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/ Strikes Retard British Shipping Unsettled Working Conditions Have Adverse Influence —Rise in Oil Prices Forces Restudy of Fuel Costs ABOR disturbances are again in- terfering with the orderly de- velopment of the British ship- ping industry. Consequently, profits during the first quarter of the year were not up to expectations and busi- ness sentiment in maritime circles is more or less depressed. The delay which. is being experienced in reach- PEE ee Se a TREND OF BRITISH SHIPPING FREIGHTS FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS ‘Monthly Index Number Based on Geometrical Average of 1920 as 100 Compiled by The Statist, London, Shows Recent Upward Swing ing a settlement with France on the reparations question is also. tending to retard the progress of all inter- national trade. In January. there was an _ 8-day strike of locomotive engineers and firemen followed by a_ walkout of similar duration in February on the part of all the dockworkers in the United Kingdom. Both these stop- pages affected the movement of ship- ping, particularly the dock _ strike, Costly delays were a feature of Brit- ish shipping operations during both months and as an aftermath of the dock strike port dues throughout the United Kingdom have been increased, although continental ports only a few miles across the channel are charg- ing lower fees and working longer hours. German dock laborers have recently been obliged to accept an ‘increase of from eight to nine hours aioday: Lheir: wages’ are an .aver- age of 60 gold pfennigs or about 14 cents an hour compared with 1s 6d (32 cents) now being paid to Brit- ish dock workers. Rates in Antwerp and French ports are about on a level with the scale of German wages. ployers BY H. COLE ESTEP European Manager, Marine Review Shipyard machinists and allied me- chanics in Southampton have been on strike for a month in defiance of their union. This strike was deliberately staged at a time when two large transatlantic liners were brought into port for annual overhaul. It is un- derstood that the Cunard and White Star lines, which are most directly Statist Index of British Shipping Freights Index of Freights between U.0.A.and Western Europe~—— Average of 1920 Rates taken as 100 concerned, are considering. having this work done in the United States where it can be prosecuted without inter- ference. If this should be done, it would mean a loss of several thousand dollars in wages to Southampton ship- yard employes and would also involve serious losses to the employers. In addition to these strikes, past and present, the situation in the coal mining industry of Great Britain is insecure. A wage increase of around 1° shilling ‘a ‘day offered by the ¢m- has been rejected by the union and there is danger of another British coal ‘strike this spring. Na- turally such an event would have a serious effect on British shipping, which depends so much on outward coal cargoes for its revenue. The newly formed labor government is almost absolutely helpless in dealing with these industrial disputes because of fear of alienating its supporters. This impotence is being taken ad- vantage of by the union leaders who consider the present an opportune time to press claims against the em- ployers. These disturbances have not yet 175 had a serious effect on the shipping situation but their influence is by no means negligible. In January, 3650 vessels entered British ports with cargoes, followed by 3284 vessels in February, making a total for the two months of 6934 vessels compared with 6361 in the corresponding two months of 1923. The tonnage entered in January this year was 3,916,005 plus 3,458,898 tons in February, making a total for the two months of 7,374,903 tons com- pared with 7,001,837 tons in the like period of 1923. In January, 5152 ves- sels cleared from British ports- to- gether with 4960 in February. mak- ing 10,112 ships for the two months compared with 9340 vessels in the cor- responding two months of 1923. The tonnage cleared in January was 5,- 100,657, which taken together with 4,868,229 tons in. February, makes 9,- 968,886 tons for the two months this year compared with 10,271,867 tons in the first two months of 1923. These figures reveal the fact that the number of ships both entering and clearing are increasing but that the tonnage cleared is less than a year ago, thus showing that a _ cer- tain number of ships are being laid up and that although the trade is more diversified, its volume is slight- ly -less. If-it- had not been: for the series of labor difficulties which Great Britain is now facing, a post-war rec- ord would undoubtedly have been set up this vear. This is now unlikely.