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WHARF TIE-UP IS
ALMOST CERTAIN'
A complete tie-up of ship repair work in
Melbourne from tomorrow is almost certain.
The Victorian secretary of the
Ship Painters and Dockers',
Union (Mr Doyle i said today I
that, his executive would sub
mit a strike recommendation!
at tomorrow's stop-work meet-!
ing of 800 union members. The I
men were bound to accept it. j
Other States arc likclv to
support the NSW branch
members on strike as a pro
test against a recent award '
by Conciliation Commissioner i
Galvin. If they fake the same i
action as Victoria, there will '
be a nation-wide disruption of
ship repair work: j
Ships In Melbourne likely to I
be seriously affected include the!
British freighter Mahia, which
entered Duke's & Orr's dry
dock last week for the fina'l
stages of reconditioning after
the fire and explosion last year.
She may have to stay there in
definitely Seventy men have
been employed on her.
Others are the 7000 tons
motorship Chanda. being fitted
with refrigeration for the India1
run, and the American steamer!
Walter Luckenbach, in dry dock
foi general repairs. Many small
jobs will be delayed also.
If the hold-up were to con
tinue indefinitely, many more
ships would become involved as
they arrived in port.
PORT MEETING
SYDNEY, Monday. — Tire
strike of 2000 Sydney painters
and dockers is expected to
spread to NSW, Queensland,
and South Australia, as well
as Victoria, tomorrow. |
Federal council of the Ship
Painters and Dockers' Union
has called stop-work meetings
at all norts tomorrow to en
dorse its decision to hofd a
nation-wide strike.
The council's decision fol
lowed the recommendation of
stop-work meetings of the 2000
members in Sydney, who went
on strike on September 27 as
a protest against a demarca
tion award decision by the
Conciliation Commissioner (Mr
J. M. Galvin).
The union has claimed the
award deprives Its members of
about 40 per cent, of their nor
mal work, and will throw at
least 500 men idle in Sydney
alone. There will be no meeting
in Sydney tomorrow.
The State secretary (Mr T.
Gordon) said today the meet
ings in other ports were likely
to endorse council's decision as
the men's jobs were at stake.
NO AGREEMENT
He denied a statement by
the secretary of the Metal i
Trades Employers' Federation
(Mr D. G. Fowler) that no issue
would arise in many places em
ploying hundreds of painters
and dockers because the jobs
required no skilled painting
work.
Mr Gordon added that his
union had tried to negotiate
with the Employers' Associa
tion last week, but had failed
to reach an agreement.
Mr Fowler said today the
Galvin award, which only ap
plied to Sydney, had come into
operation on September 27 and
tne union had called a strike
on the same day.
Thus the union had given no
opportunity for the praotlcal
effect of the award's operation
to be tested.
The statement that 500 men
would lose their jobs in Syd
ney and that members would
lose about 40 per cent, of their
normal work through the
award was a gross exaggera
tion, and was part of a Com
munist plan to use. lies, dis
tortion and fear to hold up
shipping.
Unless the dispute was set
tled, more than 300 employes
in other trades would lose their
Jobs this week, he added.
The dispute had been refer
red to the Commonwealth Arbi-
tratlon Court.
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