The Press. Saturday, March 23, 1918. The Otira Strike.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16168, 23 March 1918, Page 8

The Press. Saturday, March 23, 1918. The Otira Strike.

' Thfijaotferview between the Minister of * and the representatives * [( Otira strikers, must 'have made k ■'FjaSib'ljfear'i to' everyone that tho striko whatever. Wo do kntiwv what • the honest leaders of. about it, but wo feel I that, whatever they may they are privately disgust- • * stupidity of thoir Otira K* delegates appear to «3jpßbded 3 so far as one can disfc clear in their reprcfa, •• the 'Minister, that a ft tad been "employed in the lamp ! *:•!sjjSfen, and was. later required to do Fj work for was physically unfit, k..'. jSnd for whfcE-'he had not been, en- ' H gaged, and that on his stating that he Kr could not tfo this other. Tvork he was H|;| dismissed. .. "He put his griovance bem\ - f or © tlib union with the result that a Even if the facts

wore as* stated, there was no justification. for tho strike, but the facts wore not as represented by the nnion. I The youth concerned kircw perfectly ; well tho work attached to the job, ' ; which had previously been held by his i own brother, and the conditions wore i the same as had existed for two years, jHo was able to do, and had done, j heavier work than the occasional firing | require;! of him. He did not plead | physical disability when lie announced i his derision not to carry on: he contended that tho work he was asked to do was not that for which .he h".l be.-ii engaged. In short, there was actually no reasonable excuse for his action, and of this the union could hardly have been unaware, fie proved to bo quite unsuitable for the engineer's purpose, and naturally he was dismissed. Accordingly, the union went on strike, with the object of forcing tlie reinstatement of the dismissed youth—an action which was tantamount to claiming for the nnion the right to revise, and, if necessary, to veto the decisions of the official in charge of the work. As tho Minister clearly pointed out, this is a claim which cannot be rocognised, and must be resisted wherever and in whatever shape or disguise it may appear. We suspect that tho union would not have struck had it not imagined that tho agitation for the early completion of the tunnel guaranteed that the public would insist upon the concession of whatever might be nocessary to socure tho immediate resumption of work. They calculated correctly the annoyance that such a stoppage of work must causo in Cantorbury, but tho public's desire for the early completion of tho tunnel has not driven nil prudence or sense of fairness out of tho public's head. Some time ago, when thcro were suggestions that iho work of construction might be slackened, or even stopped, the employees were quick to protest. Yot the union now does not hesitate to go on strike, although its leaders must know that this action plays into the hands of those "who would h.'.ve the Government abandon tho work altogether. AYe hope that nobody will nttempt to interfere between tho union and the Department, for this is a clear caso in which the Minister's attitude must bo supportod by all sensiblo people. This is a point to be emphasisod, becauso already there have been signs of a readiness in some quarters to suggest that the trouble is duo, not to tho tmion, but to tho "want of tact'' of the Department's officials, and that all that is required is tactful intervention by some outside party. That is what is regardod t we believe, as "taking a sympathetic " view ' of Labour's "aspirations," and it is an old dodge which has often been played in the past, to the great ultimato disadvantage of organised Labour and everything and everyone else. If one wishes to render a service to Labour, ono can do it as well by telling Labour -when it is in tho wrong as by supporting 'Labour when it is in tho right. In the present Instance the union concerned Las behaved very foolishly and unfairly, and what ia most nocessary now, is that the union should be made to understand that such tactics are.bad policy.