N.S.W. TIMBER STRIKE

Taranaki Daily News, 25 July 1929, Page 14

N.S.W. TIMBER STRIKE

WHO IS WINNING?

POSITION A MYSTERY.

AUSTRALIA’S RECORD STRIKE.

Sydney, July 18.

Who is winning the timber strike in New South Wales—the men or the employers? No one can tell, and the leaders on both sides apparently intend that the mystery shall remain. All along there have been boasts from the employers and from the men that they will not give way, and so when work is resumed at any of the yards the terms under which it is arranged are kept a dark secret. The position is an extraordinary one, but quite in keeping with the extraordinary nature of the strike, which has now run for six months.

This week another big Sydney yard recommenced Operations, and while a claim is made in statements issued on behalf of the management that the Lukin award, the cause of the whole trouble, has been accepted by the men, union leaders declare that the terms are satisfactory, and that the men have made no sacrifices in resuming duty. The firm concerned was a member of the Timber Merchants’ Association, and union leaders anticipate that settlements will be made this week with several other members of the association. On the settlements so far reached the association has maintained a silence, and it seems impossible to obtain a reliable account of the negotiations that have been successful in several instances.

Work is proceeding smoothly in Melbourne under the agreement arrived at there some weeks ago—a compromise about which there was no secret. Each side made sacrifices, but the disputants in Sydney are not of the same ilk. Perhaps it is because the striking workers are receiving such splendid financial support from other unions. One of the strike directors in Sydney announced publicly the other day that the strikers were as well off to-day as ever they were. Aloney was rolling in, and the measure of relief almost equalled the pay the men received when they had to work for their living. This seems to be an exaggeration, for it has been shown that if the men had been at work they would have received a total of £310,500. However, it is known that every 'striker in' Sydney has received more than £2 a week ever since the fight began, as well as certain supplies for the household. In addition, all the strikers have declined to pay rent.

MR. GARDEN’S FIERY UTTERANCES

It was in connection with the timber strike that the notorious Mr. J. Garden, secretary - of the Sydney Trades Hall, made a speech which has maintained his reputation for fiery utterances. It is remarkable how this man contrives to keep within the law. “We are not going to yield,” he said at Newcastle, the other day. “We are not worried. Those who are worried are the police, and those fellows who have sore heads, and the bosses. We have got the bosses where we want them.” Referring to the operation of the so-called “basher” gang, those gangs of strikers or their agents who have been assaulting and otherwise intimidating volunteer workers, lie was asked whether he would repudiate those men who were serving terms ot imprisonment for assaults. His answer was, No. Their methods were not his methods, but they were getting results. The volunteer workers should be asked whether those men were getting results. He called them men, and he wished he had the courage they had. He raised his hat to them. Only ten men out of approximately 2300 had scabbed. Butchers were giving full supplies of free meat. Bakers were giving more bread than was needed. Time payment firms were keeping their promise not to ask timber workers for a further payment on goods already supplied until the strike was over. The majority of the landlords had not pressed for rent. Some 27 had put in the bailiffs, but the furniture distrained had been bought back in each case for between £3 and £6, and the landlords had been diddled out of rent up to £3O. Sir. Garden said that in Melbourne he had, told the men when they were out on strike that if they were hungry there was nothing to stop them from going into a restaurant and eating their fill. It would be the restaurant-keepers’ worry. What happened afterwards, he inquired, and he answered his question by saying that in a little time one restaurant-keeper alone offered 300 free meals a day.

And so, with all these extraordinary happenings, the timber strike must be regarded as an extraordinary one. In many ways it is typically Australian.The same sort of things would happen in no other part of the world. In no other country would a Government prove so futile and helpless.