THE UNION'S POSITION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1895, 1 November 1913, Page 7

THE UNION'S POSITION.

AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT. EMPLOYERS'REPLY. The Strike Committee "issued tho following statement to tho press yesterday, dealing with the striko from their viewpoint:— "The union has agreed to resume work undor the old agreement; to maintain the status quo of wages and conditions. Tho employers domand tho abolition of tho union, the abrogation of the agreement, and tho denial of the waterside workers as a whole to organise into one union. "As certain misapprehensions aro existing in tho minds of tho public as to the cause of the present trouble,-the committeo wishes to have tho position clearly put before tho people. "Under the agreement which wasgranted as a result of conferences, and which was d.-vted February 1,1912, contained the following clause .-—'Work in the stream, at dry docks, and slip, men engaged to work within limits of any ■ harbours covered by this agreement, to bo paid from time of engagement up to.time of arrival at the whnrf and return at tho rate fixed for the olass of labour on which they aro engaged. It was also specified that this should not apply to Lyttelton dry dock and tho slip. This payment of travelling time was mado lip .till the time the now Evans Bay works of.the TJ.S.S. Cbmoany were established at tho rate of Is. extra : per day on each day's wages. Immediately these works wero established this payment waa stopped without the consent of the union, notwithstanding the numerous representations made to the Union. Comnnny on the subject. The matter was then laid 'before, several meetings of tho union, when it was decided to malee a collective request' of the whole of tho workers who were employed in this particular department.

"The union secretary wns instructed to interview tho Shipwrights' Society, find as a Tesult tbnt body decided to join the Waterside Workers' Union, and te forward fresh claims, embodying those requests, to tho Union Steam Ship Company. '

The Shipwrights. \] "Thc_ Shipwrights' Society, had-'been in receipt of travelling time or provision of a conveyance in lieu thereof, . since slip built.., Tho: cpnjpnny'in this .'instance docked thair. .travelling time,. without even reporting its_ intention to do so to the Shipwrights' Society. Tho claims, of this society were then forwarded to tho various employers concerned,, and an advance of Id. per hour was offered, with conditions of work, greatly inferior to what had already been, in existence. . In fact, a proposal was made demanding that the men . (tho ship; wrights) Bhould work on the shift system—a condition of employment that could not on any account be allowed to ba introduced in any agreement of waterside workers. "Tho employers claimed that tho waterside workers had no right to advance tho claims of. the shipwrights. This the "Waterside "Workers' Union know to be absolutely inconsistent, and a new lino of policy on the part of-tho company, seeing it had already to meet the union in respect to its harbour steamer employees. . In fact, certain steps had been previously taken to enter into ani agreement with the union with respect to the harbour steamers employees, although this was (for other reasons), not accepted by the ijnion. Thus a precedent had been established. "It is astonishing to tho committee that on June 13, 1912, the Union Company admitted by letter that it wa3 quite clear that by Clause 5 of tho agreement tho men employed at Evans Bav wore entitled to payment for travelling time. This; tho company said, had been lost sight of owing to 'our having allowed the men to use tho vehicles in use by us in connection with the works at Evans Bay, and this privilege being regarded as a setoff against travelling timo. I (the Union Company) agree with you, however, that tho men aro entitled to payment, and the question to bo decided is tho time involved.'" "Tho Patent Slip Company, as an embodiment of tho Union Steam Ship Company's yards, and old patent slip, was formed, and, notwithstanding that both places of work aro not over 1 100 yards from each other and both helong to tho one company, payment for travelling timo was allowed in the agreement'for tho patent slip alone; and it was docked for those who worked in the yard. In other words, we got payment for tho slip, but for the., yard, which is an integral part of tho undertaking, we are not paid. "To show how considerate tho union was, it allowed-payment for the patent slip when making the new agreement to bo on the lowest scale—namely, threequarters of an hour ordinary time— whereas tho agreement stipulated that the travelling timo should Go allowed at the rates for the classi of work tho labour wag engaged in. In other words, the union was agreeable for the men to bo paid a less rate than was m accordance with tho strictly literal interpretation of the agreement. This explains why the Shipwrights' Society joined the AYatorsido "Workers' Union.

