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STILL WITHOUT COAL

WHARF TROUBLE NOT SETTLED

WATERSIDERS CAUSE A HITCH

MEffiAl MARU ONLY PARTIALLY MANNED

The trouble on the waterfront wa« only partially settled yesterday-'and no coal at all was unloaded for the.electrio lighting station, <ihe power-house, or gasworks. The meeting of the Waterside Workers' Union held during the morning carried a resolution to resume work on the Japanese steamer Meikai Maru, but when the call for labour was made aft-1 pjn. the response was so' poor that the employers decided not : to ask the men to unload the coal boats lying at "the wharves. ,'■ There was on attendance of about 1000 .men-&t|'the meeting of the Waterside Workers' Union. Discussion centred round a recommendation from the union executive to the effect that work on tho Japanese steamer be resumed on the understanding that the Disputed •Committee be called together- afterwards to deolde whether the nature of the phosphate cargo would warrant) any increase on the agreement rate of pay. The proceedings) it is stated, were very lively, the executive being subjected to a good "deal of hostile criticism by a noisy section. Eventually, by a majority of 289 votes, it was -derided to adopt the executive's recommendation. '■' At the conclusion of the union reeting, the president (Mr. L. Glover) informed Mr'. W. H. G. Benneilt (manager of the Waterside Emoloynwnt .Association) that the men had decided to man the Meikai Maru on the '-understanding that the Dispute • Committee visited the ship'. afterwards and ined the'cargo whilst it was beinffl discharged for the purpose of saying whether an increase in the rate of pay was justified. Mr. Bennett agreed to_this arrangement on behalf of the employers, and at 1 p.m. a call for labour, was made by one of Gannaway and Co.'s foremen. There was a great crowd present and much excitement prevailed. As 60on as the foreman appeared on the' stand he was accorded a ■ hostile reception, being hooted and "counted oufl." The foreman was then withdrawn nnd Mr. Aucher, anoilher of Messrs. Gannaway and Co.'s pfiinialsi' took his place. Mr. Aucher succeeded ill engaging barely two gangs, and on account of the. .noisy!:demonstration' made by,the hostile reckon-of the union members he also had to leave the stand. Only about ••20 men were taken .on, whereas fully three times this number were/ required ;tp work the vessel. The men engagedincluded several members of! the' executive o? the union. : The action of those men N wh'o signed on for duty was viewed with" considerable 'disfavour by a section of tthe crowd, and one worker was subjected, to rough usage by a couple, of his fellow unionists.; Despite f this, however, the men engaged at onco proceeded to Ifie Meikai Mnru at the Pailway Wharf and the work of discharging the phostphates was' resumed. Operations were continued throughout the afternoon and '.evening. Speaking to a.Dominion reporter, one of the employers stated that it was quite apparent iihat but for the action of the hostile minority, manv more willing men would have accepted employment. As foon as it was-seen that no more labour would be available for working the Meikai Maru, the employers retheir former a'ttitude that the. ship must be fully. manned before any ■ other imen were put on to man other ships, including the. Komata, Kini, and Rona, the vessels which have coal car-' •goes on board. The. only exceptions were the inter-kland steamers. A meeting of ijhe employers'. was'.held. in. the afternoon and .the whole matter '.was 'discussed at considerable length, but it . was decided not to waiver from the previous decision. - , : This morning, at 8 o'clock, it is-pTO- - fp call for tthe full number of gangs to work the Meikai Mam, and it ■ is hoped that the men' will be prepared to carry out the decision of the meeting of the union. ~ ' ■ ■ V ON THE~WATERFRONT VESSELS BEADY'FOB WORK, BUT " NOT THE MEN.' . The position on the waterfront yesterday was the same as on Tuesday, except tJiat two gangs wero working on j the' Japanese steamer Meikai Mam.. All • the other vessels in port, with the exception of the Wahine. the Kaitoa, and thoso boate which had engaged labour .before the trouble' commenced, were idle. ..