DRIVERS RESUME.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1907, 15 November 1913, Page 6

DRIVERS RESUME.

I ' ... NEW UNION REGISTERED. , The new Drivers' TJivioa wa-s Tegistered under the Industrial Conciliation j and Arbitration Act at 5 p.m. last even- ; ■ ing,- with a membership of 43. It- k , .understood that fifty or sixty additional , drivers,- who have only been'holding off ! tintilthe registration had been effected, will join the new union and will be at work td-day. ■ Yesterday about forty drivers (members of the aew union) were working. An industrial agreement is being entered into between tho em- '. ployers and tho members of the jiew ' Drivers' Union, in terms of the old' ; award, but granting special preference '. to tliosc- drivers who join tho now union ' witliin the noxt few days. ■ The Old Union. i . At a meeting of the old Drivers' Union, held yesterday., the following resohi<- ~ tion was carried {by secret ballot) b'y i 257 votes to 35:—"That this meeting i of drivers is of opinion that the con- ■ ditioMs under which drivers are asked 1 to Work are still so abnormal and unsafe that work be not resumed: until i the establishment of more normal co.ii- ■ ditieas." ' The union secretary (Mr. A. ftarlafte) i stated, that the committee had practicali ly ta insist on the mutter being decided i by secret ballot. Five votes were declared informal. : Mr. Parlane further stated that the 1 drivers' executive had not iufluenced tho men in any way. Ever since the i trouble started, the task of tho execu- : tiro (lie added) lias been to keep tho men at work. But when the. timo caiijo .that they were asked to cart "free labour" cargo off tho wharves tho mm I refused to do it. The reason for this is that the drivers did not care about ' being, used ,as "stritfi-breakers. ,1 They felt that, under the circumstances., they wanted to be out of tbo way" iinti.l. the trouble was settled. It was only • when they recognised they were bsiijg' drawn into the. struggle to bo used as "strike-breakers'' that it was decided to stcip driving, "The Drivers' Union has had nothing apainst tlio Arbitration Act," said Mr. Parinne. "We have always endeavoured to meet the employ-, ors in every way before this. . But it was thought best to got out of tho wa.y' until this tfoabl© is over. \Wien it is over we are quite prepared t« como ki!»k and resume work when tho conditions have become Mrmal once more. > I want to emphasise that we have- always been byal to the Arbitration Act, but an intolerable position arose when we wero asked to go down as Tho drivers could not see why they should be a.sked to do that."