COLOURED LABOUR.

Northern Advocate, 10 April 1922, Page 6

COLOURED LABOUR.

ADMISSION TO UNIONS A.W.U. AND FOREIGN ORGANISATIONS SYDNEY, March 30. A proposal to organise coloured labour into the unions was brought before the recent annual convention of the Aus tralian Workers Union. Reference to the proposal was made in the official report issued yesterday. Mr Williams, a delegate to the convention, said .that the coloured labour question was an important one, but he did not see the reason for all the objection to coloured labour being organised. They would be worse than mad if .they did not make unionists of them. Sooner or later they would be forced to recognise the coloured labour question, and the necessity of getting coloured workers into unions, if only to protect their own white members. He thought that in the future the One Big Union would be for all workers —coloured or long as it aimed at the defeat of capitalism. The president (Mr A. Blakeley, M.P.) of the A.W.U., said he was not prepared to hand over the control of the unions' domestic policy to an outside body. That was what was implied if the A.W.U. linked up with the Red International. He added that he was willing to create a body in Australia such as the council ; of action to control the domestic policy of the whole of the unions in Australia; but he was not prepared to hand that power to the Red International or any other body. The late Mr Ryan attended the Second International, and even there he had to make Australia's position clear regarding the question of coloured labour. If the A.W.U. or any other organisation linked up with the Rod International they were faced with the queston of attending conferences in which they would be hopelessly outvoted by foreigners on such matters as the White Australia policy. At the last Red International Conference there were 320 delegates, and only three from Australia. What chance would thoy have of conserving their domestic policy in a conference such as that? They could not affiliate piously unless prepared to carry out the policy, and they would have to abide by the decisions arrived at. He was not prepared to do that, either with the Second or Third International.

After a lengthy and hfeated debate the convention decided to have nothing to do with the Third International Rod Trade Union, whose headquarters ar.» situated in Moscow.

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