Australian union men held after strike talk

Press, 15 June 1979, Page 5

Australian union men held after strike talk

NZPA Sydney About 10,000 Australian coal miners will next week join the strike called to protest against the police prosecution of two union men who addressed a strike meeting in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. Australia’s largest union, the Amalgamated Metal Workers’ and Shipwrights’ Union, will call its 140,000 members out on a national stoppage next Thursday unless the West Australian police withdraw the charges. About 30,000 New South Wales building trades workers will hold stop-work meetings on Thursday, while the Seamens’ Union said it would boycott West Australian shipping for 48 hours from Tuesday. The men who were prosecuted are Laurie Carmichael, assistant national secretary of the Amalgamated Metal Workers’ and Shipwrights’ Union and Jack Marks, the union's assistant state secretary. They appeared in a Perth court on Tuesday charged with addressing an assembly in a public place without prior permission of the police commissioner, and were remanded on bail until June 21. They were charged again when they addressed a crowd outside the court after their first appearance. Under state law, permission is needed to address three or more people. The two officials spoke to some 50 workers of a company working in the Pilbara region of the mineral-rich northern part of Western Australia who have been on strike since May 24 for more pay.