TALKS BREAK DOWN

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24743, 7 December 1945, Page 5

TALKS BREAK DOWN

Unionists Meet Chiflejr

PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT ■ '.- 7 .'/ Deceit -',.',; The conference in Canberra be»~ tween the Prime Minister of Auitrial (Mr J. B. Chffley) and union ; . delegates, -which, ww"called to : v settle the steel .and ooal strikes* broke down late la4t;Jßijht. " Mr Chifley T announced that/ con- :'- - sideratibn of the strikes bad been deferred. He added that the union delegates who had attended -the Canberra.. discussion would meet - ; the full", executive of the Australasian Council of• Trade Unions In.'"■-= - Sydney"tp^^rrow.v;^v.^.- : ; v^.,^L .; r .' v . • The fight betweenVthe Communists : andthe Australian Labour Partycame to a sudden head at .the conferenceThis was manifested in the decision; of the emergency committee' of- the: Australasian ; Council of Trade Unions' to" exclude the Federal secretary of *he Seamen's Union {Mr A. Elliott) Sixain the union delegation. -Mr-ChifleyKtobk no part in this decision.- ''-'.•■• I ; v. - --..' . Mr Chifiey is helieved, to have in-, sisfed at the conference that the Courts must settle the strikes. Cbnflict-oh this demand is believed to have caused the breakdown. : .- '. .... ;:.:.-;' ..:■_ •■;■•.;■-; :- ; Mr, Chifiey refused to yield to'pressure that heshould instruct the Broken Hill proprietary to negotiate with thederegistered Ironworkers' Association to settle the seniority dispute at Newcastle and the dispute over who was dismissed at tile Australian Iron and Steel works at Port Kembla. The following settlement proposals were placed before Mr Chifiey: ■" "(IX That the Federal Government should convene, an immediate conference, between the Broken Hill (Proprietary and the Ironworkers' Association, on condition that -the ironworkers seek re-registration Iwxth . the New South Wales Industrial Commission." (Mr '■■ Chifiey . declined-: to dis* cuss this, - He said that it was a matter between the Court and the union.) "(2) That the New-South Wales Government should take the dispute out ?L th £J?! inds of Mr Justice Cantor." (Mr Chifiey refused this.-saying that he would not interfere with . the operations of the Government of; the. State or the authorities it had aDpointed.) •■ . ■•. ..:,"■ .*»*

(3) That all disputes tgiould be brought' under, the Federal Arbitration Court." (Mr Chifley said that this was possible, as State awards covered all the disputes except thafof the Seamen's Union.) ..JPI? Can berra correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald" l says that in the presence of the Prime Minister there were repeated and bitter exchanges between the anti-Communists led by Mr P, J. Clarey and .the.Communist officials of . the Ironworkers' Union and the Miners' Federation. tt _ condemned the tactics of the Communists and said that - the strikes threatened the whole Labour and industrial movement. «" Mr "Chifley is understood to have. endorsed that view. • ••-"

It was jtated that, after the conference, officials of- the Communist SSISE. 8 * causing that the Communist Party s future as a force in the trade union, movement was -at stake, were extremely anxious- to achieve some formula which would enable them to save face with their members, 'the real testing ground for the Australian LaEour Party versus Communist fight tK?fsn i n s y dnev to-morrow, when ass iss^... COAL EXPORTS FEOM_N.S.W. POSSIBILITY OF REDUCTION (Jtec. 10 p.m.) SYDNEY, Dec 6. nJ^M 5 4 tr j kes u by m New Sduth Wales have resulted in a il^r m i^ a V 0 "i. by Vict «ria and South i£ '?. becom e self-sufficient in coal. The Commonwealth Coal Commissioner (Mr N. Mighell). said that this would cause a loss of 1,500,000 tons a year m the New South Wales coal export trade, and would result In hundreds of New South Wales miners losing their jobs., Mr Mighell added that there was S? 1 * 1 !?,* f"? htes t doubt in the world that Victoria could secure from her brown coal deposits all the fuel she needed for her own industries. South Australia was just as keen to be rid of dependence on the New bouth Wales coalminers, and was planrung to produce all her local coal needs from the field at Leigh creek.