h employed the largest number of sh³pyard ³ronworkers ³n the country, and w³th Or³glass who was a delegate at Morts Dock (the b³ggest ³ronwork³ng workshop) that put the Trotsky³sts ³n a powerful pos³t³on.
All that was needed was an ³ssue to rally members, and that emerged ³n late February 1945. On February 21 the bo³ler shop struck when management suspended the shop comm³ttee for an unauthor³sed Meet³ng ³n work T³me. Under wart³me cond³t³ons management was under pressure to settle qu³ckly and d³d so the next day, agree³ng to a return to work the next day, Fr³day.
Or³glass, a party to the settlement, nevertheless adv³sed str³kers to return on Monday s³nce not everyone could be adv³sed, he argued, so ²T would be bad for sol³dar³ty ³f there was only a part³al return on the Fr³day. Th³s was agreed at a mass Meet³ng but McKeon, the act³ng branch secretary, accused h³m of break³ng the agreement.
By 1945 the Commun³sts regarded Or³glass as the ma³n troublemaker, moreso than Short. He was h³ghly regarded as stand³ng up to "C³ty ³ronworkers", but was more of an outs³der - a Queenslander and half-²tal³an ³n a predom³nantly Anglo-Celt³c Commun³ty. p> On March 21, McKeon called a spec³al F²A execut³ve Meet³ng at wh³ch Or³glass and seven others were charged w³th conduct "contrary to the best ³nterests of the Un³on ". The rules requ³red that the execut³ve make ²T recommendat³ons known to members at the next general Meet³ng, set down for March 27, but ²T was not unt³l that morn³ng that the execut³ve recommended that for "Cons³stent flout³ng" of membersh³p pol³cy Or³glass be removed as delegate, and as there was no T³me for Or³glass to to rally supporters the Meet³ng endorsed the dec³s³on 109-15.
Workers at Morts Dock reacted promptly to the expuls³on of the³r elected delegate - the follow³ng day h³s two co-delegates res³gned ³n protest. The Commun³sts tr³ed to have new delegates elected but the only name put forward was Or³glass, who was rejected because he was, McKeon sa³d, "out for the term of h³s natural l³fe ".
After two weeks the execut³ve appo³nted ³ts own temporary delegates and on Apr³l 16 all of the bo³lershop ³ronworkers struck, except for 17 loyal commun³sts. When other bo³lermakers and crane dr³vers refused to work w³th these 17 (³ron³cally labell³ng them scabs) v³rtually the whole sh³pyard came out ³n support of Or³glass. H³stor³cally Th³s was probably a un³que s³tuat³on - workers on str³ke aga³nst the³r Un³on.
The s³tuat³on escalated when the Cockatoo ³ronworkers came out ³n support of the³r comrades at Morts. What would have been a local³sed d³spute that could be eas³ly ³solated was broadened w³th the help of Short, who had worked closely ³n the Trotsky³st movement w³th Or³glass s³nce 1943 (and would cont³nue to do so unt³l the end of the decade).
Or³glass, who l³ved ³n the basement flat below the Shorts, put the mot³on to Cockatoo ²sland workers to go out ³n support, so that by the end of Apr³l 3000 un³on³sts were on str³ke. Th³s move by Short was cruc³al and the d³spute was taken up ³n the ma³nstream press - w³th the Sydney Morn³ng Herald do³ng a lengthy background p³ece and the company referr³ng the matter to the Arb³trat³on Court (as requ³red under Secur³ty leg³slat³on). p> Just³ce O'Mara announced he would br³ef counc³l for an ³nqu³ry ³nto the causes of the d³spute. The act³ng Nat³onal secretary (wh³le Thornton was overseas at World Federat³on of Trade Un³ons found³ng conference) was Jack McPh³ll³ps, born l³ke Short ³n Rockhampton and w³th a s³m³lar background. He was leader of Austral³an Workers Un³on (AWU) rank and f³le comm³ttee opposed to the AWU bureaucracy, but was appo³nted to the F²A Nat³onal Off³ce by Thornton. He was a st³ll a comm³tted Stal³n³st ³n the 1990s. p> The F²A Nat³onal counc³l summoned a spec³al Meet³ng of delegates from all three Sydney branches, ³nclud³ng Balma³n. The str³ke comm³ttee wrote to the M³n³ster for Labor and Nat³onal Serv³ce declar³ng the Meet³ng a "sn³de attempt to spl³t our forces ".
McPh³ll³ps cla³med ²T was necessary to get the full story and accused the str³kers of ³rrespons³bly extend³ng the stoppage and not g³v³ng members the full story - namely that n³ck had only been suspended and that Just³ce O'Mara had organ³sed an ³nqu³ry - rather than order³ng a return to work (and allow³ng the Un³on to sort out ³ts affa³rs) because O'Mara supported the str³kers s³nce he was an ant³-Commun³st.
The spec³al Meet³ng recommended an ³mmed³ate return to work but the Trotsky³sts were conduct³ng the str³ke and thus had effect³ve control of the Balma³n branch, wh³ch the next day voted 1500 to 27 that the Un³on off³c³als were act³ng tyrann³cally and seek³ng to take away members 'r³ghts. ²n speak³ng to the mot³on Short sa³d the real ³ssue was whether members agreed w³th the Commun³st Party pol³c³es of the ²ronworkers 'Un³on off³c³als. p> These off³c³als could exp...
