CALLED INFANTILE.

Chronicle (Levin), 6 March 1948, Page 3

CALLED INFANTILE.

CHRISTCHURCH, March 5. A number of prominent unions in Canterbury, including .the S^amen'S Union and Ereezing Workers' .Union,, CD-night opposed the decision to hold a stopwork meeting on Monday because of tlie. prosecptiom of oiiicials of tno Carpenters1 Union. "The tail sliould not be ailowed to wag the ^ dog, their- statement sanl and tliey claimed— that the existcnce or thc labour movement slibuld not be placed .ju jeppardy by ' part of the movement. V- / ■' ': Their. statement read: .. "Several Christclmrch and adjacenr district unions vvish to make it .quite clear that they are not in support of the call issued by the Canterbury Trades Council for union members to stop work and attend a demoiistratioh in Latimer Square at 10 a.m. next Monday, Our. view is that tlie basis of settlement offered- by thc Goveriiment to the Carpenters' Union, following representations by the National Executive of the Federation of Labour, presents the Carpenters' Union with the ojiportunity of concluding the dispute on terms .favoui-able to themselves. We think the Carpenters' Union should immediately accept the Government's ofl'er and not lend their support to movements and stunts which can only harm the Labour movement as a whole. We consider that our loyaity to the Labour movejnent as a whole is greater than dnr patural sympathy with any part of tlie movement and that the existence of the , movement' should not be placed in jeOpatdy by part of the movement as we consider is the case in this dispute. T^ie tail should not be ailowed to wag the'' dog. When the Federation of Labour has had the dispute ' handed1 th-'-it; the next iogical step in the event of failure to reach a satisfaetory settlement, is to report to all its affiliations with a view to determining appropriate action. Until this eourse has been followed, we rejeet such stunts as the proposed stopwork meeting on .Monday as disruptive and infantile and call upon members of our unions to remain at Work. ' 1 The statement is signed by the following: — R. A. Brooks (Restaurant anc 'Hot'el Workers' Union), P. M. Velvir (Shop Assistants' Union), E. Parlane (Drivers' Union), T. IVfartin (Seamen's Union), D. Myers (Olerical W ork

ers' Union), . R. Jones (Engjneers' Union), Gf. Robihson (Bo'ot OpmAtives' Union), and H. G. Kilpatrick (Freezing and Related Trades Union).