INDUSTRIAL WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 169, 26 October 1910, Page 3

INDUSTRIAL WAR.

SHIPYARD LOCK-OUT. THIRTY-EIGHT THOUSAND MEN IDLE. London, September 0. A big industrial war commenced on Saturday in the Northern shipyards, when 38,000 men were locked out by the employers. Up to to-day there are no signs of approaching peace. The employers sta'.e that they are tired of perpetual small strikes by the men on the Clyde and Tyne, in spite of the peace agreement signed by their leaders in March. 1!>0S, and in defiance of those leaders' present advice. The employers will allow no resumption of work until | tney have assurances of a better state of affairs. It is felt that trades unionism is on its trial. As a re«ult of the spasmodic sectional strikes the work of 23,000 skilled shipyard artisans and 15,(UK) of their assistants came to an end at noon last Saturday, and the lock-out if continued, may a fleet a far larger number. The present situation chiefly affects the boilermakers, who are the principal section of the skilled mechanics engaged in the construction of steel ships. In March, 1009, there was a conference between representatives of the employers and representatives of the nineteen trade unions representing the industries engaged in shipbuilding." An agreement was drawn up and signed bv both parties, and this agreement made it clear that sections of men were not to come out on strike, but that their grievances were to be investigated by their leaders and brought by their leaders before their employers, the men were to continue working, and if the ultimate decision arrived at were in their favor, it was to be retrospective, and the men were

to receive the rate of pay demanded from [ the original date. _ Since that agreement was signed, sections of men in various districts have I broken it time after time. Discontented sections of men have laid down their tools. The agreement was absolutely disregarded. The latest instances have been at Particle, Clyde, where there was a dispute about some repair work, and at the Walker shipyard in the Tyne, where tUe rivetters claimed a higher rate of payment in connection with a patent system of building. Finally, the employers, driven to strong measures, not only by repeated dislocations of business, but also by the prospect of unending trouble, have locked out_ all the boilermakers. "Unless or until satisfactory arrangements and assurances are agreed upon with regard to the due observance of the shipyard agreement and working conditions Generally." ° The men. left their work quietly, and have remained peaceable. Their leaders, however, disapprove of the action of the strikers, recognising it as a breach of the agreement. A ballot is to be taken, but the result will not be known for some few days. There is a growing feeling of resentment, among the men who are idle against the employers, and other sections still at work may come out in sympathy with the locked-out men. The men of four Jarrow yards on Wednesday decided to vote "Xo," on the ballot-papers—-aoainst the executive. On the Tvne, the Clyde, and at Barrow feeling is divided; but the larger vote is expected to favor the executive. The Boilermakers' Society issued another circular on Wednesday, to all the branches, reviewing the situation, appealing to members to show confidence in their representatives, and asking the men to stand together. It concludes with these words:—"ln this grave crisis of our history as a society, let us pull together and trust each other. Then, win or lose, we shall be respected by friends and foes alike." On the Clv'de it is thought that the circular will have a steadying effect on those who were inclined to resent the first statement made by the executive, and thus help an earlv settlement.