IS IT A THREAT?

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1635, 31 December 1912, Page 5

IS IT A THREAT?

; ; : —q " r ' . SEAMEN AND IDLE STEAHEKS. : - Mr. W. T. Young, secretary of the ,Sea- ■ i men's Union,-stated .'yesterday that nine ships.have -been ; paid'off at Wellington ; . during the holidays. This means that. •in addition to .'cooks, stewards, and offi- ; cars, over 100 members of the Seamen's Union are. idle,"' as Mr. Young put it. ' The, ships tied up at Wellington; on which union men are affected; are as follow:—liurow,.. 50 men; Karori, 15; Koonya, 11; Kini, 11; Komata, 16; Rcgulus, 8; 'Awahou,' G;. Ilimitaiigi, 8:; t0ta1,..103.. .Ships are laid up also in Dunedin,.Lyttelton, .and..Auckland, but. . .the owners expect to get them away,again, . early in January. \ . According to -Mr. Young, the members, of the union '"reseht" this .paying-ofi, and the step takon may lead .to trouble in the near'.future/ easily "arranged"- .itU"sueli';a I-way'-that,' 'when !' these vessels are to be got ready for sea, it would ;be .found J;hat- the men would ; . not-be 'ready— a .week or 'two. Questioned. regarding theabove'' last . evening, a. manager of one-of the .steamship -lines .'trading , out of Wellington, said, "It is .all very , well to talk about us, not paying our Ships off at this time of ' the: year..-If it >vas not. done the. men: . would give -us - trouble one -way and another; Look at. the trouble which they , are . causing on the steamers _ which aro not paid ,off—those vessels, which have, to - mn to time-table.. Then, again, I contend that it is all the better , for the men who are fortunate enough to get the holi- ■ day. Under ordinary circumstances the men aTe paid once a month. If the vessels in question. had not been paid «ff . :• those men would r.ot have had any- money for-.Christmas, and -would not have been paid' until New Year. In conclusion, he said: "The threat about keeping 6hi,us .-! waiting for • toews -is just a case .of the taen seeking to'.make trouble.'"