WORK AND WAGES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 148, 19 December 1911, Page 5

WORK AND WAGES.

AUCKLAND TRAMWAYS TROUBLE. By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, Monday. The conference between representatives of the Tramway Company and, employees in connection with the threatened strike for improved conditions, arranged, for this evening, has been deferred till Wednesday, when a representative of the New Zealand' Federation of Labor 'will be present. Mr. Legetimer, chairman of the company, wires from Adelaide that he will arrive in Auckland on December 21', and; be prepared to deal with the matter immediately on his arrival, and the decision will be retrospective. As regards the action of the union in threatening to strike on December 22, this is hardly fair tactics, and he still hopes the union will not be unreasonable, in view of the fact that the company is honestly desirous of meeting them fairly, and that the local manager has already offered: to meet their demandfe to a very large extent. INDUSTRIAL CRISIS APPROACHING. LABORERS' STRIKE LIKELY. Auckland, Last Night. 'The employers have thrown down the gaun/tlet. ami it is more than likely that it will not lie very long before it is picked up," said the president of the General Union to-day regarding the men's demands for improved conditions ami higher pay. The impression among tihe union officials wis that the emplyers were determined to force a flgdit. If a strike did/ occur it would be because the mien had been forced beyond the bonds of endurance by the employers. The general opinion among larger employers is that a strike may occur at any minute, and an industrial crisis on a scale never experienced in the Dominion before is anticipated by some.