PARALYSING STRIKE BARRAGE

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5302, 15 January 1947, Page 5

PARALYSING STRIKE BARRAGE

(Press Assv .-

AUSTRALIAN REVOLT signs of bitter political strife

—Rec. 11.30 p.m.)

SYDNEY, Jan. 14. The barrage of strikes ' and threats of direct action, under which Australian industry is disappearing in the first weeks of the New Year, is an assault by the unions against the Government control of wages prices and hours and is now in full swing. A remarkable feature is the revolt by employers against c.ontrols which, with the closure of butchers' shops in Fydney, takes on the guise of the bitterest of political strife. When Labour first organised in order to procure for itself the minimum of wages and conditions, the strike weapon was recognised as a dangerous two-edged sword to be used sparing'ly against the employers. The Australian Governments, both State and Federal, have moved into industry by imposing a variety of controls, the aim of which is to keep down the eost of living. It is tKe Government which fixes the men's wages and htnjurs and thus the Government already is the greatest employer in the Commonwealth. \ Of eig'ht disputes, three of which are in the strike stage, each is directed in some way at the Government. The gas employees in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide are claiming higher wages. According to the Gov-ernment-imposed controls these wages -and hours cannot be altered by the employers. The men refuse to accept the assurance that the Arbitration Court will deal with the matters in dispute.

Most of Sydney is without gas, and the three cities affected, which together malce up nearly half of |the counitry's population, are existing under heavily restricted supplies. The union machinery is so encumbered and so divided that a decision to malce a settlement to-day could not be implemented until approved by " massed meetings of strikers in three States. This will mean no gas for another week. The employers entered the assault on Government controls when the butchers in Neweastle closed on January 4 as a protest against the uncontrolled livestock prices. The Government has taken no action, and Sydney and Neweastle 'have been without meat for eig'ht days. Industrial U'pheaval The watersiders are considering direct action in an attempt to win holidays, despite the fact that this "claim was recently turned down by the Arbitration Court. The Sydney bus drivers are holding a stop-work meeting on Monday. Sydney taxidrivers are in active boycott as a result. of the Government decision to ban multiple fares. The post office workers are demanding substantial increases in pay and tax exemptions on all incomes under £300 a year. The dockyard employers have loclced out 8000 men because 28 crane drivers walked out afier claiming an extra £1 per week. Thousands of bags of turnips and potatoes may rot if the two ships in Sydney Harbour are not unloaded. The potatoes were bought by the State Government. Pro-Tem Settlement Of Wharf Dispute SYDNEY, January 14. The inter-State shipping 'dispute which resulted in 12 ships being held up at Sydney, has now been isolated to - the barque, Pamir. The strike began last wek when 26 men on the Pamir walked off, as their denrands for extra labour were not met. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, but they are only temporary. t Taxi Drivers StilL Rally Round SYDNEY, Jan. 14. Despite the taximen's boycott, passengers arriving at the Central Station to-day were greeted with a line of waiting taxis. The reason was that the police had to-ured the city and diverted every taxi to the station to piclc up fares. The drivers ignored single fares , early his niorning, but later there was brisk competition. A special police squad rounds up taxis every time the supply runs low.