LOCAL SEAMEN COMING OUT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1902, 10 November 1913, Page 8

LOCAL SEAMEN COMING OUT.

NOTICE GIVEN ON SATURDAY.

Ever since the strike, began thero has been considerable talk of a sympathetic strike of seamen. Although several meetings were held, no definite action was taken until Saturday, when the employers' determination to have tho ships loaded by non-Federation labour had been made clear beyond all doubt. A meeting was therefore held on Saturday morning in tho wharf wait~ ing shed. The officials would make no statement about the result of the meeting, except that the crews of all ships were to give twenty-four hours' notice of their intention to come out. This notice is required by law to bo given in the case of any crew which decides to go 011 strike.

With the exception of this statement the union officials would say nothing about the meeting, but frmn other souro!s a reporter learned that the meeting had not been altogether a. happy one. There was considerable altercation between opposite parties, but eventually those in favour of a general strike of seamen won out. The™decision to give notico wns greeted with chme.. it ia understood tfcisfc native

was given as from 11 a.m. on Saturday,

The decision eun apply, of course, only to vessels whoso craws are sailing under Now Zealand articles. It' cannot affect either tho Willochra or the Moana, whose liion are signed on for the round trip—Sydney to San' Francisco and hack, By coming ashore these men aro guilty of disobedience to lawful orders—and render themselves liable to pewalties. They may be imprisoned for a month, and, in addition, in tlio case of tho WiHoclira's men, there is an accumulation of two months' pay which would be forfeited. The crew of the Willochra have never attempted to conceal their hostility to tho Arbitrafcionists, and on Friday they went as close- to striking as possible. It was chiefly the consideration of their losing their back pay that kept them on board the vessel on Saturday. It is reported that on Saturday tho crew received a telegram from Sydney, in response, to a cablegram dispatched by them, asking for advice. This massage, it is understood, read: "Stick to your ship; do nothing dirty."

A reporter had a talk with one of the strike leaders on Saturday night, in connection with the seamen's action. It had been known to the strikers ail along, lie said, that they could rely on the seamen to come out when they were called upon. With regard to the .Man 11 a and the Willochra, he said, the Strike Committee were perfectly satisfied. Neither vessel would be ablo to leave the harbour until the strikers gave permission. "The Morula's men arc out," he said, "and are comfortably accommodated in a feoardinghonse in the City. They will not go back." The Willochra's men are toot out, but the vessel will not sail, all the same, as she has not enough coal. The position is that the Moana has plenty of coal and no men; while the Willochra has the men but 110 coal." In spite of the. striker's statement that the Moana's men are standing firm, there were some signs on Saturday that some of them were repenting of their hasty action, and would be very pleased to be back on their ship again. It is not a very enviable position to be ashore in a "foreign" port, without monoy. Most of the mca would like to /got back 10 Sydney, their homo port.