NO TRAMS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10608, 5 June 1920, Page 7

NO TRAMS

STRIKE IN AUCKLAND SYMPATHY WITH THE JOCKEYS' ASSOCIATION. •PROTRACTED DISPUTE LIKELY. PER FKESS ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, Juno 3. The whole tramway service was suspended to-day, the cars returning to the barns owiuii to the, suspension of tha crews for refusing to take the race trams out;. Thirty-one car crews were detailed For the'races, but they refused to leave the bam. Alter sonic delay other srow.s took a number of special cars liong the Reinuera hue. along which the race trains run. It is reported thai the men have been suspended, but ' the report is not confirmed. A meeting of the union is to bo held this afternoon to discuss the situation.

A COMPLETE STOPPAGE

NO SIGN OF A SETTLEMENT. AUCKLAND, June 4. Up to midday there was no sign of a settlement, of the tramway There i s complete stoppage on all the lines to-day. Vehicles of all kinds are being requisitioned to convey people to business. Fortunately .the weather is fine. The secretary of the .Tramways Union stated this afternoon" that tho Tramworkers' Advisory Board in. Wellington had been advised of the position. A meeting of tho Auckland Transport Workers' Federation discussed the strike for several'hours, and adjourned till the evening. CITY COUNCIL AND UNION NO SUGGESTION OF CONFERENCE. AUCKLAND, Juno 4. The entire suspension of the tramway' services continued in Auckland to-dav, and present indications aro that "citizens may have to do without this great *public convenience for a protracted period. No disposition has vet been shown by the City Council on the one. side, nor the Tramway Union on the other,. to come together in conference hi order to endeavour to arrive at a solution of the present deadlock. The services of Mr P. Haliv. Conciliation Commissioner, have' been offered in this connection. Only the conductors and motormen in the tramway service are on strike. None of the other tramway employees have followed their lead, nor. have any of them been thrown out of employment. In the meantime, pending a ment of the dispute, which has deprived them of the trams, the citizens are for the most part walking to •work and accepting tho position with the best graee possible. With fine weather conditions their unaccustomed exercise ds not rendered unpleasant, hut should the strike be protracted and tho weather change to winter conditions, the public inconvenience ■will be doubled. r . ..' Scores of motor vehicles have been placed on,the road, and the residents in the suburba are patronising them freely, in spite of the fares charged, which are fairly high. THE RUSH FOR TRAINS. The suburban train traffic was very heavy to-day in consequence of the tramway strike, and it has been estimated that the trains this morning brought about 2000 . more passengers into the city than is usually the case. The Railway Department placed additional carriages on all suburban trains on both the main line and tho Kaipara line. The extra accommodation was speedily occupied and many had to stand. A husy scene was witnessed at the Auckland rarrWay station this evening when there was a great rush for homfr. ward-bound trains. During ono hour a thousand tickets over the .average were sold. LABOUR MINISTER'S STATEMEN.T. The Minister for Labour (Sir W7l- - Herries), in answer to an inquiry to-night, said: "I have instructed the Conciliation Commissioner, Jlr Hally, to offer to mediate between the parties to the tramway dispute. My idea is that he will wait upon them for the purpose vf ascertaining whether he can be of any service in assisting to bring the trouble to an end." Concluding, the Minister for Labour said the department was collecting full particulars of the circumstances which led up to the strike, and when this was completed it would be submitted to him. h HOW THE TROUBLE COMMENCED. As explained yesterday, about seventv tramwaymen, acting, it is said, on the advice of tho Transport AYorkors' Advisory Board, Wellington (tho executive of the Transport Workers' Federation) to the effect" that all racing was 'black" until tho jockeys -arere reinstated, refused yesterday morning to run the "specials" that generally ply between Queen street and R-emu- : era. for tho convenience of racegoers, j Nothing happened -until the time came for the afternoon shift to go on at H p.m. Included in the shift were some of the men who had refused to take I the "specials" out in tho morning, and when they reported they say they were. toLj by the tramway officials at the barns that there was no work for them. In fact, they were suspended. Other men, told off to take over the duties of the men who had been suspended, refused, and the whole service gradually camo to a stop. RACEGOERS WALK HOME. The trains carried a big proportion of the big race crowd back from Eilerslie, and many travelled in the mo-tor-cars and 'buses, tho latter plying for hire in specially large; numbers, but many hundreds of people who had gone out by tram were compelled to walk home. COUNCIL CONSIDERS TROUBLE FIRM ATTITUDE ADOPTED. PUB PRESS ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, June 4. Tho City Council considered the tram strike to-night, and appointed a special committee to deal with the matter with full power to act. The committee sat immediately after the council meeting and subsequently issued the following statement: (1) The tramway service has ceased to run, on account of a section of the i men having refused duty yesterday, I

and tlie remainder failing to take out their cars this morning, at both depots. (2) When the men refused duty yesterday, or failed to take out the cars this morning, the council had no option but, to lav up the cars and give a week s notice to other employees affected. _ (3) The council must insist on retaining control of the service and cannot resume the services until this position is adequately established. (-1) iihe council, in the meantime, is compelled to give a week's notico to all traftic and. other employees, whose services are not needed, owing to tho stoppage of the tramways. TRANSPORT WORKERS CONFER. Tho local branch of the Transport Workers' Advisory Board has been sitting to-day to consider the tram strike and the jockeys' dispute, representatives of the watersiders, seamen, tramwavmen, drivers and railwaymen bein"~ pieseut. The conference broke up late to-night, and will be resumed tomorrow. Tho secretary said he had nothing to communicate to tho Press. No negotiations for a settlement had, however, been commenced. The Tramways Union meets to-mor-row afternoon. The position at, a late hour to-night, therefore, was that the tram strike was still on. No other sections of the Transport Federation had joined tha strikers, an die jockeys had not indicated any intention of refusing riding engagements to-morrow.

ASSOCIATION'S VIEWPOINT

STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY. FEE PRESS ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, June 4. The secretary of the New Zealand Jockeys' Association, Mr Sheath, in an interview to-night, said it had been reported that the Jockeys' Association, in common with all other unions, was provided with iega\ means of advancing its claims. . This was entirely contrary to fact. There was no law in the "Dominion that could compel the Racing Conference to meet the association, which had submitted thirty items in dispute to racing clubs throughout New Zealand, and to the Racing Conference. They refused to meet tho association, and even a message from tho Premier to Sir George Clifiord failed to get the latter to consent.

The whole trouble between the association an dthe Racing Conference could bo easily rectified by Sir George Clifford, who is at present in Auckland, agreeing to meet the representatives of the association for the purpose of discussing the items in dispute. The twenty-three items in dispute with the owners and trainers would be discussed on June 10th in Wellington. "W'c asked Sir George Clifford, through Mr Massey, to have the two lots of points discussed at that meeting," said Jlr Sheath, "but he refused. I cannot predict- what will happeii next." MORE JOCKEYS RESIGN. A statement was made by four prominent horsemen to-night that as a result of the Tiamway Union's latest move, a number of jockeys had resigned from the association to-day. The president of the Racing Conference (Sir George Clifford), when approached in regard to Mr Sheath's statement, said: "I do not want to say anything."