FURTHER SETBACKS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 30 November 1945, Page 2

FURTHER SETBACKS

COMMUNIST-CONTROLLED UNIONS ATTEMPT TO FORCE GENERAL STRIKE CONDEMNED BY A.L.P. CONFERENCE (Rec. 12.5 p.m.) Sydney, This Day Efforts of Communist-controlled unions to force a general strike in New South Wales in support of the ironworkers in their dispute with the Broken Hill Proprietary has met with further severe setbacks. The annual conference of the Australian Labour Party in Melbourne by resolution strongly condemned the attempts being made to force a general strike. Ironworkers and other tradesmen at several of the larger Sydney engineering plants decided by overwhelming majorities to work next Tuesday, despite an order from the Ironworkers’ Union for a 24hour stoppage. Supporters of the Labour Party had won the battle of tactics at the New South Wales Trades and Labour Council by preventing a vote on a Communist-supported resolution to centralise funds to help the steelworks’ strikers. A committee representing the land and transport group of unions decided to recommend that unions should refuse to be involved in any dispute whatever unless thev were notified through the Trades and Labour Council, and were given a reasonable time to examine the merits of the dispute No action was taken by Federal executive of the Seamen’s Union to call a strike. However, the northern management board of the Miners’ Federation ordered all mineworkers on the northern field to cease work to-day. The Federal Council of the Union will meet in Sydney to-day to consider a general coal strike. The object of the Northern Miners Board in ordering a complete stoppage on the northern field is to try to force the Federal Government to intervene in the steelworkers’ strike and compel the Broken Hill Proprietary to confer with the deregistered ironworkers’ union.

The president of the New Soi.-h Wales Trades and Labour Council. Mr G. Anderson, said he favoured intervention in the steelworks strike bv Mr Chifley. y