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ENFORCING THE ULTI
MATUM
How Steamers Were Affected.
: Several Wrong Decisions.
Ilic I', and O. line - R.At.S. Alaloja,
which proved the ship owners' test case,,
whs 'the first, overseas vessel seriously in
volved iu Melbourne yesterday, when an
unsuccessful attempt was . made to pick
up mglit and day shifts. When the vessel
reached Princes Pier, Fort Alelbourne, at
9-15 a.m. there was no labor awaitiug her,
and the. Alelbourne' -passengers' luggage,
which had been removed from the hold
by the Lascar seamen during the voyage :
Horn Adelaide, .was ffirought ashore by '
the. luggage porters and seamen. The -
mails were discharged by tho crew. Early-
in the morning passengers were notified'
thnt the vessel might get away bv 3 p.m.
yesterday,- but in the absence of advice
from London it was decided to hold up
the vessel until to-day.
Trouble ou the Bnlish-Indui stenmer .
Nerbuddu developed Inter in the .morning.-.-
Two gangs which were discharging a cargo"-1
of galvanised- iron from one of the holds .
refused, despite the orders of tl.«j — — , -
dore in charge, to .sort tho cargo into-
sub marks,- on > the grounds that such .
ing would prove not only. an encumbrance"-"
oil; the - wharf, hut was a., breach of the
Hnrbor Trust regulations. As a conse- ,
quence, of, this, the two gangs were dis
missed, and , the vessel worked only three
of .five .gangs :up - to 5 p.m. yesterday. -
Interviewed -. rcgnrdiug tlm matter, the
chairman .- of- the: Hnrbor Trust commis
sioners ..(AIi-.i. Hohlen) said that sorting::
into - sub- marks'- was no breach of the '
regulations,- - -but had caused considerable-
congestion - on' the whart.
Aliich confusion, however, arose concern- 3
ing- the; working cof the .-ultimatum. The"
agents for -. the : Eastern steamer Arufura-
decided to work only six men in each : "
-hold, -mstoad of eight '.men, as the union1'
required. On., Tuesday night the company.
gave two men notice in each gang. When '
the : gangs . learnt . tlus " yesterday tliey re
fused to work tlio- steamer. Later the'
-owners, .discovered; that tlie provision of '
eight men in the hold was provided fore
in a common agreement -sanctioned bv'
the Arbitration Court.- Realising ' their'
mistake the owners endeavored to get iii
touch with the men. to remedy the error,'""
but .were unsuccessful,. On thq other hand,".-
a i union vigilance officer ' boarded the'-
A. U.S.N, steamer Ormislon, and ordered
tho gangs to : leave . the ship. Lntor the '
men.-, were, informed- h.v their union that.. a
tliey should not have left the vessel, but
when. tliey went buck to work her it was'-
.too late, and the vessel had to leave fori--'
Queensland .without a laruo portion of
-her cargo. A similar mistake occurred in,1-''
tlio loiidmg of the cavgo steamer Alildurn '
which, jju. consequence, vjis unable to sail1"
last night. v. . t
Work on tlio colliers ceased automati
cally.- when tlie men refused to work under
tho (conditions as laid down by the ar
bitration - award; - The- gangs were mime- -
dintely dismissed. . Tlio -vessels affected -
weie .(he. Ashi-ulge, Koinm-a, Ilehbui-n'"'
cud Wnisni-ay in port. The Ashrii|ce i.-i Jfe'
stated to he tho only collier with a livrgu t'"
cargo still undischarged. '<>
An attempt ivng made yesterday after
noon by,. the agents of tho linors Vedic,
Port Ayollingtoii and Citv of Spartan to y
pick up gangs, but as 110 men attended the
pick-up it is - certain that the waterside — i
workers intend to light the issue. L
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