STRIKES DENOUNCED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26437, 16 April 1947, Page 5

STRIKES DENOUNCED

COMMUNIST’S VOLTE-FACE WEAKNESSES DISCOVERED SYDNEY, Apl. 15. Too much reliance had been placed on the strike weapon, and some recent strikes had dragged on too long, said Mr E. Thornton, Communist national secretary of the Iron Workers’ Union. - He declared that job sniping and go-slow tactics by the iron workers were no longer useful, and that the union must lay more emphasis on wider methods for winning its demands. The Victorian metal trades’ dispute and the Imperial Chemical Industries and Austral Bronze strikes in Sydney had lasted too long. Mr Thornton, who was addressing the annual convention of the iron workers, said that the tactics by members in resigning their jobs when refused large concessions had achieved some results, but they were over-played. They then tried restricting output, but this did not last long. In recent strikes the weakness of these tactics was revealed when the majority of strikers obtained jobs elsewhere. The Sydney and Victorian strikes, together with the metal disputes in South Australia and Queensland, had imposed a heavy strain on the loyalty of members. All workers were disgusted with the Federal and State Governments because of wages, prices and taxation policy. This would eventually lead to a swing to the Right. “Mr Thornton has performed another difficult Communist somersault,” commented,the secretary of the New South Wales "Trades and Labour Council, Mr R. King, M.L.C. “The Communist Party had introduced the strike technique of mass resignations. At the time Labour Party supporters pointed out that only chaos would result from strikers taking other jobs and leaving disputes in the air.” In Melbourne the Premier, Mr J. Gain, said that Mr Thornton had “ seen the light at last. Apparently even the Communist leaders are beginning to recognise the futility of a policy of forcing their members out on strike for long periods.”