THE BRISBANE STRIKE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 193, 13 February 1912, Page 7

THE BRISBANE STRIKE.

ORIGIN OP THE TRAMWAY STRIKE. WEARING OF UNION BADGE.

Christchurch, February 7.

In view of recent happenings in Brisbane, a chat a Press representative had to-day with Captain 0. Svensen, of that city, is interesting, particularly as Captain Svenson only left Brisbane la»t Thursday. iCaptain Svensen let in some interesting light on the situation, which has not 1 been made clear by the cables detailing the strike. The tramway men struck a week before he left Brisbane, but the other unions had not then gone out, so he could not speak of the late phases of the situation. When he left everything was quie,t; the trams were still running, though the service was curtailed, and there did not seem any' difficulty in getting sufficient hands to run them. So far as the tramway strike was concerned, it appeared as if it were going to collapse. The cause of the strike, Captain Svensen said, was the refusal of the Tramway Company to allow the men to wear union badges. The reason of the company's refusal was this: that only two-thirds of ths men were members of the union, the remainder being non-unionists, The wearing of the badges by the non-unionists would have differentiated them from thej non-union-ists, and rendered the latter liable to endless persecution and insult from members of other Labor organisations. The result would have been nothing but lasting trouble, and) many of the non-union-ists would probably have been driven in self-protection to join the union. Captain Svensen said that there would have been no trouble whatever,, if it had not been for the arrival in Brisbane of a Labor agitator who had been sent as an emissary for the'purpose hy some Labor organisation in Melbourne. The next thing was that the tramway unionists announced their intention of wearing the badges from 11 a.m. on a certain day. Those men who started wearing them were quietly told by the Tramway Company that they would either have to give up wearing them or else leave the same night. They, however, were given the option of returning to the service if they gave up wearing the badges within three or four days. At the end of the term of grace the manager of the company, a very strong man, started putting on nonunionists in place of those who persisted in wearing the badges. i Outside of the badges question the men had no grievance, as their rates of pay and conditions of service were very good. Indeed, Captain Svensen said that as far as the Tramway Company was concerned there was no doubt that the manager would be able to keep the trams running, but in regard to the general strike, it was hard to say who was going to win.

EMPLOYERS' FEDERATION. The following statement was supplied to the Daily Mail of February 1, by Mr. Ranson, the general secretary of the Queensland Employers' Federation:—lt is with sincere regret that the Council of the Federated Employers' Union has felt compelled to recognise the necessity for inviting a conference of representatives of employers' interests to consider the grave social and commercial disarrangements caused to a large unoffending majority of the citizens of Brisbane and suburbs by the abrupt and peremptory demand by the Australian Federation on the members of 43 trades unions, to leave their work. To a large extent, on this labor depend the operations of trade, the means of living, and the coik veniences of social life. To many friends of the working classes, as well as to many of the workers themselves, there does not appear to be shown any kind of sympathetic regard for the mutual relations of employers and workers, or, indeed, there is not a wanton indifference to the personal and domestic inter-. ests of both classes. The mandate for a general strike must to a large extent, deprive the public of the necessaries of life. Inevitably the widespread dislocation of business will be very incon-. venient and injurious to everybody concerned. The primary cause of this civic unrest and embarrassment is so inadequate that it cannot be regarded as other than a subterfuge to action meant to' serve other purposes. It requires keenness of vision to see in it any violation of any essential principle of trade unionism. There is no question of wages, no dispute as to hours or conditions of work. Whatever aggression there was it caaie from the unionists over whom the A.L.F. claims a right of authority. Had there been any such violation of principle, means of settlement would have been provided by legislation of both' the Federal and State Parliaments. Kecourse could have been had to legally constituted Arbitration Courts. But a. mosit deplorable phase it is that it has been instigated, fomented by Labor leaders in the south who have an" end of their own to .serve. Employers of labor are compelled to conclude that this determined attempt, to arrest the trade activities of Brisbane and the district around it, leaves them no alternative but to adopt stringent measures for the protection of their business interests, and for the industrial safety, progress and welfare of the general community.' In view of these reasons, at a large and representative meeting of employers of the city and suburbs held yesterday, the following resolution was agreed to:—"That a serious position having been caused by the withdrawal of all union hands from the respective trades represented at this meeting, it is decided that in the present circumstances it is advisable to cease trading until such time as may be decided upon at a future meeting of this Federation, and that this resolution come into effect as from Friday evening next at 6 o'clock."

It was the feeling of the meeting that all the employees who had remained loyal to their employers should be continued in their services during the dispute.