-'"-. ' The call 'for labour to work 'the' Meifcail Maru proved disappointing,- and although, the waterside workers decided by some 200 votes to work the vessel, only two gangs could be found to handle .the superphosphate cargo.. As,six gangs, -or at least' four, are required for the Japanese boat, it was deoided not to engage any; fresh) labour. ... When it was learnt yesterday that the watersiders were prepared to work' the Meikai'.Maru;-'the colliers got ready td disoharge. -The Rona, which has 1000 ' tons of coal, opened up her hatches and drays waited on tht Railway Wharf . ready to cart the 'coal off to .the city '. jwwer-houses, but no work was done.. The colliers will all be ready to work to-day if the trouble is settled. . If the : six gangs required., for ■ . the Meikai Maru are obtained and .there is • o general resumption of work, the available labour will ho insufficient to man all the vessels in port. As a result the departures of a large number of boats are very, uncertain. • There 19 _ a possibility, a Dominion representative was informed yesterday, that if the waterside trouble continues several of the vessels now. at Wellington will go fb other porta to discharge. The Sydney steamer Moeralri onay bo one of the number. The Union Company yesterday stated that if the'trouble was not ««ttled to-day, arrangements would be made 16 send her down to .Lyttelton in place of one of the forrv boats. If this is done she will TPturn on Saturday, ready to sail for Sydney Inter. :..-' THE PHOSPHATE CARGO '" ~ REPLY TO MR, GLOVER, . A reply to the statements of Mr. L. Glover (president of the Waterside Workens' Union), in reference to the cargo of phosphate on the Meikai Maru, was made yesterday by Mr. W. H. G. Bennett , (manager of' the Waterside Employment Association). "If the cargo has been damaged Dy contact with iron stringers, stanchions, or tops of tanks, the local Disputes Committee will take this into, consideration in their discussion of the matter, and deal with the question on its merits," said Mr. Bennett. Regarding what Mr. Glover says 1 about the men's boots being burned by chemical action as a result of their working among phesphate, we think this point has been exaggerated. We" have had no complaints about this . matter previously. The employers hold . that this cargo, especially, is being landed in firet-class condition, and that there is' no inconvenience caused to the men, either through dust or through risk of damage to their clothes and boots. As stated before, if any of the cargo deeper down in the holds is damaged and land- ' ed in ft bad condition, then the Disputes Committee will decide the question whether any extra payment is necessary." ' "CLEANEST CARGO THAT EVER CAME INTO PORT." .' A "Dominion reporter paid a visit to the Meikai Maru at the Railway Wharf yesterday afternoon to watch the unloading of the superphosphate. It was then being discharged in sevenbag slings from the two fore holds into milway tlruoks. The bags are close-ly-woven gunnies, ns strong and as close In texture as cement bags, and as they were hoisted up by the board's cranes nnd dumped into tho trucks there was no suspicion of dust arising from the bags, and tfhe obvious newness of every bag;showed that tho double-bagging of the superphosphates had eliminated anything In the way of leakage.. Twelve .bags of phosphates go to the ton, wmoh means that,the bags ore u con-

