LABOR DISPUTES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2092, 30 August 1890, Page 3

LABOR DISPUTES.

Londos, Aug. 27. At a meeting of 20,000 Derbyshire miners resolutions were carried demanding eight hours as a day's labor. SimiUr . meetings have been held in other districts. :Tbe children attending a large convent - school in Dublin have been withdrawn because the nuns bought non-union coal, Brussels, Aug. 27. One thousand of the colliers who * went but on strike, dec'ining to accept * a reduction in wages, have returned to work. New York, Aug. 25. 1 In Illinois the Central Railway strike is spreading to all railways. The com panies have determiaed to resist the demands of the men. THE MELBOURNE STRIKE. London, Aug. 27. Appeals for help have been received from/Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Tho Sailors', Firemen's, and Dockers' Unions are unanimous in their intention to support the Australian striker?, and Mr Mann only awaits specific instructions a? to whether funds or the blocking of vesse's is needed. Thirty thousand dockers will contribute each a shilling a week if necessary. A motion will be brought forward at the Liverpool Trades Conarress tendering monetary assistance. The' Daily News warns the Australians against pushing the dispute too far and opening the road to the admission of coolifs, in which case the colonies w&\>ld be quickly overrun with cheap labor, Aug 28. The shipowners are eonferring about the Australian strikes, snd merchants are much alarmed. The Dockers' Union have voted £IOOO to assist the strikers. Dalf a million of' London unionists have proffered a Is levy. Mr Til let states that they wi 1 be unable to strike in syrcpathy with the Australians until tbeir agreement with the stevedores expires but that they are eagir to aasist. ' , p Mel£ou£NE, Aug. 27. 'The strike in Melbourne originated as follows ?—the officers, including the captains, of the ships formed a union but.tbe shipowners refused to recognise them. They then joined the Trades Hill, and the ehipowners would not recognise them unleßS they left this. The officers refused, and hence the strike. Mr Service, member of the Legislative Counci', made an attempt to settle the dispute, but the shipowners yroold npt hear of it. Mr Service says ; — ff I haye told the owners that J think they have weakened their position by pot receiving the deputation. J think they made a mistake, and if it is not a matter of etiquette, it is so pear that it ■ ,-„ T ery difficult for an ordinary person to discriminate between the two thingß. If the masters and officers had met together I have every reason to believe tbnt on the substantial question between tbem there would have been no difficulty jo coming to an agreement. What J

f contend for is. that the masters might have seen the officers, might have waived : this substantial objection, as tbey call it, to show that they wanted to get at the core of the difficulty between tberaselves and the iffiers. If tbey had done that the dispute, without doubt, would have been settled. I have reason to balieva that the Officers' Union would have withdrawn from the Trades Hall, with the nßS*>nt of the Trades Hall authorities themselves, if the officers and owners bad c»me to au agreement. The Trades Hall people ere greatly incensed; and have taken up the fight in earnest.; l'ber'e seems little doubt that the owners! are sick of the harussing experiences of the past two or three J«arp, and are; determined to haVd a decisive fight."

Tbe officers say—"lt is evident that the owners i xpect us to go dewn on knees to them. We are not prepared: to do so. They may talk about points of etiquette or misapprehensions on our; part now, They refuse to see us as a! socjety, and we refuse to see them inany other capacity. We are determined to see it out now. The Traded Hall haß taken up our cbubp, and we will stick to the Trades Hall. If we are beaten and have to abandon the sea altogether we shall fare very badly indeed in other callings if we do not do better than we have been doing. The men under us have actually been receiving more money and working shorter hours. " Aug. 28, So far the free laborers have not been capable of doing tbe work properly, and consequently the gaß haß been cot off in the city during the day, causing serious inconvenience where it is used as motive power. The street supply will be cut off on moonlight nights, and the Press urge people to largely reduce their domestic consumption.

A mob 6tormed Pitzroy gasworks and made an ineffectual attempt to get at the free laborerers engaged fiere. A large body of police dispersed the rioters.

Constables are being drafted into the city from the country districts, and the artillery have been ordered out from Queen. 1 cliff. Aug. 29.

Owiog to ihe ehortneps of ccnl the railway commissioners have determined to reduce the train sertice ; passenger trains will be cut down by one-fourth. Stdnet, Aug. 27. The Apsoeiated Miners at Newcastle were locked oat to-Jay. An ominous tact as to the length of time the etrike may be expected to l»sl is that the recently established labor barracks hare been taken for three months and have cost £3OO to fit up. Nine hundred meals are supplied daily.

