Labour Federation Annoyed

Chronicle (Levin), 16 March 1946, Page 7

Labour Federation Annoyed

REACTION TO WALSH REPORT WELLINGTON, March 15. The follow-ng statement niacle by the National Executive of the Lederation of Labour and Mr. L. P. Walsn in reply to what they ternx "unfounded ahegations of a cnsis facing Labour, a reversal of Labour policy and a spiit in the Lederation of Labour." "The readions oi the spokcsmen oi the Employers' Lederation, Ciiamoers of Commerce. Lariners' IJnion and thc 'lory press to Mr. Walsn's report on staoiiisation ar.j interesting and in a way amusing. Each oi these proiessing t'riends oi ihe workers lias incorpretea cne rep^ru acoorcling to his ora particular desires. Those who are personaiiy unacijuainted. v»itn the benefits of this productive exereise are convmced that tho workers must lose more sweat. Those whose weekiy hours o± useful toii havo never yet amounted to 10 are positive that the 40-nour week is far too snort ioi othors. Those wno during the war years nave accumulated cash reserves in Dusmesses at au unprecedenoed rate and to a record higli ievel teil us that taxation miiSo be leduced so that they will pile their reserves stiii higher. Anu the xory eaitors have pretended to dis cover tlie existence oi a cnsis within tne Labour movement and tho prooa j oiiicy oi a Laooar sput and a complete reversal of Labour pol'ey. j "Each has found in the report exact- • ly what he was oent on fintling, whether j iu was ohere or nut. Nothing could be j farther irom the truth than the suggesj tion that Laboui'-s policy has brought i about the likeiihood of an economic coliapse and that it is to he radicauy alterc a. o:-; tne contrary, xiabour's staoiiisation policy has placed New Zealand in a bettcr economic position than is enjoyed by any other country whicn has experienced six years of war. StabiLs ation has been eminently sucoes fiu and will be continued, and nowhere in Mr. Walsh's report is there any suggostion that staoiiisation has failed or j that Labour s poucy should be reveiwed. "The report is mcrely a draft pre-j } pared to f orm the basis of a discussion j of the general economic policy at the j last meeoing of our National Council. | The report nowhere implies that the ! workers are not working hard enougn j or lcng enough. It cails attention to tne ioss of pioduction caused by stoppoges of work resulting from Labour disputes, and it states that such scop pages snoiud be avoided v/herevur there is a means of getting a just settlement of disputes without stopping work. j "The executive of tne Lederation oi { Labour strongly endorses that sugges- ! Uon and recommends ali unions to put I it into operation. New Zealand has a j good record so far as Labour disputes ! are conoerned — miicn better than most! cther countries. Our workers during the war have nid.de' a genuine eifoTf 'tb avold stoppagcs of work although in a number oi instances there has been deLiberate provocation from employers, some of whom at present would welcome stoppag'es. The loss of .working time resulting from Labour disputes ' about which employers and thcir press j ! iiave so much to say is smail compared j with the loss of time caused by indus- | triai accid -nts about which the cmploy- ' ers and their editors arc remarkabiy | silent. j "The report calis attention to the! ! olfers of ccrtaxn employers (who arej j .nuang nigli proiits and are tiymg to ! ! .uratc employeea from other essential j ' unucrtaiangs) to reduce the weekiy, J hours of worx to 36 although the goods | I produccd by thcir cmpioyecs are inj | short supply. The report states cjuite | uorrectly that thc rcduction of hours to j I 35 in such circumstanccs would not bo i m tne lnbcresus oi thc working people j of thjs country. The Lederation cxocu-! i tivo cndorscs that statement. xn cases ' where the existing laDour' forcc cannot' j nip^.ly thc neeas oi our people by work- j j ing -10 hours a week and the number | j oi workers cannot be incrcascd sullici- , ently to wipc out the delicit in produc-j : tiOii and the ieeway cannot be made up : in oLuer way, then ouviousiy tne time1 I has no c yet aiai% cj. for a furoher re- ; uucti^n oi noars in that iudustry. But to •dcsciloe tnat as an liidicanon tliat ; we coiisider tne 40-hour ween to be too | suoit, is jusb oareiaced labrication. Thei j i eaeia 010,1 executxve supporcs the prm-; ! cijU-e oi' a rcdn^t.oa oi working liours | in ail cases where the suppiy proaucts! I siuiiciont Lo mect tne nceds d people : can bc pioduced witniii reduced work- : ing hours. j J "Thc executive further aeclares that! ; while it approves of the generai prin- ' ciple that it is betier to increase the production of essential commodities for.; biio use oi the people and to coiitrol and ' wiicrever possible reduce the cost oi liv- ' > ing and so give present wages a higher purchasmg power (thus brmging about) an increase in real wages) ratner than; to conceutrate on increasing the money; ievel oi wages alone, it does not con-j sider that the present wage structure is! free from anomaaes and injustices. j "We do not believe that stabiusa-! tion cither .consists m or recpdres tnei pegging of injustices in the form of) sau-stdndard wages or bad coliditions of pmployment, and we havo aiways ex-j ; Piessiy i8jor«ed the- rignt under the! ) staoiiisation agreement to advocate the case# of any saction oi worxers suffer- 1 ' mg under such injustices. We have1 also aiways reserved the right in the ; ; event of' the cost oi liviDg not beingj eii'cetively controlled to claim a general; | increase in wages to compensate people j ' for any appreclabie increase in the cost; , of-livmg. Nowhere in Mr. Walsh's re-i | port is there a word of opposition to : | that policy. Our Tory cril '.cs should be ' honest and should admit tbat their low-j ; wage propaganda is hased on their own 1 ; desire for higher profits rather than on ! anytliing contained in the report. Whenj , a call fcr harder work is b'.atantly made | I by spokesmen of well-known groups of j exploiters, and when it is made solely i for the purpose of increasing the sur-j plus adcled value of goods and thus en-