veniont size for handling. ' It was casually observed to one of the wharf officials that the bags looked very new. "It's the cleanest cargo that ever oame info Wellington," was the rejoinder. WHY SOME mm NOT WORK "NOT PREPARED FOR THE JOB." According; to Mr. L. Glover (president of the union) some of the men' who were present when labour was called for to man the Mejkai Maru did no} offer themselves, for engagement because they had not come down prepared for the job. "They were' not wearing old enough clothes in which to go working among phosphate, and were not going to dirty il'.ie clothes they had on," said Mr. Glover. "However, they will accept employment at 8 o'clock in tho morning." Mr. Glover added that many of the men fully expected to be asked to work i]he coal boats, and they were willing to be engaged. Apparently, therefore, they, were prepared to wwk amongst coal but not amongst phosphates. The Disputes Committee meets 'again ihis morning, , , DISCUSSION btTharbour board TRIBUTES TO UNION N OFFICIAL'S, The trouble on the wharf was discussed by the Harbour 'Board last night, and the chairman (Mr. J! G. Harkness) said he believed a certain amount of credit was due to the executive of the Waterside Workers' Union, who so far be he was able to judge, had endeavoured to tho best of their ability , to bring about a better state, of affairs on the waterfront. A minority of the rank and file were holding sway , at the present time, : however, to the detriment of themselves, their union, and the interests of the port and citizens. The very big ■principle involved in the trouble was thß keeping' of an agreement. He earnestly hoped that> the men would "turn to" this morning and do their duty'to the citizens and their employers by honestly oarrying out the provisions of the' agreement. The board had not been affected, by the trouble to any' very great extent, and its staff had been kept employed, but should it continue for any. length,of time the board would become a sufferer. As the board had not been concerned in the .trouble, which' was purely a matter 'between tho employers and the men, he had not considered it necessary to call a special meeting to disouss the situation. Mr. C. H. Chapman considered that the board had a vital interest in tho matter Ijecause it owed a duty to the public, who were suffering. He thought it; was the duty of the board to devise ways and means of cutting out the contract ' system of engaging wharf labour, which, to a. very great extent, he contended, was the cause of the present trouble. \ Mr. C. M. Turrell 6aid that the executive of the union had done their utmost to rectify matters,' but a certain minority had dissuaded the other men from accepting engagement, and tho position was that 'until the Meikai Maru was pro*. : perly manned, no other labour.was being engagod. ',{ TRAMWAJEM'SPAY j ,NOT TO BE DOCKED. The Mayoral statement re tramwaymen's, pay-on Tuesday has been -interpreted to .mean that all pay would o/ase .with' the running of the cars. That is not the case. The traniwaymen _ were called as usual yesterday, and will be called at the-usual shift time to-day, which means that the men's pay will not bo docked. If by this afternoon the position is unaltered, the whole situation will ha reviewed 'by the council, The foregoing statement was made by the Mayor yesterday after consultation with the Tramway Manager and Engineer (Messrs. W. H. Morton and M. Cable). "light AVAILABLE FROM 1 P.M. -. YESTERDAY. With the prospect of an early supply of coal from the waterfront every possible preparation was made at the- city power-houses for the resumption of full activities, At the lighting station every scrap of coul and what passes for coal in these times was Soraped up from the yaids, and with'this to go upon the furnaces were stoked up, and the switches were pulled over at 1 p.m., to the great joy of many who depend on light during the afternoon for facilitating the work in gloomy offices and factories. In the meantime the news came through that no work was being permitted on the coal boats. ; Owing to the full complement of men not being available for the Meikai Maru, and iw'the situation was urgent as far as the domestic lighting was con- . cerncd, amusements were made to borrow a little coal in order that the whole city would not bo plunged in darkness last night The State Coal Department loaned the city 50 tons and the Railway Department 25 tons, sufficient to ensure the bai'« needs ,fnr ordinary lighting last night and to-night. The lighting power will be cut off «t daylight this morning, and will not bo" again availablo —nnless work on the waterfront is fully resumed—until 1 o'clock this afternoon. The ban held good last evening against tho use of current at all places of entertainment, except, of course, at such places as had a stand-by plant for tho generation of their own current. This meant the cancellation of the performance by the Choral Union of "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Town Hall, the Pierrots at the Concert Chamber, as well as such picture theatres which depend on the city for electrical energy. PLAINIIiTHS MR. MASSEY ON THE MEMBER FOR BULLER, Brief reference to the strike on tho '. wharf, or rather to statements of Labour members about the strike on Tuesday night, was made by thci Prime Minister in'tho House last night. Mr. Massey said that he wished to speak first of the statement of the member for Buller (Mr. Holland) that employers were conspiring to prevent coal from being made available. "The h»u- ----| ourable member," said Mr. Massey, "must know that that statement is incorrect. "" i Mr. Holland: It is absolutely true, • and I think you know it. ' .Mr. Massey: I don't know it. Mr. Fraser: Well, yon ought to know I it. 1 Mr. Massey: I don't know it, and J ' don't believe it. As a matter of fact we 5 all know now what, took place. The ! trouble arose over a cargo of superphosphates and a mistake made in the 5 first instance about.the Tate, of payment r for unloading this cargo. " Mr. Holland: Then the employers held ' up the coal! i Mr. Massey expressed dissent from this 6tatemant of the case. Mr. Holland: Are you justifying the employers for holding up the coal?, Mr. Massey: I am not. .1 am not jua- > Hfying anyone. f Mr. Eraser: Of course you are doing - that, and you are doing your job well, t Mr. Fraser and Mr. Holland were ■ making their ronlies with heat, and - other members called "Order.' Mr. Massey said that.some of tiro ' speeches of the previous night had been r very inopportune. "And," he said, ' "there is no man whose actions ana ' words have done more to cause trouble » in this country than the member for ' Buller. That is my opinion, at any ■ I( Mr. Holland expressed the opinion > tot it did not matter what Mr. Massey • S °Mr. Potter (RoaWU) ridiouled the at-