The shop assistants are urging the warehousemen's assistants to withdraw the pledge to load and unload ships.

A meeting of grocers protested against the action of the merchants in unwarrantably raising the prices of butter, and it was decided to demand a refund of Is per lb. Strike pay begins to-morrow. It is understood that the amount allowed will be 80a per week. Aug. 28.

The Railway Servants of Australia are endeavoring to get the New Zealand Railway Servants to affiliate. Resolution are being introduced into Parliament to make six members of both Houses, with some outsider at chairman, a Board of Conciliation, The Seamen's Union offer arbitration. Two thousand special constables have been sworn in. A Committee of Mediation has been formed. Serious rioting has taken place. One man is in a precarious condition. Aug. 29. Two thousand wharf laborers to-day received strike pay. A second detachment of artiljery, with two Nerdenfeldt guns, has been dee* patched to Newcastle. A Bill to effoid protection to blacklegs has been introduced into Parliament. There are prospects of an ear'y pettier ment of the dispute, as both the Officers AssociHtion and tha shipowners show a disposit ; on to confer together, but the shipowners insist on the officers disassociating themselves from the labor unions. The shipowners say they are perfectly willing to meet the officers aud discuss matters in a f«ir manner, but it mnst be the officers only who are dealt with in this matter. Other grievances mußt be considered separately. Newcastle, Aug. 27. To-night a mob of 2QQO persons surrounded Ireland's store which is being boycotted owing to the dismissal of the employes who bad joined the Shop Employe* Association, They upset two cartloads of flour, carried off the bugs, and held complete possession of Hunter I street. When the police attempted to make arrests Ibey were assaulted with stones and smothered with flour. Two of them (Inspector Brennan and Sergeant Thomson) were struck on the. head by stones. Eventually foqr of the rioters were arrested. Brisbane, Aug. 27.

The officer" and crew of the Arawata were arrested at Cooktown for refusing duty but the charge was withdrawn upon the men returning to work and forfeiting four days' p»y. Adelaide, Aug. 28. Strike matters are quiet at present. There is no free labor available at Port Adelaide. Strike funds are coming iD freely, August 2§. In the Pouse of Assembly notice of motion was given of a suggestion for a conference of delegates ef the Australian Legislatures to consider the introduction of a uniform measure to control trade and i labor organisations, and nrqvide boards j of cgnciliatign.

NEW ZEALAND. THE SB iMEN'S UNION MANIFESTO. I A meeting of the various executives of 1 the Maitimo Labor Council was held on Wednesday afternoon at the office of the Seaman's OVnn, N.Z. Insurance Company's buildings, Dunedin, There were 14 delegates present, representing the New Zealand Federated Seamen's Union, New Zealand Wharf Carters, Expressmen, and Storemen's Union, Ihe New Zealand Wharf Labourers' Union, and the Amalgamated Miners and Laborers' Union of New Zealand. The number of members in these unions is about 11,000. The following manifesto was drafted :

" MANIFESTO OP THE SBASJBn's UIHOir. "The directors of the Union Steam Ship Company having issued a manifesto in which tbsy endeavour to lay the whole blame of the present difficulty upon the shoulders of the labor party, we feel it to be our duty to lay a plain statement of the case before the public, and tbey will then, perhaps, see that we are not responsible, but tb»t the blame lies with the Shipowners' Association. ■■'" We distinctly deny that we have been anxious to have a trial of strength as they state ; on the contrary, we have done everything in our power to avert it, but the Steam Shipowners' Association seeing that tbe various unions throughout Australasia were becoming, in their opinion, too powerful, decided to endeavor to crush tbem out, and with the object of effecting a rupture have studiously avoided entertaining any proposals submitted by the various unions. " The present dispute originated some j two months ago, when the officers belonging to 4he various companies resolved upon forming a union. After doing so they submitted their rales and rates of pay to the association, but the latter declined to recognise them. After this tbe officers affiliated with the Trades and Labor Councils of Victoria and New South Wales, aod again submitted their demands, when a conference was arranged between the two parties, but prior to tbe date upon which it had been agreed to hold it, the Shipowners' Association sent notice tbey declined to meet them unless they withdrew from tbe Trades' Council. This the officers declined to do, upon the grounds that as an individual society tbey had failed t> gain any recognition from the Shipowners' Association, and furthermore that it was arbitrary and unjust upon the part of tbe shipowners to debar tbem from affiliating with tbe council whilst the shipowners retained tbe right to themselves to band together < in an association.

