WATERSIDERS ON STRIKE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 23 October 1913, Page 5

WATERSIDERS ON STRIKE.

'• SERIOUS POSITION AT WELLINGTON.

MANY VESSELS HELD UP.

ALLEGED VICTIMISATION.

<Bf Telegraph—Preu Attociation.). WELLINGTON, Last Night. Following on/the notice given yesterday %h& waterside workers, instead of starting at 8 o'clocking this morning, held a meeting to discuss the position of the shipwrights already on strike. This meant that work could not go on in several large oversea steamers waiting to discharge cargo. The .e.s. Rimutaka had about 2500 tons of cargo to put out, the Wairuna liad a coal jpargo, and there were the Wahine, Manuka (from Sydney), the Csorinna and Taviuni, as well as the usual smaller coastal vessels, all waiting to he loaded or unloaded. In the case of the ships the difficulty was' got over for the time being by the crew working the holds and winches and the Harbour Board's permanent hands working the cargo from the ships' sling. •■ On the wharf ' and inside the sheds instead of the ordinary waterside casual ' workers, there were uniformed officials at work on the jiggers and stacking cargo. The permanent staff stood loyally by the Board in ite temporary difficulty, and so did some of the casual men. Tho'watersiders meeting, which decided to place the dispute ly in the hands of the Federation of Labour, was over shortly after nine o'clock, and the men decided to turn to at ten, when they went to ships in which they had been working. However, they found their places filled by others, and there was a re-shuffling of jobs, and although the union men were taken on by the ships it was not necessarily the same neu who; had been working there yesterday. ; Mr Fariand, secretary of the union, on learning what was being done, said 1 io'A reporter: "You can tell the public from me that this, is the way shipowners can force a strike. It is sheer pinpricking, and nothing else.' In, tits afternoon 1400 or JSOO men •attended a meeting presided over by Mar Curtice and carried a mo'tion unanimously, "That no work shall be accepted until such, time as all the men are reinstated." The decision of the employers to select amy men they choose, (un.on men.) instead of allowing wen; who . <had tjeen walking on any particular ship to iresiiunework ori- the ship, has greatiy ißpset the men. Some of them, However, turned to on vessels on which they were not working yesterday: This caused trouble among themselves, and ended in blows on the Wairuna.: Finally the Wairuna men knocked; off. . . A large crowd of men made their way to the Manuka, just in from Sydney. She had been employing her ■ seamen in discharging'luggage and cargo up to 10 o'clock, then permanent hands of the Harbour Board re* ceiving the goods from the olings Here the Manuka's waterside unionists, were called upon to cease w >rk, but they went on until knocking oif for;,dinner,.after which they did not resume. ■ At the Wahine the watersiders were called upon to leave the ship, and did' so. At the Corinna, which was being worked in the holds by the Uoien Company's permanent men, there was a call for police protection. A sergeant and two constables went to the ship, but no action was then necessary. I She Mapourika. was. got away to j tike, and over 300 tons of cargo in *nd out was handled by the permanent hands. The Manuka is not timed to leave until to-morrow. "Wferk-bn the Northern (with kerosene fro mNew York) and the {Rimutaka (from London) is entirely suspended. The position in the afterr noon was that the handling of all cargo on larger vessels was entirely suspended, operations being confined in a limited degree to one or two of the coastal fleet.. This state of affairs will continue until, the men, who ; are alleged to have been victimised, have been reinstated. MEETING OF SHIPOWNERS. "At a representative meeting of shipowners and parties to the agreement ; with the Waterside Workers' Union this afternoon, the following resolution, was adopted, "That this of employers who were parties to the agreement with the Waterside Workers' Union dated- January rTlthi.l9l2, regard the refusal of memhers of the union to commence work at the usual hour this morning as a flagrant breach of clause 28 of the contract existing between the employers amd the union, and that the • meeting inform the union to that -effect, and also that they regard) the agreement as being terminated." This, resolution was,conveyed to the executive of the union, who have since been discussing the situation, •and jUiongh no information is given out as to the business of the meeting , which is still (at 9 p.m.) in progress, it is supposed that arrangements for 'carrying on the strike are being attended to. « The s.s. Wahine .got away at the usual hour for Lyttelton, no trouble • being experienced.

HARBOUR BOARD MEETING. SITUATION DISCUSSED. (Bv Telegraph — Preu Association.) WELLINGTON, Last Night. The Barbour Board to-night discussed the strike situation. The nchairman, Mr Fletcher, reviewed the 'position m 3 explained the action he had'taken, and the Board passed a resolution approving the chairman's altitude, and declaring that ft r, will ajbandl firmly by him in any action whicb may be necessary in resisting the demands now made, even to the extent of the temporary cessation of activity on the wharvee, and that any suitable labour be engaged asTong ae it is necessary."