GOVERNMENT HAS BROKEN FAITH WITH FARMERS

Chronicle (Levin), 10 March 1947, Page 4

GOVERNMENT HAS BROKEN FAITH WITH FARMERS

Demamt For Equality With Other Workers

■ i.ii i ■ , • By deciding to demand tha.t farm prices should be increased suiTreiently to> piaee- farm-ei-s- ©n the same basis as other sections of the community, includihg payment for werlt neeessarily done- on Siatii'rdays, S-imdays,. and' statutory holidays, Federated Farmers | have agreed- on a course of action which is- expeeted to have enormous elfeets, on the- econo'Mic' positioai in New Zealand. s ' The results of a review of sfabilisation made by members of the Dominfon eouncil' of the- organisation, meeting in "Wellington, ; are now known. At that conf erence-,: the liurden imposed npon the farming eom- , mun-ity by »tabihsationy when,, it was said, there 'were- breaehes- of the stabilisation polEcy on be-half of other industries, was discussed seriously and in d'etailY The Dominion president of Federated Farmers (Mr. W. W. MnLhoH'and), who said- that the- organisationnow had to give serioiis.cons-ideration to the relations of the fa-rmers-with stabilisa-tion, contend'ed that the Government had broken faith j regarding stabilisation,. and said the farmers had no moral or legal ! obligations to contimie with the stabilisation agreement of 1942. The eonferenee passed a resolntion asserting that Federated ! Fa-rmers demand that farm priees should he increased sufficiently to ; place farmers on the- same basis- as oth,er sections of the community, inekiding paymen-t for work necessarily dome on Saturdaysr Sundays, and s-tatufory holidays. By the same resolution, the • Bbminion eo-uncil of Federated Farmers deeided toi establis-h a eommittee t.o confer- with the Meat and Dairy Boards-, to- make a ; publi'c statement, and to eontinue to- work with the bo'ards in presenting the farmers' ease to the Government and to the public.

The federation intends al'so to define ment accepting the remainder.

- Lts attitnde to increased laboux rewards in submissions to the* Arbitration Court when- the* cl'aini for an overall wage inerease is being lieard. This is the claim in which trade unions are espeeially interested. Onry lately, for example, the Ngahauran-ga branch of the New Zealand Fneezing Workers' Union eongratn'latecL thenational- council' of the New Zealand Federation of Labour becanse of its decision to press for a general wag-e inerease- of £1 a week. iPull snpport for the federation in its attempt to gain , the full amon-nt was pl'edged. It . was d'eeided also that the union- should consider ta-king- fhrther action- should' the claim not be granted in full. It is believed that similar meetings are proposed by other unjons. B'efore the Dominion- council meeting of Federated Faxmers, the Dairy Seetion Gouncil unanimously resoi'ved' upon demanding that the labour reward for dairy farmers and' their emplbyees should.- be assessed' by the* same measuring rod aa that used in other industries, and should involve additi-onal payment for work on Saturd'ays; Sundays- andl statutory hoiidays. The seetion eh-airman (Mr. H. E. Blyde), who is- also chaia.-man, of the action eommittee of Federated Farmers, described the effeet of tliis demanxl — on the part of only one dxvis-ion, o-f the farming industi-y — on the general eeonomie policy of New Zealamd, i£ farmers were to be placed on '''an equi-valent fboting to other ■s.eetions of the eommunity."' On. the Dairy Industry Council-, whicfl',. with the Dairy B'oard,, had' iir.strueted its representaAives; ,tp. try to ^ensnremhat the prineiplei eriunciated- by the Dairy Seetion Ceuncili was implepfemented' immediately, the- claims nad oeem based on a 56-hour week, stated Mr.. Bl'yde-,, who added: "If we get overtime rates above' 40 hours a wees, it. will mean an inerease of 8d a pound f br butterf at. The total cost to some*one will be in the neighbourhood of £12',000,000 a year." Addressrng- the Dominion couneil of Federated- Farmers, Mr. vMulholland stated:- "You' know tha-t there have been numbers- of wage increases granted. You know, too, of the applieation, not only made possiole by the Government,. but aetually facilitated, for a general wag.e inerease. - What you probabLy d'o not, loiow is that the Government is- endeavoui-ing: ! to extend the- applieation of the stabilisation accoujits,. in respect of farm groduce, to some new lines. One ean only wonder, then, at the ineonsisteney of such aetions..''' Mr.. Mulholland said it seerned' that the Government was being. only dixected- by outsrde. fbrces,, which wet-e. not i. respbnsible ib} the electors. It seemed chat .biefbEe; Idag/the. Gb,vernment wordd -.have ' ta "' burieh'der completely "to^' a very militant nnnoxity, or tbexe- would oe a really big row.' ' Mr. Mulholland referred to recent ind.ustrial disputes, and said: "There • has been a number of siguiilicant happenings in the- industrial world lately. ihere was tlie reeent dispute between the Government and tlie waterside • workers, resulting- in the abjeet surrendel- of the Government. "Tn that dispute and capitulation, one of the sinis-ter ineidents was- that the- semi-jwdieial. head of a Commission was instructed ,as. to „ the decision- he should give.. Fortunately, he resigned rafher than do- that, and we should hono.ua- hian for his stand — too seldom a atandi today. All- our liberties are bouaid! up in our rights- of being- able to resi'st the Executive 's autlrority to averdo oui- judicial Courts.

