CARGO ACCUMULATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 February 1947, Page 5

CARGO ACCUMULATION

GRAVE EFFECTS OF WHARF • ■ DISPUTE AUSTRALIAN CONCERN (Rec. 12.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, Feb. 8. About 500,000 tons of cargo is held up on wharves throughout Australia and this bank-up will quickly increase unless the watersiders lift their ban on night work, said a high Commonwealth official. Because of the hold-up of coke, steel and crude ores, the heavy industries would slow down and many men would lose their jobs., he added. The official said the cargo held up included about 160,000 tons of sugar, 50,000 tons of timber and building materials, 100,000 tons of wheat in Western Australia, and a large quantity of potatoes and other perishable goods.” “Even when .the waterfront worked 24 hours a day there was a permanent accumulation of nearly 200,000 tons of cargo which the men could not handle. The shipping industry is unable to carry on if the watersiders work only eight hours a day.” The official continued that the dispute will result in the Federal Government suffering a heavy financial loss. It owns 20 ships and has chartered about 90 Australian-owned and 15 British-owned ships. These ships are being forced to stay in port twice the normal time for loading and unloading. Since Tuesday, the Stevedoring Industry Commission has suspended about 2000 watersiders in Sydney for refusing night work. The president of the Sydney branch of the Waterside Workers’ Federation, Mr W. Coughlan, said that, in spite of the suspensions, the men who had not been suspended would continue to offer and accept day work. They would not work after 5 p.m. “The watersiders have no intention of extending the waterfront strike,” said Mr. J. Healy, Federal secretary of the Waterside Workers’ Federation. He explained that the union action in banning night work on the wharves was more a protest than a strike. The purpose was to force satisfaction of a four-year-old claim for two weeks’ paid holiday a year. In Sydney to-day men were suspended when they refused- calls for night labour after requirements for day labour had been filled. Mr. Healy denied a report that he said the federation would attend the Arbitration Court hearing in Sydney on Monday of the dispute, but would not adhere to the court’s decision. He said the union contended that the Stevedoring Industry Commission, not the Court, was the proper authority to deal with the dispute. In Sydney to-day 13 inter-State and 31 overseas vessels were worked by day gangs, and more than 700 men were suspended for refusing night work.

DOCKYARDS RESUMPTION TO BE HELD UP

(Rec. 12 noon) SYDNEY, Feb. 8. The Federated Enginedrivers’ and Firemen’s Association members employed at Morts Dock decided not to return to work until their full claims are granted. • The men are claiming a £1 wage increase, a 40-hour-week, payment for statutory holidays and full compensation payments for members of the association allegedly locked out by Morts Dock. . The action of the enginedrivers and firemen is expected to hold up a resumption of work in 62 idle Sydney dockyards. Last Monday a mass meeting of men involved in the dispute decided to return to work.