. Mr Woods, President of; the Waterside Workers' Union stated to-day that at present there were at least 1000 men seeking work on tho wharves and unable to obtain it. .Of tHeoa, about 500 were members of his union, and the rest were not,' while some SQO men •wore already at work upon the wharves. The conditions of wharf labour, Mr Woods stated, indicated to a great extent the state of the labour market as a whole. When work was scarce, men were used to falling back upon wharf labour, as a means of tiding over a time of stress. In the past, the Waterside Workers* Union had no power to limit the number of its membership, and when little other work was offering, the wharves became the 'casual labour dumping ground. Mr Woods thought that the numerous applications for work whioh he was receiving at present were directly due to the bad conditions prevailing in the labour market.