SYDNEY POWER STRIKE

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 60, 8 September 1945, Page 8

SYDNEY POWER STRIKE

MEN TOLD TO GO BACK

SYDNEY, September 7. A complete black-out of nearly all Sydney suburbs, including the main industrial areas employing thousands of factory workers, occurred this morning. The areas were generally without supply for an hour. So serious has the position become that the County Council is sending out an SOS over the national radio stations appealing to all consumers to exercise the utmost economy. A spokesman for the Sydney County Council said: "We are in a bad spot. The need for maximum economy has now. become absolutely vital." Union leaders told the New South Wales Labour Council that the Bunnerong dispute held the elements of another 1917 strike. No graver situation had occurred for years, and 100,000 unionists might be thrown out of work. [The 1917 strike started with a strike at the Randwick railway workshops and spread throughout the railways into a general strike involving hundreds of thousands of workers in New South Wales and other States.] The Labour Council endorsed the attitude of the Labour leaders and directed the men to accept the advice of their unions and resume work. It directed that negotiations should continue. Meanwhile, there will be no rationing .before Monday, when the position will again be reviewed by the State Government.