National Party Not Against Unionism

Chronicle (Levin), 3 October 1949, Page 2

National Party Not Against Unionism

The National Party did not object to unionism, which was a good thing, said the National candidate for Wairarapa, Mr. B. V. Cooksley, in a recent address at Otaki. Unionism was a method of hargaining between employer and employee which was "dignified, proper and binding, and had everything of merit. "However, we do object to union members being forced to* hand over their funds willy-nilly to the Labour Party. We question very much whether union members have any say at all in this matter, and compulsory allocation of funds by a - union council is quite wrong." There had never been any levy on farmers for the National Party, and farmers supporting their various boards, wool and dairy, eould not spend a penny or make a 'donation without the consent of the Minister, added the speaker. "Thanks to the 'benefits' of compulsion, the drivers' union has in- . creased in membership from 2000 to 10,000. . "Five thousand dairy farmers have no right to withhold their milk from the women and children. Fight all you like but strike, no. The time for striking in this country is gone, and it is wrong and immoral for 5QQ0 wharf labourers to refuse to unload vegetables or any other cargo. Why isn't it stopped. The wharfies are decent chaps but their leaders are people who are ill equipped to han'dle these matters."