HANDLING OF SHIPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25964, 3 October 1945, Page 5

HANDLING OF SHIPS

AUSTRALIAN DISPUTES SEAMEN ARRESTED (Rec. 10.45 p.m.) SYDNEY, Oct. 2. The -police in Melbourne to-day arrested 61 Indonesian seamen and 14 Australian seamen olf ships held up through strikes. Australians off the Kooyong were arrested for refusing to take the ship to sea. Indonesians from the Dutch ship Merak had refused to work because of their sympathies with the Indonesian Republican movement. Two other ships, the Barwon and Nairana, are idle. Six seamen from the Barwon were charged in the Collingwood Police Court yesterday with refusing to take the ship to sea. The charges were withdrawn on condition that the men took the ship to sea. The men agreed, but the rest of the crew refused to take the ship to sea until the chief steward was removed. The 61 Indonesians were arrested at a hostel and were charged with desertion. The dispute in Sydney concerning the handling of Dutch ships has apparently reached a deadlock. This is indicated in a statement to-day by the Sydney branch president of the Waterside Workers’ Federation, Mr T. Nelson, who said: “It must be obvious now that we are not going to work these ships, so the Government should take steps to utilise them for some useful purpose, particularly as the need for shipping is so urgent.” In Brisbane, girls employed at the Trades Hall have threatened to strike unless the striking Indonesians now camped there leave the building. The Indonesians have been living in the Trades Hall since they refused to work on the Dutch ships a week ago, and the girls said it was unpleasant having Indonesians camped in the same building, and they claimed that the Indonesians are bringing women into the building.