" Efforts have repeatedly been made by the officers and seamen to bare their demands considered at a conference and decided upon their merits, but all their efforts hare proved fruitless owing to the off-band and contemptible actions of the Shipowners' Association, and it is this treatment which has compelled the labor bodies to show that they intend to demand that respect which they as men are entitled to.

" We admit that no direct quarrel with the Union Company existed at present, bat the Union Company being a portion ot an association which has openly expressed its intention of crashing the labor anions cannot expect to be allowed to ran free, and thus far they share the responsibility of caasing the present crisis, as had the Union Company and the Australian United Steam Navigation Company, who practically seem to work together, used their voting power in the association to prevent thia dispute it would never have taken place, *' The public can therefore see by the foregoing statement that the treatment accorded to the labor unions by the Shipowners' Association had forced them into the prpseDt position, as they had either to fight or lie down and be kicked, and they chose the former. " The Seamen's Union of New Zealand have endeavoured to prevent the strike extending to New Zealand, and the directors of the Union Company have admitted that it was impossible for as to do any more than we have done unless we instructed our members to work with blacklegs ; and as evidence of the feelings of our members we may simply point out the faGt that the crews of the l'arawera, Taieri, and Qhau left in Sydney without instructions from us sooner than work with blacklegs, and this feeling is openly expressed by every member of the union who has had an opportunity of expressing it. Had the Onion Company not employed blacklegs on their Sydney wharf the trade might still have been kept on, as would also the coastal trade, but, having thrown in their lot with the association and determined to assist them in crashing the labor unions, they cannot any longer expect us to work for them, nor can {she New Zealand public expect tb° New Zealand seamen \>o allow themselves to be the tools of any employers who are endeavouring to crush the labor organisations of Australasia. Although the seamen may regret thejr action may cause a paralysis of trade, they maintain that their action has only beec taken in self-defence. John A. Millar, Secretary. Auckland, August 2E|. The lumpers have atropb, but the crew are discharging the cargo of the Waihora. Wellington, Aug. 28,

The crews of the Manawata and Waibi bave struck, aDd crews of other vessels will strike on reaching Dunedin. Railway Commissioners, in view of having little traffic, will cease running some ef the trains. A deputation of seamen waited on Mr Mitcbelson, and said they would not interfere with the Government steamers so loflg as they djd pot carry only Ministers and members of Parliament, rflaila, and light-

house goods. Mails will be sent to Australia by th* Jubilee, which is Bot affected. The Union Company's steamer Mauawatu, from which the cn-w withdrew this morning, left for Westport in the afternoon manned by nonunionists.. The local officeis of the Seamen's Onion are confident that wh*n thb vessel arrives at Westport she w.ll be unable to obtain coal. The 'secretary of the Marine Officers says the officers will give *n hours notice I when blacklegs come •°°a™, hut the officers of the Grafton, Mahinapua, and Waihora are said to refuse to strike The Lumpers' Unions will not work boats with non-union crews, The Petone Woollen M.lls are working ahort hours for want offu.l. Flour has risen £4 per ton. Great alarm is felt at the prospect of: a coal famine, ™d the suspension of train traffic * ill make the wood costly. The Weatern Packing Company, Patea, g*ve all hands a weeks notice. August 29.

Both the Takapuna and the Kanien have been manned by free labor The officers do not appear aax'ous to withdraw, and some assert they will not do so unless it is shown that the majority are willing to do so. , . i The wharf laborers are working as usual but the secretary states he has instructions to be on the alert for instructions from Dunedin. The general opinion is that they will be called oot directly. The wharf labourers have gone out on strike, blocking the Union Company'" Vfiflflßlfl The Kanieri managed .to get away to Blenheim, but the Takapuna, which was to have gone south, still has her cargo on board. , The Wareatea arrived from Auckland this morning and her cargo is not touched.

