A SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE TO STRIKES AND PAID STRIKEMONGERS.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14838, 2 December 1913, Page 8

A SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE TO STRIKES AND PAID STRIKEMONGERS.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THB PRESS."

Sir, —Labour is the workman's capital. If he is not working so much capital is lost. If a large body of them ar© out on strike it must mean a fearful loss of capital to the working community. To guard against such a loss as this, together with its misery and bitterness, I would suggest as a possible solution of the difficulty that the workmen instead of paying a weekly levy for aggressive purposes, paid secretaries to unions, agitators, lecturers, etc., should pay such weekly levy towards such scheme as the following, by means of which the working community would be helping itself. " I am given to understand that there are over 170,000 members of unions in the Dominion. Suppose w© put th© number at 150,000. Under normal conditions each of these, I believe, pays a weekly levy of 6d into the funds of th© various unions; this amounts to £3750 per week, or over £190,000 per annum. Who can say what becomes of this large sum, or what benefit the community receives from paying it? I think I am right in stating that by paying a secretary to each union, keeping paid agitators, lecturers, etc., nearly all this tremendous sum is absolutely wasted. With such a sum at its disposal the working community could fight any monopoly, not in an aggressive, but in a defensive spirit; a much better and certainly less expensive attitude to take up. Suppose the Dominion was divided into, say, ten centres, of which Canterbury would be one, with its 20,000 members of unions, paying £500 per week into the union funds, that i 3 £26,000 per annum. Some such schome as the following for each centre would mean that this large sum would b© saved to th© working community by being put to a useful purpose, and therefor© might be worthy of consideration: 1. Each body of workers to have its union. 2. From amongst their own members each union electa one of themselves to be their representative to the Board. 3. That the representatives of the unions form a "Workman's Wages Insurance Board." 4. That the Board appoints a paid officer to be secretary and treasurer, with necessary ass"stance and officers. A Board meeting room, would be required which could be used as a union meeting room also. 5. Tho representative of each union would keep a register of the members of his union and collect the weekly levy and pay j over to the treasurer to the Board or if this interferes too much with his working hours, the levy might be collected at four-weekly intervals, or tho collection might be made by tho treasurer's office. 6. The treasurer to prepare and present to the Board and to the various unions an annual balance sheet duly audited. 7. In case the members of the union feel that they are not receiving justice from their employers, their representative would notify the secretary of the Board, who would call a meeting of the "Workman's Wages Insurance Board" (comprised of the representatives of each union) to consider the matter. Meetings to be held in the evenings. 8. At such meeting the representative of the aggrieved union would state the caso for nis union, which, if a matter of under-payment of wages or any monetary loss through wages being docked for travelling time, etc., would be considered. Should the meeting agree by.a majority that the memhets of the union were suffering an injustice, the Board would, out of the . insurance funds, pay to them the difference between what they were i-e----ceiving from the employers and what the Board held they should receive. This to continue until the case was considered and decided by a legally constituted court. (Clause 10.) 9. The secretary would notify the employers by advertisement or otherwise that "Tho Worker's Wages Insurance Board" had decided that in its opinion th© employees had a just cause of action against the employers, and if not mutually settled would be referred to the Court for an award to be made. 10. An "Industrial Disputes Court" to be set up, with assessors from both sides., presided over by a judge, to decide all applications made to it for awari.s. Both sides to agree to abide thereby «> long as such award was in force. 11. If the award is in favour of the employees' claim, the arrears of pay to be paid by the employers by order of the Court to the local office. of the Labour Department, and thence Daid over to ihe treasurer of 'The Workman's Wages Insurance Board" as a refund of the amounts temporarily paid to tho employees from tho Board's funds. The, employers thereafter paying direct to the employees according | to the award. 12. In case the award is against the employees, the payment to them from the Insurance Fund to cease, and the employees to Day back to that fund T>y. say, an additionalew of 6d per week the amount they had received therefrom until full repayment was made. This should He made compulsory. 13. After paying salaries of secretary and office staff, rent of Board-room and offices, and other expenses of management, and keeping a sufficient balance available to meet any dossible demands as defined in Clause 8 herein, th© surplus to be invested from time to time. In a scheme somewhat on th© lines suggested above, the points that might commend it ar© as follows: —(a) No need for strikes; (b) no paid secretaries of unions; <c) no paid agitators or lecturers: (d) the creation of a fund that would permit the Board making sick payments thee*- J

from. Finally, "The Workmen's Wages Insurance J'und" would very quickly become one of the 'largest capitalists in the Dominion, and no doubt means for its use could be found that would do much towards improving the conditions under which the working community lives.—Yours, etc., E. W. A.