The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-04-16
! COMMENT ON WORLD
EVENTS

&& { = I + {
Recent steps taken by the Australian
Government in cooperation with organ
lied labor point to the substantial
progress that is being made to safe
guard the interests of the seamen
"down under" as well as to ensure full
and effective use of the Australian
merchant marine in the war.
The establishment of the Maritime
Industrial Commission together with
are indicative of the present trend in
Australia which has always had a rep
utation for being the most labor mind
ed member of the British Common
wealth of Nations The Maritime Com
mission is composed of eight members,
four for the shipowning interests and
four for maritime labor.
The commission has been granted eX
traordinary powers to regulate all
matters pertaining to shipping, wages,
working conditions, shipping space, re-
quirements, etc. The war risk bonus
for Australian seafarers was recently
determined by the commission as 20
per cent of the prevailing union wage
rates on all coast trading vessels and
% per cent ON all long trade routes
10 per cent bonus which is being paid
in all cases.
X X X
Australian maritime labor circles,
of the International Transport Work
ers' Federation, were highly enthusias-
tic and described the recent measures
us outstanding achievements in the his
tory of the Commonwealth. 'The in
PRODUCTION of the 44-hOur week., a
spokesman said, "as well as the es-
tablshment of the commission are i'm
portant advances in the maritime in
duStry. The functions of the commits
sion are extraordinarily wide and liter
ally amount to full conscription of
the Australian shipping industry.
'The establishment of the commits
sion is the result of considerable ne
gotiatiOns and insistent demands on the
part of labor. Some idea of the i'm
portance might be gained when it is
history of our seagoing unions stand
ard hours have been applied to all
sections
I'm addition the commission will
deal with all other matters which aim
at improving the conditions of those
employed aboard ship"
x x x
"This war is largely q war of ma
chimes and the most vita, field is the
field of production" Sir Gerald Camp
bell, British Minister in Washington,
said in Il recent speech.
after the experience of Dun.Iirk d.
| working hours leaped to Il fantastic
| height-men and women worked for
| II, II, - continuous hours Il day, but
such Il pace could not and should NOT
| have lasted"
'By Il unanimous vote of Parlia-
| ment,' Campbell asserted, the reStOra-
tion of every privilege and every right
which labor has relinquished for the
sake of the war effort has been guar
Hnteed to the trade unions, which to-
day have larger membership than III
any previous period of history-wel
over 100000. The greatest single
labor measure passed in Britain in this
war is the Essential Work Order. Ii
guarantees Il minimum weekly wage &c
all workers in industries essential &c
! the war effort. The order does not
affect the ordinary bargaining ma
chinery which exists between manage
ment and workers; it does not freeze
either wages or hours what it pre-
vents is free dismissal of workers by
employers, and conversely, stoppages
of work by the workers.