SHIP STRIKE ENDS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1280, 8 November 1911, Page 6

SHIP STRIKE ENDS.

CAPTAINS' LEAD. OTHER- DRCK OFFICERS CONFORM. MATES TURN TO. ON TJvIIMS GIVEN BY OWNERS. • The dispute between the Shipowners' Federation and the Merchant Service Guild was settled yesterday, nnd tho strike, as it has been called by everybody except the officers themselves, has ended. When the Masters Pulled Out, On Monday negotiations between representatives ol the guild and of the owners failed to oiled a settlement, anil tho masters thereupon decided to return to duty, and leave the mates to fight out their trouble alone. A meeting of tho males was held in Hie guild rooms yesterday morning to discuss the new position created by the defection of the wasters, and, after reviewing the situation, they asked the Shipowners' Federation to meet them in conferenco again. Owners Meet the Males. This reouest was granted, but the shipowners asked that those chosen to represent the guild should be otlicers who wero actually affected. Tho owners made a further provision, that the basis of tho discussion in conferenco should be tho proposals submitted by the owners on Saturday last, as amended bv the con- ■ cessions offered on Monday, '/'he oflicprs' representatives wero empowered to make the best terms they could with the shipowners, without further reference to tho guild The shipowners were represented at tho conference by Captain M'Arthur and Messrs. M. Rodgers, 11. C. Henner, Guy Johnston, and W. E. Fuller, and the guild by Messrs. W. T. firigden, R. Dodds, \V. L. Leers, and J. 1!. Owen. What They Decided On. Following arc the terms of the agreement arrived at:— Hours of Work.—Where two mates are employed on any steamer, the owners agree, except in' eases of emergency, to arrange that the mates work watch and watch, both at sea and in port, unless the safety of the ship demands otherwise, this clause to he given three months' trial. If, nt the end of that time, it proves unsatisfactory, the officers shall have the right of appeal to the Shipowners' Federation for adjustment. Sundays and Holidays.—The extent of work to be done on Sundays, and on New Year's Bay, Good Friday, Faster Monday, Labour Day, King's Birthday, Christmas Day, and 13oxing Day, shall be left to the individual owners to decide according to circumstance?. Reinstatement.—AH officers formerly employed will l>o reinstated. The Wages Agreed On. Following i 9 the schedule of wages agreed upon, to bo paid to tho officers reinstated:— First. Second. I .fi £ Arapawa 1G — Alexander 17 14 Ulonheiin 15 — i Defender 15 12 Gertie 16 ~ llimitangi 1? 13 Holmdalo 15 12 Ifuia 15 — Kiripnka 15 — Kalut 16 — Knpmii 10 - Ivapili - lfi ~ Kennedy IB 13 Kaitoa 1G 13 Knir.iki 1' 1* Manaroa 1G — Mana 15 — Mangapapa 15 ' — Moa 15 Nikan 17 — Opawa 15 — • Putiki 16 13 Quecu of tho South ... 17 — Ripple I® 13 StormMrd .16 — Wnimca 17 1» Wakatu 15 — ■Wootton 15 — Waverlcy 15 — What Has Been Gained? Theso arc not all the terms of tho agreement which will bo drafted, they deal merely with tho points which proved most difficult to settle. As appears from- the schedule of wages and other conditions, the terms which tho oflicors accepted yesterday wero tho snmo as those they had rejccled (ho day previous. By their action, the ofliccrs have secured increases of pay from £1 to XI! per month for some of their number, but not for all of them. They have gained an increase of from to 11 days of annual leave, and some im. provement generally in working conditions. The Stalwarts—"Shall we Bush-Whack?" Although a majority of tho mates aro satisfied that they cannot do better than resume work, there aro still soino who state that they will not go back on the terms offered. Tho minority aro all strong robust young men, and unmarried, and they probably number _ cm than a dozen. They havo ynl'ious ldens about what they propose to do to earn ;l crust; some say they will take a liook on the wharf—the most obvious ]ob for an out-of-work mariner—and others suggest "bush-whacking.* I hey have no decided plans, and it may yet happen that all cxccpt a very few will get back to their steamers. Busy Times Ahead. The owners wore busy yesterday getting officers and crews for their steamers, which they hope to dispatch within the next 24 hours. The deadlock has resulted in (ho piling up of a deal of freight at various ports, ami tho ships will be kept very busy for a week or two. Some of the s earners will have to take in coal as wel ns cargo, but there should bo no long delay about gelling them to sea. In o ,^™\ o t £ idleness the engineers ha.%o been at work on most of .them, cleaning and generally setting things in order, lho ?nct is'that tho strike is ended, and a lot of people m places other tban Wellington will bo vcr >" that it lS St> * _