LABOR QUESTIONS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2162, 12 February 1891, Page 3

LABOR QUESTIONS.

London, February 8. The seamen and firemen and other unions refuse to work with free laborers. In the event of a struggle at Hull, the seamen and dockers will appeal to the Continent, America, and Australia for assistance. February 9. Bailway men at Cardiff have decided to remain neutral. Washington, February 9, Twelve thousand coke men in Pennsylvania threaten to strike. Eighty thousand colliers will be affected by their action. February 10. The excitement at Cardiff has not abated, and troops are being despatched to preserve order. The Shipping Federation are determined to supply men, and a blockade of the coastal traffic is threatened in consequence. J be shipowners are now discharging their own vessels. Sydney, February 9. The Intercolonial Labor Conference has opened its sittings here. Yictoria, New Zealand, and Tasmania are not represented. A scheme is being drafted for Australasian federation of labor, which will be submitted to another conference at Ballarat in April, The scheme provides each union shall retain self-government of its own particular affairs, and federate in order to facilitate mutual co-operation where necessary for the common welfare. MexißOUEnb, February 10.

There is considerable dissatisfaction among the Federated Seamen and other unions respecting the new shipping articles, and trouble is likely to arise. Beisbane, February 10. The Shearers’ Union are very exasperated oyer the importation of free shearers from Victoria and New South Wales into Queensland. At a meeting of shearers at Barcaldine, about 850 miles west of Rockhampton, it was decided to procure rabbits and turn them loose on the banks of the Barcoo and other rivers. Several owners who employed free shearers have been threatened that their stations will be burned. The Rockhampton shearers have held a meeting, at which resolutions were passed respecting the refusal of the pastoralists to agree to grant an open conference. It was asserted that the introduction of free shearers is calculated to provoke a serious breach of the peace. Auckland, February 9. A conference between delegates from the Employers Association, the Trades and Labor Council, and the Auckland Branch of the Knights of Labor, was held to-night to consider the establishment of a Board of Conciliation for averting of strikes and the settlement of trade disputes, It was decided to form the Board, but a discussion then arose as to whether both the Trades and Labor Council and the Knights of Labor, two distinct bodies, should be represented on the Board. Eventually consideration of the subject was adjourned for a week, the delegates to consult their various bodies in the meantime. Wellington, February 10. The Wellington Employers’ Association have issued a circular to similar associations in the colony, endeavoring to arrange a conference to discuss all subjects affecting the interests of employers, and submitting a draft scheme drawn up by Mr J. R. Blair, president of the local association, for the establishment of six labor boards in the colony, to decidejdisputes arising between capital and labor. A conference between the boot manufacturers and their employes will be held here next week to establish a uniform scale of payment for work throughout the colony.