UNION DEREGISTERED.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18412, 19 June 1925, Page 13

UNION DEREGISTERED.

RECALCITRANT SEAMEN. AUSTRALIAN COURT'S ACTION. (FROM OCT. OWN COF.r.ESrOSDENT.) SYDNEY, June 12. Tlio climax of a long .struggle between Australian steamship owners and the powerful .Seamen's Union was reached in the Federal Arbitration Court at Melbourne last Friday, when on the application of the former, the Deputy-President of the Court grantj cd the dorcgistratinp of the Union. I This decision .followed the refusal of I the. president of the Union (Mr T. ! Wa!.-,h) vo obey the Court's order that I two idle steamers must he immediately l manned. Mr Walsh announced in ! Court that ilic Union would not oppose | the owners' application for deregisi Li-ation. and dramatic exchanges oc- ; currcd between him and Mr Deputy- . President Webb. j Although, th'.- action in the Court l miotic he the climax of the struggle. | it will he by no means the end. That ' a trial of strength between the two parties is imminent is admitted on all tid?-'. It i- evider.u that in future, ■ the seamen intend t; adopt direct action and "iolj control'' tactics in deai- '■ be witli tiie shipowners in any . pittcs that m.iy occur. Though the i militant section among the seamen had i gradually assumed the upper hand, and ; then grasped control of the organisa- • tion, ft was not thought that the seamen' themselves would permit their officers to go to the length of cutting ; adriit from the Arbitration Court, | which had conferred many benefits ' vpon them* and mad* the conditions-of

the Australian seamen second to none in the world. But that this is tho seamen's attitude is proved by events subsequent to tho deregistration proceedings. A call for a crew to man the Commonwealth lino steamers, Eroinanga. and Dilga, mot with no response. Ono seaman, Thomas Campbell, sent forth a call to form a new union, but it remained unanswered. Campbell, by the way, has full reason to desire- a* new union to supplant the old. He has probably suffered more than any other member at the hands of the officials of the deregistered Union. He was formerly ship's delegate- to the old Union and has had considerable experience in handling union affairs. He was ono of tho men selected for the original crew of the Fordsdnlc by the Commonwealth Line, at a time when a I'nioii official was trying to assert job control. As a result of a .scene on tho Fordsdale, when a Union official ordered all men off the .ship and a lew remained at their places, Campbell and others were immediately disciplined bv the officials as n coercive measure to others. C.'.mpbc!! appealed to tho Eqi. ; ty Court, which held that the- action of the officials was illegal and ultra virc?, an-] granted an injunction restraining tho officials of the U:;'on from withholding from Campbell his privileges as a full member of the Union. ?.nd of interfering with his seeming employment. It is not thought that the deregistration of the old Union will cause shipowners to seek to alter hours, wages, or conditions of employment, or to take advantage of the situation. As one shinowner said; "\Y< do not want to create trouble. All wc want is peace, and during the last few years this has not been possible owing to the action* of tho officials and a- few members of the Seamen's Union.''

FEATS AT SMOKING CONTESTS.

Among the tilings upon which Belleville, a working class district of Paris, prides itself, are tho feats accomplished at the annual smoking contests promoted by tho Mayor and municipality of its "free commune." It is here that the six Paris champions of the pipe, cigar, or cigarette have to defend i>r win tiicir titles, says the ''Daily Telegraph." The competitors for each event are assembled in the local bandstand, and while the band stationed outside enlivens the proceedings with popular airs, members of the watching public make little bets about their favourites. In the first event the winner had to smoke a gramme of strong tt»h.'tcco in a pipe iu the shortest possible time The bandstand appeared at out* time during this event as though it were on lire, but as the smoke-screen cleared away it was announced that the president of the Cent Kiios Club, one of the fattest men in Paris, had iron by emptying his pipe in lmin lOsee. In the contest for slow pipe-smoking the winner made his portion last 51uuu. The winner of the quick cigar-smoking event survived the ordeal of having consumed a big and pungent treed in lmin 50sec, while the winner of the slow-smoking test made his last for Ehrs 33min. It was also shown that a cigarctto may either be smoKed in lmia 3sec or made to last for 38min.