The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-09-26
.CR|SISOF STRIKE
DUE TODAY ASSERT
WORKERSONFR0NT
Three Steamers viii Be Loading
Or Unloading Their cargoes
This Morning
STRlCKERS MAY CALL ON
COAST UNIONS FOR AID
MatSonia Will Not Be Affected
Even II California Long
shoremen Agree

Today should tell whether the strik-
ing lOngshoremen can win. The
Oceanic steamer Sierra will arrive from
Australia, the Matson steamer Wilhel.
nina will arrive from San Francisco
and the Matson steamer Lurline will
sail for San Francisco.
I If these vessels are handled with
| reasonable despatch the strike may
continue indefinitely, conditioned on
| the ability Of the men to stick il out,
but, If the vessels Rre not worried prop
erly, shipping men say that they do
not know what will be the outcome.
The Sierra will be dischErging seventy
nine tons of cargo and taking on about
1870, the Wilhelmina will begin dis
charging 1854 tons for Honolulu, and
the Lurline will be finishing a full
cargo of sugar and pines for San
Francisco.
May Ask Coast Aid
Moreover, said Jack Edwardson yes
terday the longshoremen 5 union would
wait no longer than today to ask. the
San Francisco unions to declare unfair
cargo loaded here by non-union men.
If nothing occurs today looking toward
a settlement, if conferences at least are
not arranged, the request will be made,
he said, but in no case would there
be an appeal as against the Matsonia,
due in San Francisco today. The Lur-
line and Sierra would be the first YES
sells which the local union would ask
the San Francisco union to tabu. 1t
still is believed generally that San
Francisco will not aceede to the re-
quest, if one is made.
Shipping men admit that the union
strikers are holding out very we'll,
much better than most expected
Donations to their funds, enabling
them to live, are given as the'cause of
their tenacity, for, without outside
help, it is not believed the men could
have remained idle this long. Meat,
fish and poi tickets were given out all
yesterday, but word was received from
the market in the afternoon that the
poi supply was exhausted. No large
donations were received yesterday, it
was stated but several small sums were
received. -'t '' '.n'-
Shippers Stand Firm
/, No move has been made by the ship
ping men to meet with the strikers.
Mayor Lane advised the union men in
the afternoon that he had received 10
replies to his letters requesting the
companies to meet union representa-
tives,
Mr.. Edwardson said there would be
no increase in the demands. The men
reduced their demands from fifty cents
and seventy-fv cents overtime to forty
and fifty-fve cents Friday, and the new
scale will be held to. Mr.. Edwardson
said that he called upon C. Brewer &
Co., Oceanic agents, yesterday, and Of
fered men at the forty and ffty.fve
cent scale for working the Sierra to-
day, but that the reply was that the
scale was considered to be too high.
Pay Old Rates Only
James W. Robertson, manager of the
shipping department of G. Brewer &
Co., said that he had told Mr.. Edward
son that he would pay only the old
rates: two dollars for a nine-hour day
and fifty cents an hour overtime; that
Mr.. Edwardson had asked whether the
Oceanic line paid fifty cents an hour,
and, on being answered in the afirma-
tive, said that the union demands were
only five cents more, whereupon Mr..
hODcIlbOn IetOIleu lHdl JucJ were HNB
cents too much. SO the interview
ended.
An amusing story is going the
rounds of the waterfront. A Hawaii.
an striker was watching non-union men
work the Lurline, all the while address.
ing them as "scabs, scabs, scabs. "
Three or four men were having diff
Guilty lifting a box, and the Hawaiian
striker, who had been applying the
epithet of "scabs" to them few
moments before, turned to and helped
them lift the box!
Secretary Moses X. Kahue said that
he had been requested to call upon of.
fcials of a Korean society, and that,
having explained the objects of the
union, he was told that the society
would recommend that Korean water
front workers join the union. 1t was
stated that the charter roll has not
been closed yet and that no increase
in the initiation fee has been made.