DIRECT ACTION

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 February 1947, Page 7

DIRECT ACTION

AUSTRALTANWATERFRONT STATEMENT BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SEVERAL ISSUES INVOLVED (Rec. 11 a.m.) SYDNEY, Feb. 5. The Federal Government has intervened in the watersiders’ dispute, which threatens to tie up shipping in all Australian ports. The Minister of Supply and Shipping, Senator Ashley, said that the Government had decided to refer the matter to the Federal Arbitration Court. Workers Suspended. The waters’iders who refused to accept work on the 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift yesterday have now been suspended in most Australian ports. In some of the larger ports, including Sydney, the unions have instructed the men to refuse work to-day unless those suspended are reinstated. Senator Ashley said that he could see no justification for a stoppage of work in the issue. The matter was one in which there was no necessity for strong and immediate action or hasty settlement. The Federal Council of the Waterside Workers’ Federation has reaffirmed its decision that the men will work only between 8 a.m. and 5 P*RL until they are granted two weeks annual holiday at £B/15/- a week and 16/- appearance money for those who attend the pick-ups but fail to Ashley said that as holidays could not be granted until July 1, there was no need for direct action. Shipping Tied Up. The watersiders in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Fremantle, and Newcastle have all taken action and to-day the suspensions and refusal of work will cause shipping to be tied up at all these ports. Eight hundred watersiders are a present, affected in Sydney, 400 in Melbourne, 1000 in Newcastle and 472 in Brisbane. The numbers will be quadrupled to-day. The employers say that the’ wate siders did not communicate to them their decision to ban overtime, ine only information the employers have is contained in the press reports.

SYDNEY DOCKYARD WORKERS STILL IDLE (Rec. 2 p.m.) "SYDNEY, Feb. 5 Despite the fact that a mass meeting of dockyards employees overwhelmingly decided to return to work, ratification of the recommendation for a resumption of work at the Sydney dockyards has been deferred by the disputes committee ot the Trades and Labour Council. This decision was reached by nine votes to Se The workers’ decision will next come up'for ratification on Tuesday, but meanwhile, 63 ship-repairing firms and 8000 men will remain idle.