The Stop-Work Meeting. "The Shipwrights were successful in coming to an agreement with'the shipowners, and the matter was next brought before a general meeting of the union, at which 200 men were present. This meeting being adverse to taking any drastic action without first consulting tho members as a whole, and knowing that a ballot would tako somo timo to obtain, as a largo mimbor of members wore away, decided to settlo tho question prior to going to work on tho following morning. Thero woro then but a levr ships in tho harbour at tho timo, and these men were asked to stop work also to attend tho mooting. The meeting lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. No drastic action was taken at the meeting. On tho contrary, tho matter of the shipwrights' dispute was handed over tho Federation of Labour for further negotiations with tho employers. "Tho men who left work to attend tho meeting found their-places filled brothers. Representations woro then made to the employers that this course of action would immediately cause trouble, and a request was mado that the work should go on until tho matter was brought before tho local committee for Rottlemont. "butoad of taking tbia wunss, tin

| employers threw down the gauntlet and tore up the agreement, "Soveral attempts wero made to bring tho employers to a- sense of their responsibility, but without avail, until their action made it plain to the, watersido workers in general, both perma-n* out and casual, that a. drastic attempt was boing made to wipe this organisation, namely, the Waterside \\ orkors Union out of existence. "All. sections of labour along the waterside, including the Harbour Board men, tally clerks, men engaged m whryTconstruction, and others, rallied r/ind tho union in support, and gave /toeir absolute assurance that they would not' work with free labour, and, if ultimately requested to do so, they would step out. , "Tho union did not desire to extend this trouble beyond the limits of those practically concerned, namely, those of its own organisation. . , "It requested all worker not to work with free labourers, but rather to sacrifioo their positions. "This assurance was given.

"A Clean Slato." , "Assistance has been readily rendered by tho larger section of tho general public, which has Bhown.sympathy with the desire of the watersiders to maintain their union. . "They will not be beaten into subjection by hardwood batons and the revolvers of special constables, who are really not the legitimate police, with whom they have no quarrel. "The committee gives its assurance that if tho agreement is reinstated and given a clean slate work at the port will proceed apace as if no interruption had taken place. It. is a significant fact, in view of tho drastic action which tho employers have taken up in considering that a breach of tho ■ agreement meant the abrogation of an agreement, for, if that were so, tho majority of the awards in New Zealand would long ago have been abolished. The number of cases in which employers have boon charged with breach of agreement (vide -Labour Department's report) were 436, whereas tho employees' breaches were 136. These figures speak for themselves. If, then, tho breach of an agreemont meant the abrogation of it, there would not be a single award in existence to-day. . . "The committee sanctions no noting and no disorder. "The men are determined to win with the assistance of all tho workers in Now Zealand if necessary. The trouble Inst night was most regrettable, as it plainly shows to the committeo the Government, if tho actions of the police were in accordance with instructions from the polico authorities, will use every means to subject tho workers to the humiliating conditions desired by the ' employers."

"SELECTED CORRESPONDENCE." WHAT THE EMPLOYEES SAY. In referenco to tho above official statement" the employers,, iu fepl}'. point out that tho union has selected from tho correspondence just so much as suits their caso. They further state that the proposals which the union eo adversely . criticised were merely those as a basis for discussion with a view of coming to settlement. The employers discussed the proposals on a recent afternoon expecting that tho shipwrights would consider'the proposals and come back for further elucidation of any points of difieronco between the two parties. But on the samo evening, tho shipwrights held a meeting, turning down every suggestion which the employers, .hattput .Therofcrenco "to :: odreeSpe'ndonco with tho Waterside Workeis' Onion prior to tho .opening ..of,tho, shipwrights' dispute is :menely/idr.iiwing r » red hiring across the scent. The employers'-concernod had nothing to do at all with tho shipwrights' conditions.