THE SHIPPING TROUBLES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16424, 18 January 1919, Page 9

THE SHIPPING TROUBLES.

thb ferry service

mararoa HELI> UP AT

lyttelton

»flie ferry steamer Mararoa's stoke- • iiold crew, nine firemen and six trimmers, signed off at Lyttelton yesterday morning, the firemen refusing to accept re-engagement- at the union rate of i.n 10s per month. No other men being available, tho vessel was unable to sail • x ot Wellington last evening. The firemen state that their reason i for refusing the ordinary rate of pay 1 js that the quarters provided for them in the vessel are dirty, comfortless, and: J yi.ventilated. They also complain * about tho way their food is prepared, and tho quality of it. The firemen further state that in no instance have they asked for £2 a day, the fcnion Company having in eacli case offered it , to them. Seven of the men -who signed , off are regular firemen, the other two ' Tjeine casual hands, who previously ' worked ashore. The firemen declared last night that they were not going to gtoke the fires in tho Mararoa until their quarters were improved. Upon this being mentioned by a "Press" reporter last evening to Mr S K Sleigh, the Christchurch manager of the Union Steam Ship Company lie said it was the first ho had heard of. these complaints. mo firemen had /simply refused to work the ship without giving any explanation. Mr Sleigh supplied a definition of the term "runner,"' which has been used freely of late in connexion with the shipping trouble. He said it was given to a man who signed on at £2 a day. If a man joined the Maori on Tuesday and feigned off on Thursday, he received £2 for Tuesday, £2 for Wednesday, and £2 for Thursday. If the same man decided to sign on again on Thursday he had toget a second £2, or £4 for the day. The company had decided to engage no more men on those terms. Sr'Sleigh stated that the Maori was coming down from Wellington last night at a reduced speed, tho full complement of firemen not having been secured. 3JAORJ AND TOFUA LEAVE /WELLINGTON. (PHESS ASSOCIATION TXLXGBAU.) WELLINGTON, January 17. The steamer Tofua sailed at 3.30 this afternoon for Adelaide, en route for England. The vessel took Australian visitors who have been stranded in Wellington for some time past. (SPECIAL TO "TOE PRESS.") WELLINGTON, January 17. In the case of the Tofua to-day, the firemen were obtained without any extra pay, but there was a ludicrous occurrence just before tho ship sailed. She was short of one man, and the lost one arrived down at the wharf in no condition to work. He had to bo coaxed on board by an engineer. Orders were out of the question. If anything had been said to hurt his feelings, he would not have .gone on board at all, and the other firemen who were amused spectators of the affair, would probably have walked Ashore. The same trouble occurred in the despatch of the Maori. She was short of- one fireman right up till near the time of sailing, but it is believed that the man was at length secured; at any rate, the ship sailed. STRIKE RUMOURS. OPINION ON WELLINGTON WATERFRONT. (special to "the PRESS.-') WELLINGTON, January 17. The assurances of tho Labour leaders that we have nothing to fear in the nature of strikes are not taken \ • seriously on the waterfront in Wellington. Perhaps they represent the opinions of some of the Labour people, . ' but certainly they do not represent ihe opinions of all of then!. A DUNEDIN VIEW. "SEAMEN NOT LOOKING FOR . TROUBLE." On Thursday an ''Otago Daily limes" reporter asked Mr Clarke, secretary of the Dunedin branch of the < (Seamen's Union, if there was any foun- . dabion for tho report from Wellington that there was likely to be trouble amongst the seamon on the New Zeav land coast. Mr Clarke gave it as his ■■ , emphatic opinion that a strike was the *; la&t thing the New .Zealand Seamen's Union executive and the great body t>i men themsolves wanted. He also • "said that if there was a strike im- ■ pending amongst tho men the execu- ' tive of the New Zealand Union had , absolutely no knowledge of it. That there wore 11 firemen short on the Maori would not appear to indicate industrial unrest amongst the seamen •Wd firemen generally, as some 32 fireWen wore required to work tho Maori. ' The fact that men could have been obtained to take the place of the missing 11 if the company had been prepared to pay £2 per day could not be taken to prove that the Seamen's r Union was endeavouring to throw r>n • one side the agreement signed between ■ the companies and the men last October. The men who asked for this £2 are assumed to be what are termed "runners." Theso "runners" are watereide workers, and not men who • ordinarily make a living by going to ■■■ sea. Their servicos are requisitioned . when seamen or firemen cannot be obtained, and thev do not under the control of the Seamen's Union— . .that is, they cannot bo compelled to become union members till they have . been seven days at sea. It should not be forgotten, of course, that some of tho waterside workers are also members of the Seamou's Union, and take spell about at going to sea and working on shore. '> Mr. Clarke repeated that the general body of seamon and firemen do not want a strike, and they maintain that they cannot be held responsible if one of their number, or anv body of. them, refuso to go to sea. They also assert that too much importance is attachod ! , m the newspapers Ho industrial trou- . bles amongst the seamen which should not bo considered to bo of more or less local significance. The lesponsible men in the union (adds the "Times") are also not oblivious of the fact that the Union Steam Ship Company is now but a unit, and a small unit, in . a vast shipping concern—the P. and 0. Company. If it came to a. strike it might not greatly concern the big combine, ■ though it would cause great inconvenience to the general public of New . -Zealand. The P. and 0. Company might simply order the Union Steam Ship Company's steamers to tie up to the wharves, but this procedure would not have the slightest effect in tho working of the company's vessels in other parts all over the world. Thinking men in the Seamen's Union realise that now thev would have to fight not merely the Union Steam Ship Company, but the P. and 0. Company. Moreover, they sav they have nothing to complain of regarding their present working conditions and wages, and that they know who will win if some of the more irreconcilable and irre-

sponsible members of the union do unfortunately happen to bring on a striko.

Further enquiry elicited the fact that under the agreement come to with the employers last October the men are to be paid 30s per month more than-the men on the Australian coast. Whether tho wages of the Australian men have since been raised could not be ascertained. INTERCOLONIAL SERYICE. MANUKA SAILS TO-DAY. (Received January 18th. 1.20 a.m.) SYDNEY, January 17. The Manuka srils for Wellington tomorrow. The Waitomo has been released from quaiantine. MOVEMENTS OF VESSELS. (special to "the press.") DUNEDIN, January 17. The following movements of tho steamers affected by the dispute in Sydney wore supplied by the head office of the Union Company to-day.— Makura —Despatched from Sydney last night for Auckland. Niagara—Released from quarantine , V eek; is timed to leave Sydney on Wednesday, January 22nd, for AucklaMoeraki—Carrying a full complement of passengers, the Moeraki left Sydney yesterday for Wellington direct. As tho quarantine restrictions have not vk bt>en removed, at all Australian iorts the Moeraki and will proceed from Sydney to Hobaxtm tho meantime on therr return to the New South Wales port from New Zealand. On her next trip from. Sydney the Moeraki will probably go to Auckla Manuka—Timeta-bled to leave Sydney to-morrow for Wellington direct. She should arrive there on Wednesday,, and will probably sail the following day for Lyttclton, in which case she will refnrn to Wellington in time to leave the Sr port a b0 S ut the end of next week f °Up y to the present no advice has been received as to when the HuddartParker steamers Riverina and Westralia will resume their former running in intercolonial service. Now that the dispute has been settled, however there is every probability that the Riverina and Westralia will take up their former running very shortly. In another column the Union Stoam Ship Company ask passengers who have : been unable to travel onaccouiitoftho recent "hold up" in Sydnev, and have already booked accommodation, and still dosiro to proceed to communicate at once with their Ghrist- . church office.