RED FUNNEL FLEET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 244, 5 March 1913, Page 5

RED FUNNEL FLEET.

HOPES OK A SETTLEMENT. l Bv Telegraph—Press Association. I Wellington, Tuesday. 3 It appears that tin- Mararoa's mei only gave notice to leave the steame: if a settlement was not effected. The? will come out in 24 hours. Mr. Massey will preside at a meet ing of tiie. parties to-morrow. Hope; are entertained of a settlement. THE COMPANY'S STATEMENT. Dunedin, Tuesday, i The Union Company has stated to a J Star representative that the precipitate action of the engineers came as a great surprise, being out of all proportion to the points of dili'orence. The conference was of a friendly character. It held that the questions of overtime and holidays were the only substantial points in dispute. The proposals made by the company were practically the terms of the current agreement with the Officers' Guild. The Engineers' Institute was registered under the Arbitration Act, yet ■it would not agree to go to the court, though the company was willing. THE MATAI'S ENGINEERS. Dunedin, Tuesday. The engineers on the Matai are giving 24 hours' notice to the Union Company of their intention to leave, which expires at Lyttelton to-morrow. It is asserted they received instructions not to sign on. but these were received too late. CHIEF POINT OF DIFFERENCE. QUESTION OF OVERTIME. Wellington, Tuesday. Tn connection ; with the dispute between the Institute of Marine Engin- i eers and the Union Company, the chief point of difference is on the question..pf J overtime. The engineers are asking for J the same rates of pay as have been] awarded by the Federal Arbitration] Court to the, Australian branches of the.' Institute, and also for the same conditions as to hours ot work and overtime rates. In effect, the Federal Court has ;iven engineers an eight hour dayj with extra payment per hour for all time, worked in excess of this. The company, it is understood, is prepared to give the men the Australian rates of wages, but the only concession in regard to overtime is that an engineer /

may lie paid as much as tt per month in respect of time worked in excess of eight Lours a day, but no more. It is asserted on behalf of the men that they regularly work a large number of hours overtime, and £2 is not considered sufficient reward for such work. It is understood 92 per cent, of the engineers are in favour of a strike. The Mararoa's engineers came ashore t*-da.y. THE TAKAPUNA. Gisborne, Tuesday. The engineers on the Takapuna have given 24 hours' notice. NO HOLD-UP YET. THE ENGINEERS' VIEWS. Christchurch, Last Night. The Maori sailed to-night as U9ual with a large number of passengers, including the members of the Empire Trade Commission. Included in the passengers were a number who had booked« by the Renmera to sail from Welling-1 tori oil Thursday. The Maitai, which' [ has been reeommissioned to relieve the 1 Tarawera in the East Coast service, left Port Chalmers for Lyttelton this afternoon. In the event of no settlement being arrived at her engineers will go ashore at Lyttelton to-morrow. Several engineers who were approached by pressmen were very reticent eonconcerning their troubles", and declined to discuss matters at all. However, they expressed a determination to see the matter through at all costs. One admitted that they were taking an extreme step in giving in their notices and so holding the steamers up. He asserted that they had been forced to that length by the inaction of the Union Company. The engineers wanted the same conditions as were embodied in the Australian award, and contend that this was definitely promised by the Union Company. The company now repudiated that promise and cited the Institute to appear before the Conciliation Council. INTERVIEW WITH SIR JAMES MILLS. . . Dunedin, Last Night. In the course of an interview to-day, Sir .Tames Mills stated that a number of notices had been given by engineers on various steamers, but an agreement had been.arrived at whereby the engineers had decided to keep tile vessels running pending consideration of the dispute at an early date by the Prime Minister and the Conciliation Commissioner. Overtime and holiday leave are, apparently, the chief matters in dispute. It is stated that the engineers want 48 hours a week and payment for overtime. It is also stated that some vessels are notorious for the amount of overtime required to keep the machinery in order, while on others practically no overtime is necessary. It is believed that a 4S hours week will be strongly insisted on by the engineers, who claim that the Merchant Service Guild is dissatisfied with the 56 hours week agreed to by that body at the last conference with the Union Company. A TEMPORARY COMPROMISE.

Wellington, Last Night.' The position of the marine engineers' trouble may now be described as stationary. Since yesterday, Mr. P. Hally (Conciliation Commissioner) has been actively engaged in seeking a basis of settlement, and began negotiations with the representatives of the Union Steam Ship Company and the engineers. Then unexpectedly came a move from another quarter. The Prime Minister was .approached, it is understood by the Union Company, who suggested a conference, with Mr. Massey as arbitrator. This has been agreed to, and the conference will take place at 4 p.m. tomorrow. The engineers' notices given in the meantime will not take effect till the result of to-morrow's meeting is known. Tt is reported that engineers of all arriving Union boats are giving notice. Engineers on other coastal steamers are awaiting developments. THE FLEET TNT AUCKLAND. Auckland, Last Night. . Tt is reported that the engineers on four of the Union Company's vessels in Auckland gave 24 hours' notice to eease work this afternoon. The vessels concerned are the Wanaka, Rakanoa, Whangape and Rosamond.