DEMAND FOR TROOPS TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM N.S.W. MINES

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 August 1949, Page 6

DEMAND FOR TROOPS TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM N.S.W. MINES

SYDNEY, August 22. —A hitch in the multiple shift working of opencut coal mines in New South Wales may result from new demands by the Federated Engine-drivers’ and Firemen’s Association, members of which are key men in open-cut working. The association has decided that the continued employment of its members on open-cut operations will depend on the immediate withdrawal of the troops now being used to develop new open-cut sites. The association is also demanding a wage increase of 25 per cent, for evening and night shifts, and a new award to cover the new conditions of work under the multiple shift system. Members of the association are expected to remain at work pending the outcome of a conference on their new claims. “The rejection by the miners themselves of the plans ol their 'Communist leaders is a welcome sign of good sense among the rank and file of Australian labour,” says the London Economist, “It is difficult to say to what extent this is due to the uncompromising stand of the Federal Government, or whether it was brought about by the overwhelming opposition of the Australian public as a whole. ‘The strike was irresponsible from the start, and there was never any justification for throwing several hundred thousand other workers out of work as well. But if a repetition of the strike is to be avoided, the Federal Government would do well to overhaul the legislation controlling trade union ballots, and so eliminate gerrymandering, at which the Communists excel. . ■

‘The link between Communism in Australia and the’ strategy of world Communism was emphasised in an article in the Cominform journal of August 1. Written by Mr R. Dixon, chairman of the Australian Communist Party, the article reveals that the strike was deliberately promoted in order to weaken the Australian economy at the time of crisis, and in order to prevent ‘preparations-for war.’ “The article clashes oddly with the humble pie which five Communist officials of the Miners’ Federation are now eating in an attempt to secure their early release from prison, where they were sent for contempt of Court.”