MEN RESUME.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19179, 9 December 1927, Page 9

MEN RESUME.

WATERSIDE HOLDUP ENDS.

OWNERS ACCEPT COURT'S RULING.

WORKERS LOSE HEAVILY.

(BT CABLS—PRISS ASSOCIATION--COPrBIOHT.) (AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLS ASSOCIATION.)

SYDNEY, December 8.

An official statement made by the Overseas Shipowners' Association announces that they have received cabled advice accepting the conditions laid down by Judge Beeby. Work has therefore been resumed.

The strike has lasted soven days, and has affected more than 50,000 workers and resulted in loss of wages of approximately £150,000. There are twenty-five ovorseas steamers, aggregating 175,456 tons, in Sydney, waiting to work cargo, and their owners have suffered enormous losses.

It will be necessary to work overtime on nearly all the wharves in an endeavour to make up for the delay.

The owners are stated to feel very ' deeply the manner in which they have been dealt with in the dispute, especially as counsel for the owners were prevented from discussing the matter in the Court yesterday. An obligation is on them, however, to obey the law, and they will do bo and allow the case to be investigated by Judge Beeby. The "Sydney Morning Herald," commenting on the statement, says: "A serious aspect is that the order made by the Court concedes temporarily to the union an important point, and so will tend to justify any action by the union as an adjunct to arbitration." The article concludes: "Without penalties for the course of conduct it pursued, without loss of its forceful gains in regard to the crucial pick-up matter, and with only assurances that are no more binding than others previously made and broken, the Waterside Workers' Union is restored to an especially favourable standing in the Court. What is likely to be the effect of that upon other strong unions that are inclined to mix judicial arbitration with mass action in proportions to suit themselves? We fear it may not be good."

Even before the time for the pick-up this morning large numbers of watersiders had assembled in the vicinity of the wharves.

The waterfront has been a scene of bustle all day, with vessels being pulled into berths, and unloading and getting cargo aboard. Owing to the abnormal number of vessels in port as a result of the strike the supply of labour proved short, but it is expected that sufficient will be assembled to-morrow to meet all requirements.

Reports from other States show that the position there is similar. In a statement issued by the Sydney Joint Committee of the Australian and Overseas Shipping Association it is claimed that work was resumed on the waterfront because the shipowners have remained loyal to the Arbitration Court and the decision of the Court's representative. Their stand has been upheld by the Court. The statement adds: "It is hoped that in the future a complete observance of awards will result in continuity of work and the establishment of that harmony between employers and employees so essential to the' welfare of the trade and commerce of Australia."