SUICIDAL ATTACK ON LABOUR GOVERNMENT

Chronicle (Levin), 15 January 1947, Page 8

SUICIDAL ATTACK ON LABOUR GOVERNMENT

-Press Association

HOH. A. McLAGAN ATTACKS ' WATERSIDERS.

>y Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, Jan. 14. "A mora recKless, unfounded attack -apon tlxe Labonr Government has nsver been made by any union officiais clainxing to be supporters of Labour," said tlie Minister of Lab- ■ our (Hon. A. McLagan) today, replying to tne assertion, in tbe pampnlet issued. by tbe- Waterside Workers' CJnion, tnat, if the empioyers succeed in their iight with the waterside workers today, it will be the turn of every other trade unionist tomorrow. .Mr. McLagan described these allegations as absurd and unfoanded. The [treseut waterfront dispute was not oue wilh ihe cniployers. On the contrary, it was a disjiute vvith the YvT aterfront lndustry ( 'oniniissiim, which was a judicial body estaldished by the Gov(■runu'iit, and the liglit against the Comtnission was also inevitably a iight against ihe Labour (iovernment — a i'aet tuai was well knou'u to Ihe authors oi the pamjihlet. "It should bo said, further, that this suipidal attack upon tlie l.-abour Government iias been made absolnteiy unuecessarily, and in sucli a manner as to give fh> Government no opportunity to ave.rt it. The attaek upon the Government: was eoinmenced as soon as the i onimisMon 's deoisiun v as made, and without any attempt by the waterside workers' re[>reseiitatives to discuss the miuter wilh ihe Government. The Government hns sinee then made several eil'orts to bring aoout a friendly settleineut of the disi>ute, but it has been olnntly rebnil'ed on each occasion by the waterside workers' representatives, and ims heen toul that tlie only possible settlement is for it to eapitnlate com[iietely to theklemands made upon it. " The .Minister said that notwithstanding the blnnt rejection of its overtures,

the Government was stili anxious to i/niig about a just and amieable settlemenl of the dispute, and the door was stili open to the waterside workers' representatives at any tiinp tliey were willing to discuss the dispute further witu the Government, and resume nornial work. The waterside workers' representatives were apparently in sueh haste to enter this light with the Government that tliey did not wait to cou"sult • their lnembers, as to whether tlie . light should -be wage'dyor not.: Aepord; ; ing to docunients issuell by the nhtional ,• executive of the Waterside Workers' Lnion, the national executive ' ' clirect- j ed ' ' union branches to enter this j suicidal contiict without lirst consulting the rauk and iile of niembers. Ap- j parently even tlie national conucil of 1 tlie union was not congulled before this! fateful action was taken.- if, as was alleged in a published report of tlie j pamplilet, the shipowners were "sitting! baek in their comfortable cliairs, laugh-l ing," tliey must be laugliing at the folly of trade unionists being lod into a suicidal attack on the Labour Government. Mr. McLagan said the autliors. of the pamplilet claimed "that their purpose was not to split the Labour movement butTo consolidate it. "If thcv honestly .do not want to split the Labour movement," he said, "then it should be possible to show thein that, aetually, that is just wliat they are doing. 1 am sure it will be obvious to all thinking workers that, if the present attack upon the Labour Government receives sufiicient support from other unions, then a large scale Labour split and disaster to the Labour inovement are inevitable. " Mr. McLagan reiterated that the Government is stili anxious to have the dispute settled on a just basis, and would do evei'ytlung it eould reasonably be expected to do towards that end.