N.S.W. INDUSTRY RESUMES

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24768, 8 January 1946, Page 5

N.S.W. INDUSTRY RESUMES

Nearly 500,000 Go Back To Work

RETURN TO NORMAL TRADING

(t .Z Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, January 7. Nearly 500,000 persons went back to work to-day when the wheels of New South Wales industry began turning after more than one month’s enforced idleness. For 50,000 others there will be no work for several weeks because their firms cannot reabsorb them until production is in full swing. About 7000 of the 13,000 striking steel workers resumed this morning, and the remainder will be absorbed as ,the mills recommence production in the next 10 days. Hardest hit by the hold-up is the metal trade, in which, it is officially estimated, 10,000 effiployees cannot be re-employed for some weeks because of the shortage of steel stocks. Seriously affected by lack of basic steel supplies are refrigerator, motor body, and tinware works. Arrears of work in clothing, textile, and boot factories, and the like will take months to overtake. Food manufacturing industries started to-day on full production basis and all city stores resumed normal trading hours. Suburban electric train services are again running to normal time-tables. The only industrial black spots now are at Port Kembla and Newcastle, where 900 employees of Lysaght’s Proprietary, Ltd., have refused to resume duty because of a dispute with the management over the terms of resumption. These steel workers have been instructed by their union leaders not to report for work at the plants of Lysaght’s because the management had decided to engage them as new employees. Union leaders said this would mean that the men would lose their long service privileges. “The dispute on the Greek ore ship Theofano Livanos, which threatened to hold up unloading at the Broken Hill Proprietary’s works at Newcastle, is expected, to be settled later to-day,” said the Minister of Supply and Shipping (Senator W. P. Ashley). The Greek steamer is one of 12 vessels in Newcastle harbour with cargoes totalling about 90,000 tons of iron ore for the Broken Hill Proprietary’s works. The other vessels cannot discharge their cargoes until the Greek steamer is moved from her berth.