Workmen's advocate., 1890-10-18
Australian Labor Troubles.

The Brddstreets correspondent from Melbourne writes with date of Septem- Der 2:
 "The largest strike which has yet taken place in these colonies is now in opera tion, with the most serious effects on trade throughout Australasia The strike was occasoned by the dismissal of man by the Tasmanian Steam Naviga- tion Company and their refusal to re- lnstate him at the demand of the Sea mems Union, and by the refusal of the various owners of coastal steamers to recognize a union formed among their officers if 1t were affiliated with the Trades Hall Council, Melbourne, which Is composed of delegates from nearly every trades union in Victoria, including the Seamen's Union. The owners, while agreeing to considerable increase in the scale of the officers salaries, objected to their connecting themselves in such manner with the seamen on the ground that discipline would be endangered The officers strike commenced a fort. night ago, and the owners tried to work the steamers with non-union officers. But the trades unions always express the greatest repugnGnce to working in any way in conjunction with non union men, and accordingly the seamen, fire men, cooks and stewards, and the steve dores and wharf laborers also, struck. The seamen are supposed to give twen- ty four hours notice before leaving work, but when masters have tried to take their steamers to sea before the ex, piring of the twenty four hours the crews have deserted, thus rendering themselves liable to penalties, which, however, the owners have forborne from enforcing. Most of the steamers have had to stop running, and the inter- colonial trade Is almost at a standstill The discharging of perishable goods and general cargo has been carried on prin- cipally by clerks, but the discharge of coal presents greater difficulties. In Melbourne several steamers had arrived from Newcastle, N $ w., with cargoes of coal for the Metropolitan Gas Con- pany. The company attempting to dis charge the coal from the steamers into their works by union men, the gas st0kers, about week ago refused to handle coal thus discharged, and also struck. Their places have been filled by non union men, but the efforts of the latter did not at first suffice to provide full supply for Melbourne. To decrease consumption the street lamps were not lighted for few nights, the moon being about full, and for few days no gas at all was available in the daytime for any purpose, thus throwing many more men out of work. for a considerable amount of machinery in Melbourne is drlven by gas engines. The coal miners at New castle, N. s. w., who had large strike on their own account two years ago, have also struck
 The disturbance to trade caused by these strikes is very great. New South Wales depends very much upon other colonies - Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand for supplies of breadstutfs and produce. and the pri- Ces of all these have advanced in Syd- ney, in some cases ny 100 per cent. On the other hand, prices for many articles are correspondingy depressed in the exporting colonies; for instance, wheat has declined in Melbourne owing to the stoppage of exports of flour to New South Wales. The price of sugar, which prevented from being imported into Melbourne from Queensland, has risen ] substantially in Melbourne, and upon. the