Cook Islanders Offer

To Work NZ Ships, Wharves

AITUTAKI Island Council (Cook Islands) offered the New Zealand Government a labour force to help work on the wharves or to man ships held up in New Zealand because of the watersiders-seamens’ strike.

The offer was declined, although NZ Minister for External Affairs said that the Government was gratified at “this spontaneous expression of loyalty and co operation on the part of the people of Aitutaki.” - The Cook Islanders are unlikely to have made their offer in a spirit of pure altruism, however, or for the grati fication of the NZ Government. When there are no ships to the Islands there is no export of fruit, and when there is no export of fruit, the Cook Islanders have no money. They naturally would like to see the ships moving again and, applying a simple solution to it, offered their services to get this done. But the settling of industrial troubles never seems to have a simple solution these days; they must be approached in a manner that was once reserved for high level diplomatic discussions between nations.

The NZ strike seemed, at the end of May, after 13 or 14 weeks duration, to be fizzling out. Possibly the Islanders will have ships again shortly if the Aus tralian watersiders and seamen do not, as appears likely, espouse the lost cause of their New Zealand buddies.