i The- saLvagjng of the Wanganella brought about anothex extraordinary exhibition. While populax attention : was, eentred on. the absurd wages demanded,, and xeceived the really siiiiister thing was the arrival of an' Australian . trade union secxetary, who has been aDle to put a" pistol to the head of the Government. "We must honoixr Mr S'emple for his outspoken remarks- iir th-afr connecti'on. He was so refreshihgly plarn1, and to the point. But, has ~ Mr . S'emple inany coileagires' in the Cabinet who wxmld' do- the same7 "The vai'ious ineidents quoted have ;an important bearihg- on stabiTisati'on. ' We .will, therefore, have to- give- serious eonsideration to 'Out- relations with ; stabilisation. In the past, tlie Government has always agreed' to aecept the ' responsibrlaty fois- the1 increased costs resnlting" from wagbs increases^ That is the- v'ery spirit of stabilisation^ aind was laid d'own as- part of the policy by t-lie* Pi'inie Minister oju December 15, 1942. The- Government has now,, how-eve-r, refused' to aecept that responsi■bility. " We avoidcd1, v-h ile, conduetingr price negotiations, .tlie eomplete and oipen denunciation of ataMBsafiiJoi^. by the meat indiisfry's aceeptingr , the fifsjfc £650,000 of the increases,. the; Govem-

; "Tha.t happened m feeptember- • October, 1946, and it would so appear |that the Government was even then preparing for a general inerease in ! wages, and the eonsequent general brealcdown of stabilisation. You, know the story, of the increases since then, :not only unit increases, but also in- ■ ereases in various costs— further instances of breaehes in the spirit of I stabilisation. » j The action of the Government in jrevoking the modilication order of the ise.cond sch edale of the Factories Act ;was another surrendel' of the prineiple iof stabilisation, said Mr. Mulholland. ' While others reeeived continual in.creases in payinents, it seemed that 'farmers were to be lield rigidly to their ; agreement. He eontinued: ' "What is to be our policy?' The | Government is probably depending on. >the fact that we have- vested interests 'of over £10,000,000 in the variousi stabilisation accounts. The agreement of 1942 does not impose any penalty on ;ns. if we repudiate it, because the J Government has broken faith. It has done it so flagrantly that it eannot hold ns to it. "We have no, moral or legal obligations-- to- eontinue; although w;e must acceptr some moral obiigation to' tnecountry to give some notice if we decide against continuance. We are undoubtediy free to make a decision to depart from the stabilisation agreement, witliout l'osing all the rights we have to the funds. ia the various accounts." After the- Dominion eouneil of the federation carried the* resolution de. manding that farmers should be on the same basis as other sections of the eommunity, Mr. Mulholland said the general opinion of the- couneil was- in favour of supporting an immediate- demand for adjusting farm prices to place farmers on a similar basis to the rest of the comniunity, inclnding overtime ^for weekend and'holiday work. Aecordingly, said Mr. Mulholland', several aetions were needed. First, the couneil should appoint a eommittee to act with the Meat and Dairy Boards and to put the farmers-' position before the Prime Minister. Second, the eommittee should discuss with the boards and the Dairy Industry Council action to be taken regarding produce prices and give supp.ort in making, representati'ons to the Government. Third', there should be a public statement. Foucth, the federation should make a statement or give evidenee before the Arbitration Court. when it began hearing the general wage inerease. clafrn. . Another speaker said that" so- far as the farmers were concerned, stabilisa.tion was "just bunlcum. '*' Whatever nickname was giyen to the various farmers' fuhds, tliey were aetually the property of the Government, and farmers , were always ' ' hit to- leg..' ' There were many instances of farm requisites in which the prices. went uncontrolled, although the requisites were on the stabilised list. During the diseussion by the Dairy Seetion Council, speakers' paid particular attention to ,the recent dairy fac tory dispute, and Mr. Blyde spoke on general policy. "We know," he said; '■'what eft'ect our aetions will have on The general policy of stabilisation,. and we know how we have so far always iplayed our part ha trying to maiatain 'that policy. I "It seems, when anybody advocates l'an inerease in pay, that no one worries jeither as to where the money is to jcome from, or about any effects 011 the ; country. If the farmer asks for an inerease in pay, he is aslced where the money is- to- co-me- from. The farmer ihas always advocated stabilisation, and !has always supported it.

i "But what is happening with others? |The Federation of Labour says- it sup iports stabilisation, but it is> aslerng for iincreased, wages combined with rigid ! price control. It seems- to, us that it- ' is time the country realised what it ;Will mean if all sections are to be placed on the same basis." . Mr. Blyde said that any action taken by the dairy farmers should' be taken by all farmers. If the stabilisation - policy could not apply ta al-L people,, it should apply to no oue.. ' An official annouiicement since the discussions were held states that the full Dominion council of Federated Farmers, the Dairy Seetion Council, and the Meat an£ Wool COuncili arelexpected to join with the Dairy Board 'and the Dairy Industry Council! in claiming increased payment for farm produce, on a basis. equivalent to- "the1; reward reeeived by., other sections of the community." It descriibes-' the •Dominion Council as being as determined in its attitude as the dairy men. The announcemenf;, referri'ng; to* Mr., Mulholland 's appraisal of the situation, states that, in spite of . breach after breach of the stabilisatiom aigreementj ! !"it would he contrary to' the natibnar ! iinterest for farmers. to denounce, the

agreement,, or take; steps' deliberately hostile* to it, unless they were forced- to d'o so.'1' "But," the announcement continues, ' ' such has, beconie the general position inj the Dominion, and such is the general attitude of so many others, in i the community, that it was decidedi to j make air immediate demand for the ' ad'justment of farm prices on the same basia aa prices: paid; ta> these. others"'