THE STRIKE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 3 November 1913, Page 6

THE STRIKE.

ATTITUDE OF EMPLOYERS.

PROVISION FOR FUTURE POLICY. At. a mooting of the Employers' •Strike Committee, held on Friday, it was decided to enlarge that commit-, too by tho inclusion yf one body of representatives of the whole of the trading, producing, and manufacturing interests of tlio Dominion, and representatives of tlioso interests have ;l>ecu notified and have agreed to become members of the committee, At a further meeting of the Strike Committee, held on Saturday, the following resolution was adopted: i • • i ' 'That as the Employers' Strike I Committee has been incorporated in I n general committee representing tjio trading, producing and manu- ■ factuHng interests of tlio Dominion. which will Heal with matters in connection with the strike,-that lh'> proposals made to the Waterside Workers' Union at the conference at which the Prime Minister presided be now withdrawn." , This woud appear to mean that fu- j > tui'o notion Will be taken not by the ; Shipowners' Committee, not by the • Employers' Striko Committee, but by ; the above larger committee, which is I ill so'Ti# sort of a Trade Defence Comi rnittee. ! : THE PROPOSALS. - The various proposals now with-. ; : drawn as above referred to were:— (1) That the employers adhere to the terms of the resolution passed oij ; Saturday, October 25th, as follows : •i "That they could not see their way ; to resume work under' the late agreement, hut that they ate -agree-; ! able, if the men resume work and "form a fresh organisationf to eater into an agreement for a term, on' the basis of the wages now being paid, without any material alterations of the agreement under which the men have been working, the I . ..agreement ,to be registered; .under j . the Industrial Conciliation and,'Ar- | bitration Act, in order to secure a, definite guarantee that the terms of the agreement be carried out faithfully." . , <v ! (2) That in the event o'f failure to . secure a settlement under the foregoing resolution, the committee authorise 1 the delegates to resuscitate the late agreement under tlio I.C. and A. Act for a period of ' three years. ' (3). That the delegates be axithorised to extend the present agreement , for a period of three years from date, to cover the whole Dominion, •with a penalty of £IOOO for stoppage of work as defined by clause 28 of the late agreement. (4) That the delegates be authorised to extend the late agreement for a period of three years from date, to apply to Wellington only, with a . penalty of £SOOO for stoppage of work as defined by claims 28 of the late agreement. (5) That if the workers had any objection to the Arbitration Court, . then his Honour Sir Joshua Williams should be asked to act as arbitrator. ( CONCILIATION? i VIEWS OF THE CQMMISIONER. FRIENDLY WORD TO STRIKERS. Mr P. Halley, Conciliation Commissioner, when interviewed on the crisis, said he could only express his persolnal opinion on the strike. "I do not think," Mr Hally, "that it is necessary to mhke much comment on the causes leading up to the men ' terminating their employment for the purpose of holding a stop-work meeting, but I am certain that tlio holding J of the meeting at the time it was held was not in keeping with the agreement. This, I think, is now admitted by the uien themselves. I am .well a war© that at times it is necessary in an organisation such as the waterside workers to hold rr.eetings during the ordinary wdrking hours in order that all the members should have ail opportunity of being present, and, as a matter of fact, arrangements, I believe, do exist in some agreements to provide for this contingency. But so far as the loical agree-; merit is concerned this provision does I not exist, and I do not think that the business for which, the last Wellington meeting was held was of such a nature that it could not bo held over foil' a few hours. A WAY STILL OPEN.

''Another point I cannot help remarking is: That on previous occasions the men have stopped work in the same manner, and practically no protest was made by the employers, and such being the case, it is more l:han probable that the men had regarded it as their right to act in the manner did. "However, the fact now is that the men are out on strike, and the transport and other business of the Dominion is now disorganised, and the prdspects of .again setting the wheels of industry moving are not too good.

