“EXTENSION OF COLD WAR”

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26357, 27 February 1951, Page 6

“EXTENSION OF COLD WAR”

Minister Condemns Watersiders

DECISIVE ACTION PROMISED (New Zealand Press Association) . _ WELLINGTON, February 26. This strike is an extension of the cold war to New Zealand,” said the. Minister of Labour (Mr W. Sullivan) to-day. “The movement of food to Britain is of the utmost strategic importance. and the Government, although it is anxious to support legitimate unionism, will show no mercy to those who use New Zealand trade unionism to sabotage and imperil the security of this country and the free-dom-loving world. “The present dispute—as were others of the immediate past—is part of a Communist plan. How can it ever be suggested or imagined that a responsible Government could surrender to or temporise with groups which openly acknowledge their disregard for our law and our way of life? Agreements became scraps of paper and promises become mere stalling points in a pattern of rolling disputes and stoppages. Meanwhile, the wrecking and the sabotaging goes on. It must be cleaned up. and decent trade unionists and our people generally given 'a chance to meet the Government or employers on the British ground of conciliation and arbitration. “The Government’s patience with the Waterside Workers’ Union is exhausted. and it is now compelled to take decisive action.” said the Minister. “I regret that this has become necessary, since the Government has always been very 1 patient in dealing with watersiders’ claims and it has at no time taken precipitate action while the door remained open for a reasonable solution. “When people not only break the law but defy it, the time for negotiation has passed. That situation has been reached on the waterfront. “It is vital to all workers’ organisations in New Zealand to realise the real cleavage on principle in the present dispute on the waterfront. Can we tolerate law-breaking by an organisation dominated by Communist International instructions, or- do we stand firm in our belief m genuine differences of opinions under our democratic way of life? Everyone should know that the waterside workers' organisation has refused to join the brotherhood of free trade unions throughout the world m order >o affiliate with the Communist-domina-ted World Federation of Trade Unions, and for that action should, be ostracised by all free trade union organiSa is that the policy of the Waterside Workers’ Union is undeniably the policy of the Comrnunlstcontrolled W.F.T.U, to which it is affiliated. World trade unionism is divide! into two great camps, the free trade unions and those who are affiliated to and follow the directions of the wholly Communist-con trolled W.F.T.U. “The leadership of the watersiders has led its members up this Commform garden path. Following out its policy has very little to do with local industrial or economic welfare, but in reality everything to do with international' Communist politics. Local troubles which could be settled in negotiation under the law are simply the ladder used by those whose task once inside the house is to wreck it.

I.T.W.F. Resolution Recalled “Ever since the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union became a member of the Seamen’s and Dockers' International of the W.F.T.U. it has consistently followed the policy that its membership implies and demands. Let me remind the trade unionists of New Zealand that last July the congress of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, deliberating on the suspension of the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union by its executive committee, called on 'the non-Communist members of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Union to get together and act to eliminate the Soviet agents from their organisation’.” The Minister then made his reference to the strike being an extension of the cold, war to New Zealand. Mr Sullivan added: “I believe that from one end of New Zealand to the other all working people are as fed up as the Government is with a fruitless search for Industrial peace on the waterfront with leaders whose record is one of consistently broken promises and conformity with the Communist W.F.T.U. line. If that is to go on, let us make it quite clear that the Government is prepared to make a real stand in the interests of the vast majority of our people. The country must not be held up to ransom, nor must our folk in Britain go hungry. “The Government does understand the difference between honest trade unionists and those people who insidiously undermine the trade union movement. I am fully convinced that the great majority of men who work on the waterfront are just and lawabiding citizens, anxious and willing to play the game, but in their present leadership they have no voice. “No one section will be allowed to follow law-breaking tactics. No leaders can get away with it by using their key positions to strangle the country’s life. Man to man, we will meet any genuine group in search of ways and means of bettering our standards of living, but the brow-beating, Commun-ist-serving agitator will be crushed."

WOOL SALES MAY BE DELAYED

AUCKLAND AND WANGANUI (New Zealana Press Asso<tarton> WELLINGTON, February 26. Shipping dislocation as a result of the waterfront strike may force a postponement of the third Auckland wool sale next Monday, and of the Wanganui sale on March 9. The Woolbuyers’ Association is considering its course of action, which is expected almost certainly to involve*sales postponements, and an announcement will be made to-morrow or on Wednesday. More than two-thirds of the wool sold at last month's Auckland sale is still in stores, and the shins which will lift the bulk of the consignments, the Daghestan and the Trevanion, are still empty at anchorages. Stores are heavily congested with wool from last month's sale, with about 29,000 bales sent forward for next Monday’s sales, and stocks for the April sale. Because buyers cannot get delivery, prompt date for the last Wellington wool sale, which was tentatively fixed for to-morrow, has been extended indefinitely. In other words, payment to farmers has been held up.