of the "Labour extremists" to .foose as friends of the people in regard to coal supplies. The Dominion was short of coal, and tho women and children were suffering because it suited the coal miners to keep production down. Had the Labour members ever asked the miners to give a fair output? Their influence had been used in the other direction. Thteir effort had been to foment •industrial trouble. AN AGITAToTaT WORK One nasty feature of the present disturbance on the waterfront is said to be the presence amongst the workers of a militant agitator, who bos only been working a few days on the waterfront. This person is said to be a fluent, not to say violent, speaker, and it is understood that after the result of yesterday morning's ballot was made known he roundly abused the men who had voted for return to work or going back on their previous day's decision. On the other hand the executive of the union were in favour of the men. returning to work and submitting the trouble to the 'Disputes Committee. .The violent threats of the person referred to are said to'have been the cause of ono of the workers stating that intimidation was being used to prevent the men returning to work. labour THE AGREEMENT AND HOW IT IB KEPT. The Wellington shipowners, who are taking cv stand in support of their demand for the handling of the phosphate cargo at the rate specified in the agreement, are strengthened vn r their attitude by what has been happening ever since the present agreement was signed. Ifiey contend that the waterside workers have not tried to give value for tfie bigh wages that are being paid and have not made a sincero attempt to observe the agreement either m lettfeT or in spirit. The rates of pay on the waterfront are higher now than/ over before, but the amount of cargo handled per man per hour is smaller than evei* before. "When flie new agreement was accepted, it was understood on both sides that the employers were making substantial concessions in return for an implied promise of loyal co-opeTation in the working of the port,* said an employer to i Dominion reporter. Wo were blamed in many .quarters for consenting to pay nearly a pound a day for unskilled labour and were told that we were doing an injustice to other branches of industry. lam not going to express any opinion about that/. But it certainly is ■ a fact that the representatives' of the waterside .workers gava us ite understand that hieh wages would mean steady work and that we miKht count on a cessation of harassing stopples nnd unreasonable restrictions. Yet Tho position actually has been worse than ever. WhoS) iea«mable body ■ of workers would insist, for example, on holding their monthly union meetings in working hours and holding up ' the business of u b'ff port, at a cost of m.CTv hundrer's of pounds. while thev disc-UK ..matters that could onsuy bo.'dealtl with'in their own timeP These stop-work meetings are not very senons matters, but they illustrate the position." • ..,.'" Other incidents may .be quoted in ex- ' planation of the attitude now taken ur. by the employers of waterside labour. ! The agreement provides that when men are put off they are to be paid for anv ' broken half-hour. Men who have work- ' ed for, say, 7 hours 40 minutes are to ' be' paid for 8 hours, just as if they ' had worked the full tima-v This was n • concession to the union, but the employers found themselves involved in a dispute because the workers took advantage of the clause by 'stopping fifteen or twenty minutes before the.completed period, even when work was wait 1 ing for them. They -interpreted th< ■ clause to mean that they had a riglrl ■ to be paid for more time than they had worked. Another typical incident was an effort to assert a right to leave a job for ten or fifteen minutes in the middle of a morning's or afternoon's work in order to make a visit to the city. It appeared that merely a section of the men, were concerned . in this-, but tho employers had to struggle again for a reasonable observance of the agreement. The stoppages