THE AUSTRALIAN STRIKE.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1917, Page 5

THE AUSTRALIAN STRIKE.

EXTENDING IN ALL DIRECTIONS. A SERIOUS iPOSITION. GOVERNME^; ADEPTS insolent' c&mjESGi, \ By, Association.; ' ,:(:;;. ;;■■••■' Wellington, Last Nighty :Wieraa,iVfost Australian paper of A'ugte£ following particulars of the 'sliaße'are obtained: .Thenorthern railway strike in Queeps-.teitf-cpltinttes,, ft n(l, as thetiesult of the shortage of supplies a number of ipines had to be closed down. ' . ..; A seamen's strike, followed by a general strike of the Melbourne wharf laborers, directly involving about 3500 men, completely paralysed the shipping on the coasts. In Melbourne alone .> 35 vessels are held up, and altogether in the Commonwealth ports the'gross tonnage of shipping rendered inactive is computed at over 100,000 tons. The coa! lumpers in. Sydney, the dock workers and members of other.' unions are now also idle. HE-EMPLOYMENT OP MEN. Sydney, 'Apg. 18. , The railway commissioners have given a direction in connection with the reemployment of men who have been on strike, to the following effect: Those men who have in the past given good service, and who re-enter the service, shall bo employed at minimum rates of pay of their grades for a length of time equal to the length of time they remained off duty on strike, and will, after the lapse of that time, if suitable vacancies ejnSt, be restored to the grade and rates of pay they enjoyed prior to the day of the strike. .The same eondi* ; ons will apply to those men who have in the past enjoyed merit payment over and above t,he, flat rates of award by the Wages Board. In those grades it which flat rates of pay are ruling all men re-employod will be paid such rates as hav,e already been fixed, and have applied under the Wages Board awards. CLERKS RELIEVED OF WHARF WORK. Members of office staffs of the ship, ping companies who have been taking tho places of the wharf laborers since the strike commenced, are to bo withdrawn from the wharves at the conclusion of to-day's work. From the time the clerks started they did good work, and the companies would have beer) willing to carry on with them had not the Government taken over the problem of providing labor to work the ships". The 1 Government states it has more volunteers than it can place, and as most of these volunteers are suited for the work on wharves, the shipping companies have been asked to discontinue the employment of clerks there, so that the men from the country can be used on Monday morning (20th). Therefore the whole of the waterfront will be worked by the Government volunteer array. This will enable clerks to return to their offices. ' Over 900 members of trolley and draymen's union attended a meeting last night (17th). "It was decided," said Union Secretary Woodbridge, "Not to cart to the harbor or railway stations or handle foodstuffs previously handled by non-union labor." There are over 6000 members of the union. The decision of the union means that unless voluntary labor is available tiie foodstuffs usually handled by dairy produce houses' inJSussex street will be held up. ) Representatives of Sussex „ street houses stated this morning (18th)" that they regarded it as their first duty to see the usual distribution of foodstuffs carried out, and therefore all reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that tho public will not be starved as .'far as the commodities they handled are concerned. It is felt in the trade, that if the distributing bouses had decided to closa their stores, there would have been an outcry from the public. ACTING PREMIER'S RESOLUTION. "I should like," said Mr. Fuller, Acting Premier of New South Wales,.today, "to deal with, Mr. Kavanagh'sbulletin issued on behalf of the strike promotion committee. In spite of Kavanagh's assurances to the contrary, we know that he and his confreres have becu desperately trying to spread this strike in certain directions and failed. The decision announced to withdraw all .hands from tho collieries, including engine-driv-ers, is the last desperate resort of men wild have now become utterly reckless to their responsibility as citizens. Tbe Government does not desire in any way to .interfere with the proper working of the coal mines. It allowed coahniners until Thursday (23rd) to consider their positions. If they will get coal for the community the new Act will not be used, but if they still refuse, the Government Is determined to get the coal. After very careful enquiry, and expert advice, we are satisfied some of the collieries can be worked without danger. Men will be put into those collieries only, but the coal will be got in spite of the strike committee. I think we have about reached the limit of those insolent challenges which arc still being made to the community. Kavanagh insinuates that wo are trying to force a general strike, bccauso a few slaughtermen, after acting in a most erratic and uncertain way for the last week, were told that their services were required for the time, being. The Government had no alternative but to co-operatn with the scheme proposed by the carcase butchers and others to keep a regular supply of meat for the community. Wo caunot allow this important matter to bo determined any further by the vagaries of the Slaughtermen's Union. The Government is straining every nerve to prevent the trouble spreading further, but at the same time it is preparing to meet the new contingencies as they arise." LEADERS TO BE ARRESTED. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of Messrs E..J. Kavanagh, M.L.C., the secretary of the Labor Council.. Willis (secretary of the Australian Coal and Shalo ■Employee*'' Federation), and Claude Thompson! (secretary of the Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Service Association), on charges of conspiring to incite a Strike, and being concerned in .the conspiracy to incite members of tho public service to refuse to fulfil their duty. , , t