THIS IS NOT PEACE

Chronicle (Levin), 7 March 1947, Page 5

THIS IS NOT PEACE

Press Assn.-

Uneasy Truce In Anstralian Industry MINERS HOLD THE KEY

8v Telearavh

■Copyright

Received Thursday, 7.45 p.m. SYDNEY, Mar. 6. VVhen New South Wales miners voted that they were not at the moment prepared to"hoId industry and the common >:itizen as hostages in their battle for iniproved conditions, two governing uspects of the Australian political and industrial situation were revealed. r'irstly, the Labour Government was unable to do more than plead with the advocates of dircct action to refrain r ro m throwing out of work their fellow uniomsts in other avenues of eniployment. Secondly, the miners themselves, though faced with the erucial decision of either holding on to their gains or rislcing all in a unaniinous strike wliich would have paralysed industry, mostly refrained from exereisuig tneir right of voting themselves .n or out of work.

The weak and iuconclusive action of tlie Governments, both State and Federal,- is not remarkable in itself. Fh is sort of thing has been happening ever since militant unionists commeneed to give effect to their poliey of direet action wlien the national emergencv ot war had passed. The threat of strike was a direct attack on the Government which alreadv had iiupleaieuted a seheme to give the miners an outirely new deal. The 'miners, driven on by hotheaded leaders, brouglit J'orward a further progranluie of 19 points before the Government appointed Coal Control Board, on which they are fully represented, could have a cliance to begin operating. The result could be foretold. yieasures have been hastened tli rough Parliaments, promises have lieen inade and tlie miners have graeefuilv refrained i'rom sabotaging industry. But they niake it. clear when so doing that the matter is far from settled. This is not peace in industry but an uneasy truce. It can be te'rminated at any time-by the' miners who ha\c seen to it that neither power-houses, gas plants, railways nor large-scale undertakings have at hand niore than a few days' supply of coal. More signilicant s't'ill is the faet that of 15,000 New South Wales miners who took a day off while tlie vote on a general strike was being jiooled, tlius, causing the loss of 50,000 tons uf coal I to industries al ready at their last gasp, fewer than 3500 were sutiicieiitlv interested to record their vote. SeventyJive per cent. had nothing to sttv on whether they were prepared to return to work or let the country starve for coal. Tlie niiiitants were defeated iiy a handsoiiie majority but it is safe to assuine that if some of those ' silent thousands had destirred themselves the majority would have been much greater. Militant, Leftists were out in full strength and gould be depended upon to use every ounce of their w eight to swav the polls. Here, as in other industries throughout Australia and elsewhere, it is the apathetic majority and not the devoted minority of extremists which is responsible for industrial chaos.