ALLEGED SEDITIOUS STRIKE

Wanganui Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15656, 7 November 1918, Page 8

ALLEGED SEDITIOUS STRIKE

A CASE DISMISSED. (Per United Press Association.) OAMABU, November 6. Mr Bartholomew, S.M., gave judgment in the case brought by the Labour Department against William Olds and others, watersiders, of Oamaru, charged with a seditious strike in refusing to continue the unloading of coal from the Kittawa on the 26th July, after 10 p.m. The Magistrate held that sufficient notice of intention to work overtime—that is, 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., as laid down in the agreement—had not been given by the employers to the Union. Notice to individuals of the Union was insufficient. Notice must be given by posting the names on the notice-board, with the hours to be worked, wifbin the time and as specified by the agreement. Notice was not so given, and there had been no breach of the award. Turning to the question raised by the prosecution, that a breach of the award was not necessary to constitute a breach of the War Regulations, his Worship decided that where the Regulations conflicted with the agreement they could not apply. Upon a point of illegal combination, he held that the men had merely acted in concert to uphold the agreement. The case against Olds was dismissed, and 30 similar cases were adjourned for a week, pending instructions from the Department.