larging the cake to be cut up by nonworkers, it simply falls flat. "Mr. Walsh's report raised the speclfic question of the Lederation 's attitude towards employers who offered the 35-hour week whilst they were unable to complete orders for their goods on a dO-hour week, and who then asked for an additional subsidy to meet the extra cost of the 35-hour week. Mr. Walsh said very definitely, and the executive agreed, that in sucn instances requCsts xor subsidies should not be entertained. "Mr. R,. G. Buckleton, a Larmers' Dmon president and a prominent Nat ionalist, has been somewhat frankei than his fellow Nationalists in com nienting on Mr. Walsh's report and has advocated a general 48-hour working, week for 40-hours' pay. To ask Mr. Buckleton how ne bases that proposi tion on Mr. Walsh's report would be to take him too seriously. The National Party is trying to get our people to believe that it is sincere when it says that it will not cut wages if returned to power at the geiieral electiou. Mr. Buckleton and other representatives oi the Farmers' Union, Employers' Lederation, Chambers of Commerce, etc., who bave commented upon Mr. Walsh's rei pcrt are the type of people who determine the National Party policy. They have called for longer hours and lower wages not only without any protest irom the National Party but also with universal expressions of approvai from the Nationalist Press. Mr. Holiand, Leader of the National Party, has said that the 40-hour week 'makes his blood boil,' so we know his party 's attitude on that point. "But in view of his claim that his party wiil not cut wages the onus is upon him to state whether he supports or opposes Mr. Buckieton 's proposal for a general 48-hour worxing week for 4U j hours' pay — a' reduction in the hourly j rate of pay of 16. 2-3 per cent. This ! matter, we believe, is of sullicient importance to justify Mr. Holland in drop ) ping his 'disinaeritance' fable long ! enough to enanle him to say whetner j he does or does not approve of such a ! wage cut. j "This propaganda sLunt that the Tories have launched in connection witn | Mr. Walsh's report is an indication oi f the length to which they will go in j their eiiorts to mislead and divide the I working people of tne country. The I executive of the Lederation of Labour ; is conhdent that trade unionists wiil not allow them'selves to be misled by such inspired attempts to sow doubt and distrustj and that on the contrary they will close their ranks even more soiidly in their determination to hold what they have gained under Labour and to prepare the way for still further advances."