“Explosion"

Phosphate Workers ' Strike

Averted Oni

Ocean Is.

From a Honiara Correspondent The strike of the Gilbert and Elhce labourers at the British

Phosphate Commission’s estab

lishments on Ocean Island andl Nauru, which looked in mid-

April as though it could produce?

a mid-Pacific explosion, ended! amicably by the end of the; month. nPHE Ocean Island strike, over de mands which included higher pay, commenced on April 7 and a week later seemed to be getting out of hand. The 800 G & E labourers there had, by that time, split up into factions, and there could have been open war between those who wanted to return to work and those who did not.

If this had happened, the 32 Gil bert and Ellice police on the island would have been powerless to deal with the situation. On April 14, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate ship Coral Queen left Honiara carry ing 27 BSIP police, under the com mand of Deputy Chief of Police, D.

Morgan. Other reinforcements were sent from Tarawa.

"Pukaki" Sent Mr. A. H. Pickwoad, BSIP Com missioner of Labour, went along on the Coral Queen, in case an indepen dent negotiator were needed. On April 13, one of the three Com missioners of the BPC, Mr. R. B.

Tennent. of New Zealand, with the General Manager of BPC, arrived at j Ocean Is.

The RNZN frigate Pukaki was de spatched from Auckland and in structed to “wait over the horizon” I in case she were needed.

All this activity must have im- i pressed the strikers. By April 20 the atmosphere was reported “calm”, the strikers had formed a committee of representation and had returned to work pending negotiations.

On April 24 negotiations between the BPC and the strike committee “concluded successfully”. Coral j Queen returned to Honiara with BSIP \

(Continued on p. 1421

police and Mr. Pickwoad (Mr. Mo; gan remained behind as Chief Polic Officer pending the return of th regular man, who was absent from tt Colony).

The BPC representatives went o to Nauru where the G & E labourei were still on strike. Negotiations fc settlement there concluded succes fully on April 27.

The position on Nauru, 200 mill west of Ocean, an Australia] administered British Trust Territor where the G & E labourers came oi in sympathy with Ocean Island c April 8, was never as serious as c Ocean. The G & E labourers c Nauru are only part of the woi force, the rest being about 6C Chinese from the Colony of Hon; kong who are there on short-ten contracts.

Labourers in the employ of tl BPC receive an agreed scale i rations, medical services, quarter etc., plus wages.