of work, in violation of the agreement,' have been numerous iver since tho agreement was signed; When a qutstion of • interpretation, has arisen, the watersiders have seldom waited for the decision of a disputes committee before proceeding to hamper the work of the port. Many times the employers have yielded a point, not because thejr thought it a fair point, but because the price of an attempt to'argue would be a costly stoppage of . work. • ■ The re3uced speed of nearly all waterBide operations is a grievance that does not affect the t9hipo;wner9 linanciiiTly, since thev ere' able to pass the additional costs on to the public. 'Every agreement seems to have increased the number of men on oa'-h job and ro 'Rave been followed by slower work," said one shipping man yesterday. ''Watch the opi'iations on a ship and sea the watersiders s'audiiM around v/aitin,: for their turn to put -their hands to the Job-on-almost. inl ! i;;te multiplication cf tasks without speed or smartness at any poV. , Yes. it is true fha 1 - the strength of gangs is gti erally defined in the .agreement. The employers have giyen away until they have just about reached the limit, They must make a stand somewhere." stillW trams No trams ran over the city tracks yesterday, and none will run until work Is fully resumed on the waterfront. Preparations had been made to make a start at 2 p.m. yesterday, when a limited number of men from the a.m- 6hift wero on the spot ready? for duty. But when tlie news came through that there was "notching doing" as far as working (Tie coal cargo was concerned, the men were informed that they would not be wanted, and a similar communication was made to tho p.m. shift at 3 o'clock. gas coMPirTposiTioN The Gas Company is still unable tc supply any gas." The collier Kini was to have proceeded to the Miramar wharl yesterday afternoon to unload, but owing i to the extension of the hold-up it was useless for the vessel to leave tho towr wharf. Of late the company has ;had a goofl deal of trouble with their stokers, and when work ceased on the wharf on Monday the stokers left the works at Miramar, and they have not been heard ol sines. The assumption is that they will return as soon as there is coal for tht ' works. MORE CQAIIrRIVES Besides the coal-laden vessels Komata, Kini, and Rona, whioh have been in I port for several days, the barque Raupc , -arrived yesterday with about 1080 tons of coal from Newcastle. Owing to th< fact that no berth was available yesterday the Reupo anchored in the , stream. The Karamu, with about UOt tons of coal, arrived in the evening. •The barque Raupo, with 1100 tons'o - Newcastle cca! for. the Wellington Citj CouncM. arrived in port yesterday morn ing. There must now be between 8001 i nnd WW tons of coal in the harboui > awaiting discharge. i COCOA-BOTH FOOD AND DRINK. Cocoa is not merely a delicious bever I age—it's a food. Nature combines in cocoa most of th food elements your body needs, Som< produce bone and muscle; some creat 3 energy; somo rebuild worn-out tissues They are'carefully balanced in cocoa si - that you get the right proportions. Amongst cocoas, nono can compar ? with delicious, stimulating Van Hon ten's. It is prepared from tho choices b cocoa beans grown in the British Em I pire; and tho rare and delicate flavou which Nature puts into fheso bean? i i) preserved in Van Houten's Cocoa by rea i son of an improved method of transpor , tation nnd manufacture. i Always fresh, pure, and healthful. Yai b Houten's Cocoa is ideal for breakfast an< r supper. v Obtainable at all grocers and storesAdvt. ,

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200826.2.27

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 285, 26 August 1920, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
3,816

STILL WITHOUT COAL Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 285, 26 August 1920, Page 5

STILL WITHOUT COAL Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 285, 26 August 1920, Page 5

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