TWO COURSES SEEN

Chronicle (Levin), 18 February 1947, Page 4

TWO COURSES SEEN

■Preso Association

Watersiders' Views Frankly Stated

By Teleg:-?h—

WELLINCiTON, Feb. 17. ReneWied j? b.eing fo| itlie cbequered history of the atteifipts made hy tke -OpyeriimerLt to pegijlace Ihe waterfront industry by Goirimission .control, and especially to the attitttde adopted hy the New Zealand Waterside -Workers' Union. Since the resignation pf Mr. Jastice Ojigley from the positipn. ,of chairman of fhe W aterf ropt industry jConnoisgion, gpd the decision vof the Hovernment, after effecting an indepepdent arrangement with the union, to reconstitute the Commission, it has been commented in interested quarters that: ;these deyelopments are •another 'phft&e i© an unhappy record. Reference has again been made to the eomments made by Mr. H. Barpes, of , Auckland, national presidejit of the f union, and a union representative on the Waterfront In.dus.try Commission, . in his review of ' lO-K), pu'b'lis'hed in the December issue of the FederatedWaterside Workers' offieial journal. That was immediately after the water-! front crisis developed seriously, when the union expressed dissatisf action ; with Mr. Justice Ongley's decision 011 its elaims. Among .the eomments made by Mr. Barnes were these: "From a union point of view, the year's most significant move bas been the reeonstruction of the Waterfroiit Commission . . . the late Commissiou had conipletely lost the conlidenee of the majority of its" members. I believe it was doomed to failure f'rom the start. "Broadly spoaldng, workers can ae governed in two ways — along the lin.es of genuine 'cooperation and good will, or per medium of the big stick. The latter method contains within itsell seeds of revolt pnd must inevitably collapse. "Our long-range demand must still •be to secure for ourselves the- maximum possible control of our own industry." In the eurrent issue of the waterside workers' journal, Mr. Barnes, in a re-' port on the Federation of Labour conference which last month discussed the waterfront crisis, expresses the helief that the Government has reached the stage ''hievitably faeing all Soeial Democratie Governments. " It could follow the course of orthodox capitalism, or there were the .alternatives of genuinely soclalising industry for the benelit of. the eommunity, and breaking : away" from orthodox financial cliannels, recognising that the crippling burden of debt could never be paid, and plotting a course to "enable the people of this country, as distinct from the boml ■lolders, to enjoy the full fruits of their

.production. ' ' ' 'I think, " states Mr. Barnes in this .report, ' ' that ©o grganisation has given more money, nor greater help in returning ,the .Government, than has been ; giyen by our union. Our activities date back a long time before 1935." Rpeaking of the Waterfront Industry Commission, Mr. Barnes" states: " We hoped that the direct. representation of lioth parties would make the issue clear('ut and tliat no longer would the Government line up on behalf of the shi]»ping combine. Our hopes were futile. Crom start to fmish the ship-ownei: has been on the side-line watching the Government light his battle. Perhaps Ihe "ulminating jroint was at the conferenco when the Prime Minister called us •political blacklegs'." Mr. Barnes elaims that the Federation of Labour eonference reveaied a solid core of trade unionism auguring well for the workers ' of New Zealaml and foretelling "doom for tliose who seek to split and betrav the Labour 'novement. " Ile continues: "At the time of writing our -futuro course has yet to be decided. The meeting held by the Commission proved ro !>e abortive. Convine'ed of the .rightoousness of our case, our nationa'l councii has mandatod the national executive to mobilise for further action if our grievances are not legitimately met. "We iight for workers' elementary rights and if action has ko be taken it will be taken, backed by every decent trade unionist in this country ana strengthened by our affiliations over seas. Let me at this stage pause to pay tribute to the courageous role pursued by the Transport Workers' Federation. Well indeed did it come threugh its baptism of fire." Mr. Barnes expresses the opinion thai the result of the Federation of Labour eonference could. not occasion the Frime Minister or his colleagues any satisf action. In the same issue, under the hea-d ings: "It Seems to Me . . ,. Tomqrrow is Another Day," the national secretary of the uhion (Mr. T. Hill) speaks of "the remote fastness.es pf Parliament Hill, where the far-oif sound of the elass struggle must seem sometimes iike the uneasy stirrings of a long-dimmed conscience." Of tlie vote at the Federation of Labour eonference, Mr. Hill states: ""if 'he voto was all they wanted, let the n liok it under their pillows- and may (hey sleep easiky. They ma.y" need ii good night 's rest, for tomorruw is anolher day. "There are some who like to believe that the eonference taught us watersiders a lesson. We agree that jt ditl — but not the kind of lesson they tlnnk. We came away knowing something th.it apparently they have yet to iearn. The lesson we learned fram Ihe eonference is tliat the discoutent of the mass of the people — in New Zealand as all over the world — is very real indeed. In the main, the people ,aye frustrated and dis-, illusionod. " ( Mr. Hill states that the watersiders' representatpyes fook heart fa-pm jthe evidenee that more and more men in the trade union movement were beginning to see the lesson. He adds: "These man showed their b.elief in the policy drawn up many years ago by the pioneers of the Labour movement (even though some of jts anthor-s, pre-' sent at the eonference, .Spemed to -b.e embarrassed by being reminded of itj.

These men declined to believe fliat there is a neiv, kind boss eoming into our lives. "These men refused to be harnessed to the Government machine. These -men knew that tlie men and women who are doing the world 's work have the right to fret and fqme and strike so loug as tlie inecjuities of the capitalist system exist. These men know that unrest will continue and will grow until rents, interest, and prolits are brought down from their greedy heights and until the worker can Iive on 40 hours' worlk instead of 50 or 00. "They demand that stabilisation must st.abili.se those who are making the prolits, and increase the wages and living "standards of those who worked to make the prolits. And to those who •feo] todav tliat victory at the eonference was tlioirs, these men have this to say: 4 Sleep easilv if you will, but fake heed from the Bourbons and listepi to the marching feet, and remember fjhere is a tomorrow as well as today. "