IN CHARGE OF STORES.

The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 17 November, 1911.

KOOMBANA HELD UP.

FIREMEN OBJECT TO CHIEF

STEWARD.

TROUBLE OVER STORES.

FREMANTLE, Thursday.

The trouble with the firemen of the steamer 

Koombana has not yet terminated, and the

stokehole still requires men for the furnaces.

On Saturday last 16 men who had been 

employed in the stokehole were paid off as a

result of their action in declaring that they

would not proceed to sea while the chief

steward (Mr. F. W. Johnson) remained in

charge of the stores. The Adelaide S.S. 

Company,-Ltd., then communicated with 

the Firemen and Seamen's Union in the 

east with a view to engaging men to come 

westward to work on the Koombana. 

So it does seem that the chief steward's hold over stores was at the root of discontent. If, however, this was the only main complaint, surely Captain Allen could have been approached to deal with the issue on board? It is equally strange that there was no local representation in Fremantle forcing the Union in the east to provide firemen for the west. Surely the Union in the east would have to have waited for the case to come before the Arbitration Court before replacing the sacked firemen? Surely the Union was there to safeguard the interests of the firemen on Koombana? But there again they represented the chief steward as well. All very confusing! 

By the Karoola this morning there arrived 

15 men from Adelaide to replace the old crew. 

The Koombana was lying at the buoy in mid-stream, 

and arrangements had been made for the new hands 

to proceed by a launch from the Karoola to the ship. 

Captain Smith, shipping master, boarded the Koombana 

to sign the newcomers on the ship's articles, but the men 

would not do duty until they had had an opportunity of 

conversing with the late crew, and ascertaining the

position of affairs.

This could not end well. The owners were caught between a rock and a hard place - Koombana standing idle was eating day by day into profits and reputation. Interesting that there was solidarity between firemen and the newcomers anxious to hear from the existing crew. How things were changing in the industry. 

During the afternoon a joint meeting of firemen 

was held in the Trades Hall. The new arrivals 

stated at the meeting that they had been given 

to understand before they boarded the Karoola 

at Adelaide on Saturday that the trouble was in 

connection with the firemen's food, and that if 

any fault was found by them matters would be 

cleared up when they joined the boat here, and 

their supplies would be as laid down by the Board 

of Trade. On reaching Albany they saw by the 

papers that there was trouble about the conduct 

of the chief steward towards the firemen, and it 

was decided to interview the old hands at Fremantle 

before signing on the Koombana's articles. The 

meeting, which was attended by 52 members of

the Firemen and Seamen's Union, appointed

Mr. T. M'Sharer. the representative of the union 

in this State, and a man each from the old and 

new crews to wait upon the acting manager of 

the Adelaide S.S. Company, Ltd., with a view 

to having the control of the stores department 

on the Koombana taken out of the hands of the 

present chief steward.

After the interview the representatives of

the union returned to the Trades Hall, and

reported that no definite reply had been made

to their request for the removal from the ship

of the chief steward. It was resolved that a

special meeting of the Enginemen and 

Seamen's unions should be held at the 

Trades Hall this evening to consider what 

further steps should be taken in the matter.

Matters were going from bad to worse, complicated by firemen imported from the east with no knowledge of the background of the dispute. It was extraordinary that ordinary seamen could stand up to the power and influence of the shipowner. I wonder what these new firemen had to say to the Union representative back in the east??

Fremantle, 1911 - courtesy John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library.

courtesy Trove