The Working of the Port.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7075, 22 February 1893, Page 2

The Working of the Port.

A mealing of wharf labourers, convened by Mr Snoswell, wc.s held in the Barnard street Hall lust evening to consider a certain grievance of the men. There were about 30 present Hia Worship the Mayor accepts) ) an invitation to preside, and said he did po with much pleasure He did not know much of the purpose of the meeting, but Mr Snoswell had given him some information. He understood there was some grievance concerning shipmasters employing sailors along with shore men in loading and dis charging vessels, and the shoremen were thereby deprived of a certain amount of.wo'k that they should have, and consequently were deprived of the wages they should have the chance to earn. Moreover, while working with the sailors they had to do more than their fair share of the work. He did not wonder at that; he would not expect sailors, working for about half a crown a day, to exert themselves to the same extent as the shoremen, paid Is 8d an hour. Be quite agreed that the wharf labourers, who were at hand all the year round for the purpose of giving despatch to vessels, had a right to expect that what work there was to be done should be given them to do He thought they had a grievance, and he would do all in bis power to help to redress it. ,Of course they must look at the matter from both sides, from the shipmaster’s standpoint as well as their own, and if they did so and came to a wise decision, he was sure they would have the sympathy of the public with them Another subject mentioned to him was tho need for a shelter shod for the wharf men. That was a very ueodMl thing, and he would do all iu bis power to help them to get it. Mrflnoswell said that hia object in calling the meeting was to get an end put to the dissatisfaction that existed among tho wharf labourers at having to work with seamen in discharging and loading vessels; as no ona else seemed ioclinedlto move in the matter ho had taken it upon himself to do so He bad hoped to see some of the tradesmen of the town present, for it was a question for them as well as the wharf labourers, if a ship took away £l2 or £ls that ought to have been spent here m wages. Mr Snoswell went over much the same ground as tho mayor, pointing out that in * mixed’ gongs, in stowing wheat, for example, the shore men would have to do all the heaviest work, because the sailors could not do it, not being accustomed to it. And moreover, they were not paid for doing it, and said as much. He did not expect them to do it. Bub what he did expect was that they, breadwinners of Timaru, would combine to petition the stevedores, and to remedy this. It only needed to be made known as a rulojof the port —the same rule prevailed in many other ports in Row Zealand and Australia—that the shore men would not work in the same gangs with seamen on articles, and stevedores and shipmasters would make their arrangements accordingly It was for tho men to say whether they felt that they had a real grievance, and for them to try and remedy it. But they must be unanimous. Ho would not be one of two or three only to approach the stevedores on this matter. Mr Snoswell then spoke of the shelter shed, and mentioned Lyttelton, Wellington and Napier, as ports where the harbour boards have provided these conveniences for the wharf labourers. He concluded by moving a motion

that the wharf labourers agree not to work { with seamen on foreign-going ships (except I when shore men ore not to be had), the I resolution not to apply to ships at the present I moment in harbour; they finding that their interests demanded this rule, as it was impassible for them to earn sufficient livelihood if sailors were allowed to do half the work, and they got only the other half. A general discussion followed, in which Messrs Jackson, Christian, Brown, Waters and others took part, as to the exact meaning of the resolution or agreement. One speaker was for making the rule more stringent, and refusing to work on ships where sailors were or had been employed at all about discharging or loading. Others said that would be go ; ng too far, and they should be content to 1 get rid of mixed gangs; that they should not complain if a gang of sailors worked by themselves at another batch. One speaker raised the question of seamen being employed at the shoots on deck in loading wool, when a stevedore’s gang was at work below. Ho would not object to that, but it must be defined in the agreement or there would be disputes afterwards, and finally it was unanimously resolved, on the motion of Messrs Seager and Scorings, jun., “ That this meeting approves of tbo principle of wharf labourers refusing to work in the same gangs with seamen on articles in foreign going vessels, and that a commitee be appointed to draw up a petition to stevedores asking them to give effect to this principle, the petition to bo signed by all the wharf labourers before it is presented.” A committee was then selected consisting of Messrs Christian, Brown, Alford, and Snoswell, and they were also requested to interview the Harbour Board re shelter shed. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the Mayor for the interest he had taken in the matter, and Mr Snoswell for convening the meeting.