AUSTRALIAN DEBACLE

Hokitika Guardian, 17 November 1928, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN DEBACLE

“SACRIFICE FOR POLITICAL REASONS.”

SYDNEY, Oct. 25. It seems dear from recent Australian that the strike is no longer an effective industrial weapon. ;lhst three .years .it has been tried by the' most militant of the unions, nnd on’ each occasion it has failed. Apd not only-has it failed in its immediate object but it has failed to arouse any fear in . the community or. :amongst - the’ employers. Employers hpb faced, each strike with a confidence that' must have aggravated the leaders. of the strike—a confidence that ;has, not been misplaced. The Australian public has lately shown little sympathy for strikes, and without that ayrripathy .strikes can never succeed. “ It was a hopeless fight which the watersides, commenced . seven weeks ago, and, as was anticipated in all circles, including Labour circles, it ended in a debacle, with nothing but debits on the ledger of the strikers. As a result of it the watersiders have lost more than £IOO,OOO in wages, their conditions are more than ever subject to the whims and dictations of the ship owners, and many of them have had to give way to the licensed volunteers and seek in some other industry, already overcrowded. They have made Labour’s political campaigning harder than ever, and goodness only huows it was hard enough, jn the Federal arena. Leaders of the Federal Labour Party are disgusted with the industrialists, and the Prime Minister. (Mr Bruce) has been quick to make political capital out of the disunity. When the Premier of Victoria (Mr Hogan), in an amazing outburst, blamed the Communists, who, he said were dominating the Labour movement, Mr Bruce made an effective reply. “I told the people of Australia this ever since the strike began,” said Mr Bruce. ‘‘Spely things have come tq a deplorable< pass in Australia >yhen a Labour Premier has to throw up his hands and say fhat lie is powerless because Communists dominated the Labour movement. Jfr Garden hap boasted of that control' both in Mopcow and since his return !to Austral-1 ia. It has been customary for Labour members to deny it. Mr Hogan, I however, at' last admitted it. If I these men wield such tremendous poW-1 er in Australian Labour circles, and I wield it in the /qoe of the oppoSi-1 tion of their parliamentary leaders, I such , as Mr Hogan/ what stand should 1 this country take? While Laboiirl tolerates them it should be debarred 1 from holding office in this country.”! The last sections of the watersiders I to capitulate were the stevedores in I Melbourne .and the wharf labourers in I Brisbane. Last Thursday there floated I over the office of the Port Phillip I Stevedores’ Union a red flag inserib-1 ed “No Surrender.”. Oh Saturday it I was unceremoniously hauled down and I in its place was hoisted a tattered I white flag, the flag of surrender. The I decision was reached at one of the I largest meetings ever held by the un-J ion. The men were told by the sec-1 retary of the Seamen’s Union that I the seamen could no longer support I the strike as the Waterside Federa-1 tion itself was not united. And so it was that the stevedores decided to I return to work—sacrificed, so they I said, to the demands of the political I section. But they wore not prepared I to make that sacrifice until their case I was hopeless. The New South Wales I Labour Council, led by Mr Garden, is I the most disgusted at the turn of I events, and blames the Management I Committee of the Waterside Workers’ I Federation for mishandling the posi- 1 tion. It considers that the majority-! of the members of the movement were I “butchered’- by mismapagment which I resulted in nothing, but • chaos and I confusion, ‘and brought discredit on I the Labour- movement as a .whole. j The complete victory of the employ-1 era is perhaps best illustrated by the I following Statement which was issued I by the ships owners’ representatives at I Brisbane, after.. the Brisbane men had I decided to return to work:—“lt is J rumoured that at • a mass meeting of I the Brisbane ‘branch* of - the waterside] workers, at which meeting it was Qe- I cided to take out licenses and return I to work, it was stated by one of the I officials of the branch that ship own- I ere proposed to weed out a number of I the volunteer workers and enroll in their place members of the Waterside 1 Workers’ Federation; further, that I there would be employment for 1000 members of the union. This state-1 ment is entirely incorrect. The ship} owners, as stated on numerous occas-1 ions, will give preference to the men J who volunteered for work on the wat-1 erfront, and as there are sufficient j volunteers enrolled to carry on the J work no enrolments of additional men. J whether members of the Waterside J Workers’ Federation or not, will be made.” I Although, officially,. the strike has! ended, there is evidence of great bos- j tility towards the volunteers. The) men who went on strike are confident I that very soon they will return to the I position they formerly occupied on i the waterfront, and it is feared that/ they might practice some form of yic. I timisation. I