MILITANT LABOUR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1350, 30 January 1912, Page 5

MILITANT LABOUR.

DOCKERS' STRIKE. FOUNDRYMEN REVOLT. SOLDIERS RESTORE ORDER. Bj Tslcrri-Dh—Frcßi Aia*daUsn—CoDjrtrhi London, January 28. Glasgow dockers have unanimously resolved not to resume work on Monday under the conditions the executive of the union arranged with the masters with a view to bringing Glasgow into lino with Dundee and Liverpool. The strikers are communicating with other ports with a view to a sympathetic strike. POLICE FIRE ON STRIKERS. Berlin, January 28. Five hundred Italian foundrymen at Luxemburg struck owing to the masters deducting the men's contributions for invalidity insurance. • They 6tormed the works and bombarded the polico with bricks. The police fired a volley, killing three and seriously wounding six of the rioters. Soldiers succeeded in restoring order. BRITISH MINING DISPUTE. (Reo. iJanuary 30, 0.15 a.m.) London, January 29. ■, The ooal owners and miners are considering the Joint Committee's report. The chance of reaching a. compromise iB hopeful. A pamphlet issued by the miners states that the average profit on the ordinary ahare3 of ninety-two leading coal companies was 9.6 per cent annually for a period of thirteen yoaTa. TRADES UNION REPORT. CRec. January 29, 9.55 p.ml) London, January 29. The General Federation of Trades Unions, in its quarterly report, protests against the general lockout which the cotton employers hurled every time a local movement was made towards better wages and conditions. This was a menace to trades unionism, and if the employers were justified, the trades unions were justified in striking over the whole country when an employer discharged a man for being a trades unionist. The unions wero'not likely to adopt this policy, as it would compel them to strike in some countries weekly. BRISBANE. TRAM STRIKE. Brisbane, January 29. After a procession in the streets a big demonstration was made in the park, union leaders delivering fighting speeches in favour ofstrikes. A conference representing forty-three unions on Saturday night resolved that tho action of the tralntvay company in prohibiting the men wearing union badges constituted .an attack on'unionism, which was recognised under statute law. Unless a satisfactory settlement is reached in tho meantime a general cessation of work will take place on Tuesday evening. The result of the meeting was greeted with enthusiasm, To a great crowd which had gathered outside the hall Mr. Bowman, leader of tho Labour party, in a speech said the fight was not alone for the tramway men but for'the whole union movement. The Employers' Federation, he said, had played a strong part in the trouble, and the unionists were going to teach them that if they wero going to stand behind the tramway company tho unionists as a body would also take a hand. Tlie manager of the company declared that if the men had appealed to the law the company would havo decided to let the law settle the dispute. The tramway company altogether has secured 85 new hands. The engineers in the powerhouse ceased work on Sunday night. The manager has stated that this will cause a little inconvenience, but it will be overcome. (Rec. January 30, 6,15 a.m.) Brisbane, January 29. The tramway manager claims that the power-houso is again fully manned, and is working smoothly.' He has not replied to tho men's letter suggeGting a conference. Business houses aro laying in extra supplies, fearing a general strike. Miniserg are concerned at tho outlook,. and have interviewed both sides. GENERAL STRIKE ON WEDNESDAY. (Rec. January 29, 9.5 p.m.) , Brisbane, January 29. The executive of the combined unions has issued a manifesto, in which it is stated it will do all * in its power to fully provide for hospitals and. benevolent institutions, and not interfere with' measures usually taken to safeguard the public, such as sanitation, but'all other work wherein the forty-two unions represented are engaged must oease work on Tuesday night. ' , CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SYDNEY. (Rec. January 29, 9.5 p.m.) Sydney, January 29. The Tramway Employees' Union has voted ;£IOO for the Brisbane strikors, and ha 3 authorised a levy of members till the trouble is ended. THE NON-UNION STORY. A LOYAL EMPLOYEE'S VERSION. It,appears that there are two unions in connection with the Brisbane tram Services-one is the union that has gone on strike and the other is the Brisbane Ti'amway Employees' Association of which Mr. W. J. Caught, a tram employee, is the secretary. The Brisbane 'Daily Mail," of January 22, published an _ interview with Mr. • Caught, from which wo take tho following:— "I've got no grievunco against the fellows who have gone out," he exclaimed. "They havo taken it upon themselves to go out by tho wearing of tho badge, but I'vo got enough men to work these cars, and we are going to do it. We're going to work tho cars right through., and we'ro going to win. Don't think that there's any question about that. We can do it, and wo'ro going to stick to Mr. Badger." You wouldn't join tho other union when it was formed? "Join it? No fear." Why not? "Because," said Mr. Canght, adopting' n solemn nnd convincing tone, "it was formed in secrecy. It was not formed in n straightforward manner. And, what is more, I took it that when men gave their word to their manager, when lie was leaving for tho Old Country, that word was their bond. These other men as soon as they got their boss on the high seas broke their word, and got up an organiser from Melbourne for their other union." "Furthermore," added Mr. Caught, "I'm not a unionist." You object to unionism? "Yes, to unionism controlled as it is at tho present tiino by Trades Hnll cliques. I wouldn't let the Trades Hull govern mo any more than I'd let a boily of men in Melbourne govern mo. Wo are fighting the battle of freedom, and wo mean to keep free. The other men gave their word, but as soon as the manager left these shores they brolto it." Continuing, Mr. Caught snid that tho men in the service of the Hrisbane Tramways Company were working in conditions which were not to bo compared with those obtaining in any other part of Australasia. Mr. Badger had always

given the men justice, and ho had never refused anything in- reason. Only last Thursday at an interview ho had agreed to grant extended leave on full pav after seven years' sen-ice, instead of after 10 years' service, as formerly. Every time they had received an increase in wage- 5 they had got a reduction of hours. They were tho only Tramways Company employees in the whole of Australasia who had been granted free recreation rooms for their own amusement. What was more, the company prodded a specially trained nurse whose services could be utilised when any of the men's wives or children fell ill. Ho (himself) had worked 11 years for tho Tramways Company, and he * didn't wish to work for a better "boss." The driver on the Same car had worked for the company for,eight years, and lie thought that if his opinions were asked they would be found to coincide with his own. Questioned with regard to. the strength of the membership of his association, Mr. Caught said that up to tho beginning of last wool; there were 21i members. He did not know the exact present strength as, to use his own words, he had not had time to find out how many "ratted." He did not, however, think that -more than 20 or 25 had left. The-other side had said that there were only about 50 men left to work the cars, butthat day there were 110 men at two stations only. There were more men at Logan Road not included in that number, and the 110 were exclusive of car-wa-shers, sweepers, point boys, and those in the workshops. He had no doubt about their ability to keep the service nmning, and fie expressed the strong belief that the whole thirig would "fizzle out" in a day or so. . , "I suppose you don't mind running the gauntlet and being called 'scab,' etc.?" queried the pressman. "Mind? Not a bit. It doesn't hurt me. They tried to catch me fhe otheT day in George Street. I Was-on the sprinkler, snd a mob of them tried to Close round it. The first thing I stopped was a rotten apple, and after some bad bananas. I just waited till they got clcso iip and then I turned the water on them. It caught some of 'em all right, I can tell you."