INDUSTRIAL GROUP’S PUNS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26199, 9 July 1946, Page 5

INDUSTRIAL GROUP’S PUNS

Breaking Communist Control

(Rec. 10 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 7. The first major attempt in the plan by the Australian Labour Party’s industrial group to gain control of the six Communist-dominated unions will be made this week. The unions are the Miners’ Federation, the Road Transport Workers’, the Ironworkers’, the Sheet Metal Workers’, and the Seamen’s and the Waterside Workers’ Unions. The group is backing the Labour ticket against the Communists. A bitter fight is expected on Wednesday in the waterside workers’ annual ballot.

While a new move is being made to-day to get more coal for Bunnerong and the railways, New South Wales had the greatest loss for any working day this year—l6,97o tons. A conference is considering rearranging allocations in order to provide more coal for the railways so as to restore the crippling transport cuts. No additional restrictions are likely to be made this week by the Minister for Local Government, Mr J. J. Cahill, as no application has been made by any major power authority. Four south coast mines are still idle because of the men’s attitude.on the dust issue.

A strike ballot of members of the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Engineers will be taken throughout Queensland to determine whether the men should take action to obtain a refund of the fines imposed by the Government for refusal to handle “black” bacon and meat.

The union has decided to impose a ban on the colliery which has resumed work and to reimpose the “ black ” ban on the products of free labour. The colliery concerned, Roughrigg, has re-commenced work with 80 per cent, of the employees after a refusal by the men to support the strike decision. It has been agreed that if the meat workers return to work both the miners and the waterside workers will call their strikes off. The strikers are considering to-day the Government’s order that work must be resumed on Friday.