AFTER FIVE MONTHS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 4

AFTER FIVE MONTHS.

♦— TIMBER STRIKE SETTLEMENT. SYDNEY NOT INCLUDED. (noK ova oww coassaPOHDurr.) SYDNEY, June 27. The settlement of the timber strike reached in Melbourne on Saturday last does not, for some reason or other, apply to Sydney, although when the strike was commenced five montua ago, .Sydney and Melbourne unions were united. The Melbourne settlement was a tribute to Sir Robert Gibson, who presided at the conference, and who very nearly collapsed when be had brought about a settlement. Both parties united in singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and perhapß it waa this demonstration, which was the essence of sincerity, which affected him. At any rate, he was not in a position to make an official statement for some time after, and he needed medical attention. Ho had achieved what seemed to be the impossible. Both parties had expressed a determination not to give way an inch, and yet he brought abcut a compromise which was accepted by the whole of the employers and the men. No sooner had the Melbourne settlement been announced than the Sydney employers rushed into print, with a half page advertisement in all the papers, announcing, in effect, that such a settlement would not be acceptable to them They would have nothing to do with a compromise, and they »eem to be disappointed that Melbourne had been led into one. However, Melbourne employers had evidently been tmprea c ed with the idea that there should be some measure of give and take, and so they ended one of the most remarkable strikes on record in Australia's sad history of industrial disturbances. It affected nearly 15.000 men. and the amount of money distributed as strike relief amounted to more than £ls 000 —a remarkable tribute to oomradeahip of the workers The Week's Work. Since Judge Lukin delivered award in the Federal Arbitration Of* ft the Melbourne employers hare in»ia'«4 upon a working week of 48 hoars, in accordance with the provisions of that -ward. This has been preserved, in spite_ of union objections. A meeting of 2-jOO member* of the Timber Workers Union, the Cprpenters' aod Join?r*' tnion. and the Drivers' Union, passed a resolution reaffirming the 44-honr week, but agreeing to return to work U - j" terms of the settlement arrived at by the Gibson conference, •he terms provide for a 48-hour week, with the provision that one-half dav'a ® week of each man shall be banked in a suspense account for six Tn the meantime an enau<r? t u ■ ' nto pos'tion pf the timber industry and if it i» -(TV 1 industry can «t*nd * 1-4-hour week, the employees will receive thi* amount, and if not. the monev will revert to the emnlovert it would that in keeping ns *nre of the tb* terms of the seHlpmnrtf „ rp remarkable. Position In Sydney. Of course all the points in dispute were not settled at the conference, but further negotiations trill continue as soon as nil the men have returned to work. Both sides have been complimented on their display of commonsense in reaching a settlement, ertn thoiieh that settlement wm somewhat belated. It i 8 f e ] t that the strike In

Sydney could also be settled if the employers would not insist upon a general resumption of work before anytntng in the nature of a conference ls even spoken of. The strikers are prepared to meet in e inference at any time, and they have even hinted that they will W prepared to oon&ider a compromise, but in this attitude they hare received no encouragement from the employer*. It certainly seems remarkable th*t a strike »hould continue in Sydney for five months and nobody make a single move to settle it. Several municipal councils, in desperation no doubt, appealed to the Governor to intervene. Of course, the powers of the Governor in such a matter are strictly limited, and he cannot act independently of his advisers, namely, the Government. He announced that he waa willing to act, however, if he were approached by both sides to the dispute.