“NOTHING SINISTER”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26631, 29 November 1947, Page 8

“NOTHING SINISTER”

INTENTIONS OF HONOLULU CONFERENCE P.A WELLINGTON, Nov. 28. • f° sinister foreign combination was intended at the .projected Honolulu conference of Pacific maritime unions, declared Mr Albert Graham, of Brisbane, and Mr Vincent McNamara, of Melbourne, two national councillors of the Australian Waterside Workers’ Federation, who are attending the biennial conference of the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union. They said their organisation would be represented at the Honolulu conference, which was no more sinister than the decision of the Australian Council of Trade Unions to establish an Eastern Bureau under the aegis of the International Transport Federation. The visitors added that any suggestion that the Honolulu conference would bring Australian and New Zea-' land unionists under the heel of Harry Bridges was nonsense. They considered the conference to be in the best interests of the workers by bringing .about closer industrial relations. “One World ’’ Idea International conferences of the kind conformed with the “one world” idea. “We certainly, do not regard the Honolulu conference as a foreign plot,” said Mr Graham. The visitors added that there was a good example in the developing cooperation between the watersiders of Australia and New Zealand. They had not heard of any intention to divide the Pacific into zones of influence industrially. On the contrary, the object in exchanging industrial views was to weld unionists together. The Australian watersiders’ support to the Indonesians had not waned, and the Australian watersiders were proud of what they had done. They expressed surprise that the film, “ Indonesia Calling,” had not been released for public exhibition in New Zealand. The visitors said their organisation was asking British trade unionists to raise with their Government the question of actions reported to have been taken against trade unionists in Malaya, and they were also approaching the World Federation of Trade Unions. \ , Attitude to Communism They were satisfied that, the Australian trade union movement, like the New Zealand Federation of Labour, would have its attitude towards the American Federation of Labour drive against Communism determined by the policy of the World Federation of Trade Unions. They regarded the Australian Federal Government’s bank nationalisation proposals as in the best interests of the people, but thought the State should go further and nationalise key industries such as steel, coal, and shipping. The Australian trade union movement was firm in its demands for adequate price control and immediate wage increases to close the gap to costs.