J Although (lie time is passing, opporI tunity still presents itself for settlements by means of the use of ordinary, c(>ol, common sense." When asked his opinion as to the strikers' methods, Mr Hally remarked: "I am absolutely opposed to the methods adopted by the workers in coming to an understanding with the employers. The tactics adopted aro ver t v little different fi'om tlioso employed in tlie iB6O strike so far as tlie workers are concerned, while those adopted by the employers show that they have Vnade good' during the interval." ■ THE 'NINETY SfRIKE. •Mr Halley was asked for. further do- ( tail's as to the 'ninety strike, and in reply, said: "I was a, participant in that strike, and a subscriber to its i funds. I remember it quite v. ell, you may bo sure, I know exactly what was done during the strike period,; and I know what the results were; One effect of that strike was that the Arbitration Act was brought into c'x-f istence to prevent industrial disturb-, ances. It was-brought into being through the humanitarian efforts of f our legislators at that period, and at the request 'of the workers of that day, who, to my , way of thinking, wero quite as intelligent as those of the present day. Many workers, including waterside workers, by that: legislation were brought into exist-, ence as corporate unions. They were, then first defined as 'workers' in or-t der that they might take advantage; of the benefits of the' Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act, and! other legislation of a similar humanitarian character, "I am prepared to admit that this legislation has its faults, and yet,, notwithstanding its imperfections, if? is, in my opnion, infinitely better than the tactics. employed at the present time." '*, . ' ■ ' "WMt would you adviso at the present juncture, iii order to overcome the difficulty THE TIME IS .GETTING SHORT "Well, time is getting short," leplied Mr Halley, "but I believe that the watersider' workers are not one whit different from any other class of employee; surely they have as much brains as "the ordinary tradesman or artisan. I have spoken to many of the men now out on strike, who are solid, honest, straight-ior* ward, decent workers in every re-; spect, am of opinion that .they woiild be ill favour of a 1 majority rule.: That being so, what T would suggestis that their executive should ait once take steps "to ascertain* the feelings, of the individual membferd of the Waterside Workers' Federation in the Dominion, as to whether or not' they should have their agreement re-* gisteredi under the Arbitration Act., If this were carried out I am satisfied as to the result. ? TAKE A BALLOT.. , "In order to ascertain the opinions of the members," Mr Halley concluded, "it would be .nece-ssary to take a ballot, and this ballot should be' taken in a proper manner and under the supervision of persons not connected with either the workers* or their employers. The workers have nothing to lose. The present rate of wages, would, I understand, be maintained, and the other conditions of l labour would bo adhered to. Yes, I even a 'stop-work meeting' •might bo I arranged for. One thing would ,hap- [ pen, that i-s, under the Arbitration i Act both the employers and the workers would have to stand to 1 their bargain when made, or be punished 1 for breaking' their bond." effectTiTdWedin. - - ■' [VICTORIA'S SAILORS. DUNEDIN, Saturday. The Huddart-Parker steamer Ulimaroa while on her way to the Bluff from Lytteltoh received a wireless. message to call at Port Chalmers and take the crew of the Victoria, who are Australians, to Melbourne. The. Victoria, which has lately been employed working the New' Zealand coast, laid up hfefte.' ' ' \ i ■

ULIMAROA'S FRUIT. DUNEDIN, Saturday. Two fruit salesmen from Dunedin attempted to carry ashore tho Ulimaroa's fruit, but tho strikers took the eases back to the vessel's deck. PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES. DUNEDIN, Saturday. The Express Company, the principal cordial factory, and a mimber of' other firms are giving their hands a week's notice that their services will be dispensed with in consequence of the strike.. This is merely intended as a precautionary measure. WORKMEN CALLED FROM DREDGE. DUNEDIN, Saturday. The men employed 011 fitting out Dredge 404 for sea were knocked off The Harbour Board gave immediate orders to fill the vacancies from its own staff at the port. SECRET BALLOT AT OAMARU WAITOMO NOT TO BE WORKED. OAMARU, Saturday. Consequent upon a telegram received from the Federation of Labour, the local watersidors heldt. a secret ballot this morning and. decided, bv 32 votes to 24 not to work the Waitomo's cargo of coal. The decision caused some surprise, as it w;Vs understood the men would