The Union Company will endeavour to get the Takapuoa away but are doubtful if they will succeed. The Doric is not affected by the strike. The lumpers ire hangiog about the wharf, and everything is very quiet. , An employers union is being formed, it being he'd that the labor anions will welcome ifc, so as to have a representative body to settle disputes. In Blenhiem a large number of applications to work as free labor have been received. The halyards of the company'* flig were cut dowD. (JjEtBTMOCTH, Aug. 28. The Brnnuer coal miners' difficulty has been settled. Wemtort, Aug. 29. ActiDg on instructions from the Maritime,Council to boycott the Union steamers as the Ooiipaoy were utilising non-union labor, the wharf lumpers loading tbe Grafton aod Mawhera last night were called out at 9.20, leaving the Mawhera and Mahinapua unloaded. The railway manager then summoned the permanent way men to unload the vessels. At 5 this morning they commenced work, but were also called out, one man out of 23 lemaining. The strikers were expanded. The Union Corapanj 's manager and clerks, and several townspeople, are wo'ktrjg the vessels. All work at the Denniston mioes closes a'2 p.m. until further notice, by order of the Maritime Connci l .

The railway manager notifies that on and after to-morrow all passengers and goods traffic on the railway will be suapended, | Chkisichpjrch, Aug. 29. . The committee of the Chamber of Commerce have devised a scheme for an Employers' Association, and recommend that an employers' council be constituted under tha auspices of the Chamber of Commerce, the Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and the Industrial Association, and that each body form :an association among their own members to work under the employers' council, collect contributions, and combine with similar organisations elsewhere, and taka united action in matters affecting their mutual interests. The wharf laborers have struck on all the Union Company's steamers. August 29.

About 400 persons went to port to-day by the 12.10 train. The Union Companj engaged a number of hands to help to unload boats. Farmers aod farmers' sons offered their services, while mtrchaots and others were also in the train. About 800 were on the platform at Cbristchurch to see them off, and there was a little groaning but nodisturbance. The Union Company statu they have as much labor us they want to unload tbe vessels. Dunedin, Aug, 28.

The Wairarapa got away with nonanion men. It is understood that there are plenty of officers in Dqoedin and Auckland ready to take the places of preeent officers. The company's olerks were amongst those on the Wairarapa, which took nothing but mails and passengers. The crew of the Brunner have left, and the officers and men of several of the other boats have given %% hoqra' notice. The Careers' Union promise support, August 23. The officers of the Waihora, Pukakl, Mawhera, Mahinapua, and Grafton have refused to come out of their ships, and mean to remain loyal to their employers. Kemplhorqe, Prober and 00. have announceci \\aX they have decided to declare no dividend, owing to the unsettled state of trade. A meeting of the vatlous trades unions is convened hy„the Trades and Council and Maritime Oounejl for Monday, to dismiss the difficulty, It is stated that the notice given to the mills and stores at Timaru, requiring men who load produce in trucks to be uoiouists, doea not apply to permanent hands bu> only to casual ißbor. The Times publisher a list of stores \u town. It says there is in Wellington only a fortnight's flour, a fortnight's potatoes, ten days' oatmeal, but any quantity of kerosene. All the millownera of TJmaru, b,ave given their men a, week's notjoe, as they cannot carry op without coal.

Half a dozen applicants for free labor billets have turned up in Timaru.

There was a rumor current yesterday that a railway strike wqa imminent. We do not believe thUi bat if t"h« Commissioners stop aome of the trains aad refuse to pay tbe men thus turned out of employment their wages it ia possible thus al} hands will strike. „

THE WHITOOMBE AND TOMBS DISPUTE. The following letters have passed between the Secretary of the Temuka Branoh of the Shearers and Laborers Union and the Head Master of the Temuka District High School : Temuka, August 23rd, 1890. Mjt Brtahs, Head Master District High School, Temuka. Dear Sir, —As the members of the Amalgamated Shearers and Laborers Uaion—which includes nearly all the working men cf this district—have decided not to allow their children to use copy books or other goods produced by Whitoombe and Tombs af er a date to be fixed, would you kindly inform me at about what time the stock you have on hand will be exhausted, as we would like to avoid causing any loss or inconvenience to you or the School Committee.—l am &c, Wm. L. DtwcAW, Secretary. Temuka, August 26th, 1890. Mjt Wm. L. Dttxcan, Secretary Amalgamate! Shearers' and Laborers' Union. Sir,—ln reply to yours of the 23rd inst., relating to Messrs Whitcombn and Tombs' copy books in use here, I have to stats that my stock will probably be exhausted by the beginning of December, except in the case of one Standard, in whioh the stock miy not ba exhausted nntil Febraary or so.—Yours truly. W. Bryars. The Kangiora School Committee will not allow Whitcombe and Tombs' books I to be used in the school under their control until the present dispute is j settled.