THE WATERSIDE TROUBLE

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 8, 5 October 1920, Page 6

THE WATERSIDE TROUBLE

i NO WORK YESTERDAY T ta SETTLEMENT POSSIBLE TO-DAY a f 0 Work was again at a standstill on tho waterfront yesterday, but there is a y possibility that the trouble will bo Bottled to-day. Two calls were made yesterday for labour to work tho steamer il Calm—at 7.45 a.m. and at 2 p.m.—but, I 1 with tho exception of one man who of- '■ fercd his services in the afternoon, there li was no response. It was hoped in the morning that • work would have beon resumed, for cer--0 tain proposals were made by tho cm- '• ployew to the executive of tho Waters' side Workers' Union, and it is understood that a compromise was reached. J The executive, however, decided that i ( the matter should stand over until the j monthly meeting of tho union, to bo e held at 8 o'clock this 'morning. The t employers' proposals were considered at t a meeting of tho executive yesterday _ afternoon, and a report dealing with tho . whole situation will be submitted to this 0 morning's meeting of the union. r There was a large gathering of waterg eiders in the vicinity of X store at •. about a quarter to 2 yesterday after--1 noon, when Mr, L. Glover, president of the union, addressed the men with ror fereneo to the position. Mr. Glover !- said that there had been a confcrenco - between the executive and tho represeni tativcs of tho shipowners during the r morning. As a result a proposal had , been made with a view to a settlement, 0 and a tentative agreement reached, which he believed might be acceptable to membere and provide a basis on which work might be resumed. Ho did not, however, think it fair that a section of tho union should complete .arrangements without tho sanction of member's generally, and -on that ground tho executive had deemed it better to place the proposals for settlement' before the stop- - work meeting to be held to-day for its 0 consideration. In the meantime things 1 would remain as they were. ? STATEMENTBYPRIMEMINISTER * OUTLOOK MORE HOPEFUL. ; lleferrng in tho House last night to , the wharf trouble, l)r. Thacker (Christt church East) asked the Prime Minister . whether, in view of the industrial and social paralysis that was threatening tho 3 capital, lie would immediately do some- - thing drastic. The member read to tho fi House a published statement of the Gas Company'p. secretary upon the difficulty ? of maintaining the supply of gas. Mr. Massey replied that ho had watch--5 od very carefully the position on tho 3 wharf. lie was glad to be able to anl notinca that the outlook was very much L bolter than it had been, and that in all t probability the men would be going to 1 work to-day. Whether his information 1 was coriect he was not able to say, but 1 he knew that the feeling had become I much more hopeful during the after- ■ noon. No one knew better than he had ) done for the last month or 6ix weeks the difficulty oi keeping the country supplied with coal. It could not be said that the Government hnd )e£t anything undone to keep the country supplied and keep its industries and railways goinjj. Dr. Thackcr: This is much more serious thun the railways. Mr. Massey said that it was his intention to keop tilt railways running till the last shovelful was reached. There was only one industry that came before the railways and that was tho freezing industry. The freezing works must be ; kept supplied, on account of the fact that there were still somo millions of pounds worth of frozen meat at tho ivorks, most of it jjaid for by the Imperial Government in the way of advances. That meat New Zealand was in honour bound to keep in as good a condition as possible.- It had not beon possible for the Government to find all tho ooal that was necessary for the industries, for the railways, aud for the households of the people. Dr. Thacker: But it is on the steamers now in Wellington Mr. Parry (Auckland Central)-. Who is responsible for tho trouble? Mr. Massey: Wo had better not discuss that at the moment. But I would like to tell the hon. gentleman, in reply to his question, that I am quite prepared to face the position, however difficult it may be, and however drastic the proceedings that may be found necessary to deal with it. vesseuTheld dp Durinp tho past few days the number of vessels held up owing to the waterfront trouble has considerably inoreased. until the number ot' idle vessels in port now totals about 30. The overseas vessels' held up are the Matatua, to load earpo for Boston and New York; Carpentaria and Liberty, with New York cargo for discharge; Maliana, to load for Home; Kaikoura, with Montreal oargo; lvurow, with timber and general cargo from Sydney; Roberto "Figueras, with Newcastle coal. The coastal vessels affected are the Poherua, Kararmt, Komata, Opawa, Oroaku, Lily, Aratapu, Baden,Powell, Wairau, Kapiti. Hawera, Kapuni, Alexander, Magic, Coronation, Navua, Houto, Calpi, Ivaru, Rosamond, Wool'ton, Waita'ngi, and Waverley. cit'Fservices COAL RUNNING OUT. The City Corporation lias sufficient ooal in hand to maintain full tramway, and electric lighting services till the end of the week, but if no coal is forthcoming by then these services will como to an abrupt stop. Stocks of foodstuffs are being held up on the wharves. Wellington to a considerable extent draws its supplies of gram, flour, chaff, and vegetables from the south, and the markets are feeling the absence of these supplies somewhat acutely. Thea'o is sufficient flour in Wellington to keep the city going for a couple of weeks, but somo firms havo already taken the precaution of curtailing orders in vie.v of the possibility of a continuation of tho trouble on tho waterside.