Unrest In Britain- State Undertakings Disrupted By Strikes

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 June 1949, Page 5

Unrest In BritainState Undertakings Disrupted By Strikes

LONDON, June 2 (Rec 11 a.m.).—The wave of industrial unrest sweeping the country threatened Britons tonight with the most troubled holiday week-end since the Labour Government came into power in 1945. Top-level officials of the Government, railways and trade unions sweated over plans to keep the nation’s rail network running, in spite of the vows of locomotive crews to continue their “token” strikes for the third successive Sunday. The prospects of jammed railway stations, abandoned journeys and cancelled excursions loomed before millions of Whitsun holi-day-makers.

Another black cloud in the holiday skies was the continuation of the dispute which has brought 8000 dockers out on strike and crippled the west coast ports of Bristol, Avonmouth and Liverpool. Trouble came also to the coalfields with a strike of 2000 miners at Blaenavon, Wales. Gravely-perturbed Government and Labour Party leaders have prepared to leave for Blackpool, where next week the party’s annual conference will try to diagnose the causes of this new industrial rash. Strikes hit hard at Government prestige, particularly since the railways, docks and coal are now nationalised undertakings, and the fact that all the strikers are unofficial is a blow to the authority of the giant Trade Union Congress. J Side by side with the Sunday strike threat is the “go slow” movement disorganising traffic at some of Britain’s most important rail freight yards, which shows no sign of abating. The men are using this method to press

their demand for an all-round 10s a week increase for all railwaymen. The Minister of Labour, Mr George Isaacs, told Parliament today that he is hopeful of a settlement of the docks’ dispute. The Seafarers’ International Union of the American Federation of Labour today ordered a boycott of 56 Canadian-owned ships which are alleged to have Communist-dominat-ed crews. A union spokesman said that the ships would not be unloaded in an American.port.