STRIKERS FINED.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1742, 6 May 1913, Page 5

STRIKERS FINED.

FIFTY RAILWAY PORTERS PENALISED. JUDGE'S CAUSTIC COMMENTS. iJy Teleerauli—Pre«s Association—Oourrialif (Rcc.' May 5, 9.20 p.m.) Sydney, May 5. As a sequel to tho railway yards striko at Darling Harbour, when four' hitndrcd men ceased work, leading to a general upheaval and dislocation of business, summonses were issued against a number of tho Darling Harbour railway porters for alleged breaches of tho Industrial Act. Tho men had demanded a forty-eight hours' week instad of 102 hours a fortnight, and an increase from Bs. to 9s. a day in wages, with an overtime rate of timo and a half, and other concessions. In the Industrial Court to-day, Justice Heydon delivered judgment in the cases against forty-nino of tho porters who had left their work at Darling Harbour. TV'hcn tlio matter was before the Court counsel raised tho question whether tho men's action constituted a strike.

Justico Heydou found that the men had actcd in concert, and in essence a strike was the concerted cessation of work without tho consent of tho employer. The men had chosen an exceptionally busy day in tho railway yards wliereon, boing public servants in charge of ono of tho links of communication between tho metropolis nnd the rest of tho State, they broke it, and caused great inconvcnienco and loss. The choico was made on an exceptionally busy day, w'hen perishable goods might havo been dostroyed. This circumstance was an extreme aggravation, and it entailed destruction of their fellow citizens' private property at the very moment wlien a board was considering an award whcrcimder their fellow citizens made them a present in wages of .£00.(100 annually. Many strikes, Justice Heydon said, now displayed a character of reckless malice, as if there were a grudge against society and a desire to injure it as much as possible. Justice Heydon fined sixteen of the leading porters .£lO each, and the other thirtythree £1 and costs each, the fines to be leviablo upon the men's wages. WORK RESUMED. (Rec. May 5, 10.20 p.m.) Sydney, May 5. All tlio Southern coal mines are now Working. THE NORTHERN MINERS. Sydney, May 5. The Northern miners' ballot favoured the acceptance of a special Arbitration Court. This, it is hoped, will pave the way for a general settlement.