TRAMWAY STRIKE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1401, 29 March 1912, Page 6

TRAMWAY STRIKE.

UNIOJV PLEADS GUILTY. FINE OF £100 IMPOSED. At tho Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Dr. M'Artlnir, the Wellington Tramways Union wore charged with the ofl'ence or striking, in January Inst. A penalty of .i'2oo was claimed. Mr. J). Carmody appeared for the Department, and Mr. A. Sutherland represented tli-e union. Mr. Carmody said (hat on or about December VJ considerable friction had existed between the uniuii and a member of the corporation staff, Inspector Puller. Representation had been made by the union (o the Lcfy Council for the removal of Fuller from contact with the men. lie believed that in the first instance the Tramway Committee of the council hail agreed that Fuller should be removed, but afterwards rescinded their resolution to that clTcct, and on or about December 27 matters had reached a deadlock, and the deadlock continued until January HI. when_ tho cars were stopped. On the morning of January 31, tho only official intimation received by the council or the electrical engineer was a short note to the effect that the cars would be held up from 2 o'clock that afternoon. The men had held a mass'meeting that afternoon, and os a result of the decision arrived at at that meeting the traffic had been entirel.v suspended till the night of February 5. Very great inconvenience had been caused the public, especially suburban residents, who depended on the cars, and were entitled to them. The actual loss to the men in wages ltad been J;S93, and the. Approximate loss to the corporation .EI2OO. There was not the slightest doubt that the men struck for the sole purpose of forcing the council to remove Fuller and their demands proved that. It had to be said for the men that their conduct and behaviour while on strike was everything that could be desired—there had been no horseplay, no drunkenness, no rowdyism. Mr. A. Sutherland (secretary of the Tramway Union) said that the union pleaded guilty, but he would like to make a statement in extenuation. The strike, he said, had not been brought on by the men as a joke; they had been absolutely forced into the matter. For eighteen months, from the date of Fuller's entry into tho service, there had been nothing but trouble for the men. The men had tolerated Fuller for fifteen months, but then, as tho union's funds were Ijeing expended in defending the characters of members before the Appeal Board, it was decided that something would have to be done. Inspectors wero necessary, but there was a right and a wrong way of doing things. Fuller's way had always caused' trouble. The cases they had to fight had all arisen through Fuller. Mr. Sutherland urged that the unijn had not adopted the e:;trcmo measures that had been adopted by other strikers. Dr. M'Artlnir said he was pleased to hear what had been said regarding the conduct of the men, but the ofl'enco committed was a very serious one. A case of a similar kind in connection with the Merchant Service Guild had recently come under his notice, and without going into tho merits of this case ho thought that if he treated the Tramways Union in the same way as he had tho guild, he would be getting as near the ends of justice as he possiblv could. Tho union would be fined ,£IOO. lie was sorry to do this, but thoro was another way of going about tho matter, and if tho union hail followed the course in question it wouki have been much wiser.