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COMTBOinSI TEEMS REJECTED.
MELBOURNE, Oct. 27.-Effort, to
?ettie the transport crisis boggec down
to-day when the striking railway
unions rejected the compromise terms
offered by the Railway Commission-
ers on . Saturday night Many Mel-
bourne suburbs were without gas to-
day and housewives; served'cold-meals
or cooked on backyard fires.
A member ortho'Victorian Cabinet
said to-night: ,Tne itrtke position has
not .deteriorated*- but * ia « little ott
rigid."
Although Í-3 three striking unions
have been pledged not to accept sep-
arate settlements, a split has devel-
oped between the Communists and
the moderates among the strike lead-
ers. When told to-night that the
Tramway Board had decided to with-
draw, certain offers made to the men
because the tram men would not re-
turn to work, a. right wing tramway
union official said: "It looks as though
we are the mugs in this strike."
. The disputes committee and me
strike leaders met for three hours this
morning, .but adjourned until to-mor-
row after. deciding only to call for
financial support from other unions.
Many unions have already imposed
levies on their members to assist the
strike fund. The amount of financial
aid vhich other unions can give .~e
strikers depends on the severity with
which power is rationed to industry.
TO THE ^BITTER EN«.
After next Wednesday, if wide-scale
unemployment results from the power
restrictions, most of the unions will
have to concentrate on giving financial
aid to their own members who are
thrown out of work.
. A check by employers on Saturday
revealed that last week the strike had
caused only one per cent, of absentee-
ism in Melbourne. All indications are
that the railwaymen are going to dil
their toes in and hang on to the bitter
end. ,
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