WATERFRONT HOLD-UP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26628, 26 November 1947, Page 5

WATERFRONT HOLD-UP

WOOL LOADING AFFECTED SYDNEY TALLY CLERKS’ ACTION Rec. 8 p.m. SYDNEY, Nov. 25. A complete ban on the transhipment of wool from Sydney has been imposed by tally clerks, and will operate from to-day until Sydney firms agree to employ 100 per cent, union staffs. At present 800 tally clerks are affected. “The Federal Executive of the union is supporting the clerks, and is prepared to extend the dispute to other ports on Friday morning if it has not been settled. Over 60.000 bales of wool are immediately affected by the refusal of the tally clerks to handle wool. Their action will hold up the despatch to the wharves of 8000 more bales now being dumped for stowing in five ships which were expected to start loading later in the week. The clerks who refused to tally wool to-day were immediately given other work, apd the watersiders were shifted to general cargo. The brokers say that the wool sales will have to be suspended if the dispute continues, as all wool is sold subject to shipment being guaranteed. In the meantime the watersiders have refused to load certain cargo into the freighter Hindustan, claiming that its ultimate destination would be the Netherlands East Indies. The vessel has been laid up in Sydney since Friday, but the agents announced that she will sail next Friday, leaving the banned cargo behind. The assistant general secretary of the Waterside Workers’ Federation, Mr E. Roach, said that the vessel was to have loaded 2300 tons of general cargo from Dutch stores in Sydney. After about 200 tons had been loaded, watersiders - noticed that the port marks of Sourabya and Batavia had been blacked out and Hongkong marks substituted.