THE LAZY STRIKE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 39, 16 February 1914, Page 4

THE LAZY STRIKE.

The Sydney correspondent of the Christchurch "Press' gives some particulars of the "lazy" strike, and re-

'erred fco a good don I in cablegrams >f late. Dubious about the measure. )f support which would be fortheomug from fellow unionists for a com-.

>lete strike in enforcement ot wages lemauds of a quite extraordinary: iharacter, the wharf labourers of the: Waterside Workers' federation enteral upon what is called a "lazy"; strike. The situation may be sum-! mod up by saying that the wharf, laborers overreached themselves, i

They put forward demands for in-j creases which other unionists whistled at in surprise. They reckoned to some extent on grumbling compliance! by the shipping employers, who would sav again, "We can't afford it, but will have to pass it on to the public," and to a greater extent on their demands being settled on the basis of a compromise advantageous to themselves. But the employer said

"No," with unmistakable definiteness. In justification of the official demands, officials of the Wharf Laborers' Union and of the Waterside Workers' Federation set out the remarkable excuse that there are in the Wharf Laborers' Union more members than can make a decent living with the distribution of the amount of work which normally offers. Why this excess of men anxious to be enrolled as wharf laborers when there is no lack of employment of divers other kinds which the same men could do is not explained. Anyhow, shipping business, which cannot be carried on within time limits such as are applicable to say, bootmaking, is seriously hampered by the refusal of the wharf laborers to work after 5 p.m., and many vessels have to keep to their I schedules with goods over carried or left behind on the wharves.