The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1920. MARINE ENGINEERS ON STRIKE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 87, 7 January 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1920. MARINE ENGINEERS ON STRIKE

As a. body'marine engineers have a high reputation to maintain, and it is presumably not without a serious sense of grievance that the Australian members of the profession have persisted for nearly a month in holding up shipping on the Commonwealth register. The still unsettled trouble between the engineers and the Australian shipowners came to a head on December 12. On that date ' and on subsequent days engineers on inter-State and other steamers sailing under Australian award gave notice as their ships arrived in port. The hold-up quickly attained serious dimensions, and has since continued. • The bulk of the steamers affected are engaged in Australian coastal and inter-State trade, but some inter-colonial and oversea ships_ are also held in port. The big liner Niagara is a conspicuous example. That vessol, it was reported the other day, was fully booked with passengers for the United States, Canada,' and Great Britain, but she has been laid idle, and sinco her men are Sydney registered it is not.expected that she will get away' until the trouble is settled. A number of steamers commonly employed in the intercolonial service arc also lying idle. The Dominion. is thus penalised to a serious extent, though not as heavily as Australia, by a paralysis of shipping trade which would be unfortunate at any time, but is doubly so at a time, when the shortage of shipping is so acutely felt. It was estimated the other day. that the immediate effect of the 'strike has been to 'throw about twelve thousand engineers, deck officers, seamen, and others normally cmployed on shipboard out of employment, and an enormous loss is, of course, involved in keeping some scores of thousands of tons of shipping lying idle. The total effect is hardly to be estimated, but it may be seen partly in a widespread dislocation of trade which is causing prices to soar in • the Commonwealth, and in an almost complete cessation of passenger traffic. The embargo on passenger traffic was felt as a particularly severe hardship durinpc the holiday season.'. Tasmania, it is stated, would have been entirely cut off from contact 1 with the mainland of Australia but for the partial service maintained by ships on the New Zealand register.

The main point in dispute .is the rate of wages. Under the award made in December, 1918, the payment of Australian engineers ranged from £15 10s. per month in the case of juniors to £42 for chief engineers oh high-powered ships. Prior to the strike the shipowners had offered an all-round increase of £2 per month (to apply alike to seniors and juniors). This was injected, as was an amended offer which was made at the instance of the Commonwealth Government a few days after the strike began, and accompanied by an_ intimation that if the engineers did not come to terms the Government would use all its resources to defeat them. The Government offered the rates fixed in the current New Zealand award. In Australia this would have meant increases op. existing rates of from £2 _10s. per month in the case of juniors to £8 per month for senior engineers. The Australian engineers arc demanding increases of from £3 15s. a month for juniors to. £19 a month to the highest-placed seniors. These increases would make the monthly salary of juniors £]9_55., and that of the highest-paid engineers £61. The award of December, 1918, fell considerably short of satisfying the engineers, and though it had a term of three years they asked for and obtained a' conference with the shipowners in June last year. _ As the seamen's strike was then in progress it was agrn"d that the matter should stand over' until the ships resumed running. It was not until November last that the employers made the offer of an all-round increase of £2 per month, which soon afterwards was rejected. The engineers have admitted that they, are asking for a sixty per cent, increase on the rates awarded in 1912, and they contend that the demand is justified in view of the fact that since 1912 unskilled men in the shipping industry have been granted increases of sixty per cent. For instance, the wages of firemen have been increased during the past seven years from £10 to £16 per month. It mav bo noted that the owners of vessels up to 101 horsepower trading on the Victorian coast have conceded the engineers' demands.

Even those who criticise their action and blame them for ntmishinp the whole community admit that

the engineers had a legitimate grievance. At the same time enginecra themselves must feel that a deplorable descent from the standards | established in their profession is ini volved in their resort to "direct action." No body of men engaged in any calling has a finer tradition of loyal and devoted service, and Australian engineers have hardly upheld that tradition in paralysing the shipping services on which the welfare and _ prosperity of their country so vitally depend. It is fairly certain, however, that tho Australian engineers are not wholly blameworthy for their present departure from sound and justifiable methods. Shipping companies and some other employers have fallen into the habit of yielding tamely to the demands of militant labour while dealing in much more cavalier fashion with workers in whom a sense of duty and responsibility is better developed. Whatever the precise. merits of the present dispute may be the adoption of "direct action" by- the Australian marine engineers is the symptom of a disturbing development which shipowners and all who take a rational view of industrial relationships ought to be eager to arrest by just and well-considered action. The engineers will no doubt claim that they were driven to strike because there was no hope of obtaining redress in any other way. It. can hardly be denied that the shipping companies have to some extent presumed on the loyalty of the engineers even if it is considered that the latter, having once cast the die, aV, pressing somewhat extreme demands. In any case, it is highly desirable that, a _ return should be made to the conditions in which a strike by marine engineers was regarded as almost unthinkable, and one essential step in that direction, and/ towards a settle-, ment of the current dispute, is a frank admission by the shipping companies that it is incumbent on them to deal as ■ fairly and liberally with those of their employees who habitually adhere to constitutional methods in. seeking concessions as with those who as habitually utilise-any and .every weapon of industrial warfare. An indication that the companies are prepared to move forward on these' lines is afforded in one of to-day's messages, which states that they arc complaining that the inactivity of the Commonwealth Shipping Controller prevents them from making efforts'to promote a settlement.