The Clutha Leader BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, NOV. 28. THE LABOUR STRIKE.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 43, 28 November 1913, Page 5

The Clutha Leader BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, NOV. 28. THE LABOUR STRIKE.

'} is now over a month since the wike began and the main shipping Ws of the Dominion became held up 0 «r as the usual working operations concerned. It is true that a fair """unt has been done by what is termed "«e labour, but the bulk of organised ! abour still stands aloof. This is not j c »ose main- of the unionists approve the action of the Federation of j*w>i"\ but because thoy hesitate to be ailerl •<scabs" and t ■> incur the odium j! Ul dr mates and the strike leaders. °[ c <>ver, independent of their opinions '0 the lights and wrongs of the call 'lown tools," about which many of . «» know very little, thev have a feelTfcif '° yalt - v t0 tilcir fellow-workers. * teeluif, of loyalty one eannot but 're „„„.), as onp ]nay reKret t]ie Hse Mm 8 K ,na ' le of 5t the ]eailers led Way '" which tlie mp " have heen " »»«1 advised. The back of the Vh»\,, may hl ' broken-it appears : "8 that now, indeed,-but the capitu- • hil °i or S auiseil 'abour as controlled ■i we federation of Labour does uot i tan ( apPo^'t0 be withill measurable disiUbm L ie adveilt of free labour aud *ed P V is not dominated bv the tit,' P rotccted in their work by ro *g force of the general and special I, Z! * iH und °ubtedly enable work to urried on with a large measure of - **• a « d this condition of things may. **W for Bomj Km, gujjtftJiguih

a* large number: of..', men enjoying enforced or voluntary idleness the possibilities of riot and disorder are always imminent. All parties to the strike, as well as the community as a whole, would be glad to see some settlement arrived at, but not only are the parties at arms' length, but the employers have been subjected to so many annoyances and pin-pricks from the Federationists and their agitators that they appear determined to insist upon a more settled and peaceable condition of things than they have experienced for some time back, ft was never contemplated when an Act was passed to encourage the formation of unions and the settlement of strikes that the results would be as we see them to-day. The .fact is that the Federation leaders have used the machinery of the Act to the fullest possible extent to perfect their organisation, to force up wages, and generally, to secure bettor conditions for themselves. Their aggressiveness has alienated the sympathy of many who were their firm friends in years gone by, but this did not concern the militant section of labour in the least. Having, therefore, got all that it is possible for them to get out of the Arbitration Act, they have resorted to the force of the strike and kicked the arbitration ladder, which has been of so much benefit to them, to the ground, and vowed that it is now no use to them and that they will have nothing more to do with it. This is really the pivot of the dispute as it stands at the present moment. The workers, or their leaders, profess hatred of the Arbitration Act as they hate poison, and the employers insist that any settlement arrived" at shall be binding under; the Arbitration Act. in other words, the employers must have binding conditions of labour, with due safeguards against cessation of work at a moment's notice. There are proposals on the part of certain members of Parliament to end the present impasse by legislation, but it is difficult to see wherein any legislation that could be introduced would prove effective. There is a law at present which is' being broken, and there appears no guarantee that any other law would not be broken also. It might be possible, however, to arrange a conference of the parties to see whether a modus operandi for a settlement could not be arrived at. In the first place, seeing the workers object to the Arbitration Court, find out from the employers what, if any, other guarantee from the workers would be satisfactory to them, and having got thus far ascertain from the worker?' representatives what guarantee they are prepared to give outside the Arbitration Act. The position is a difficult one, but it appears to us that along these lines there might be some possibility of arriving at a basis of settlement. At any rate, both partics would have the opportunity of presenting their case in suck a way as perhaps to render settlement possible, ami lead to legislation that would prove reasonably acceptable to all. The chief difficulty is, of course, that the workers desire to hold in their own hands and at their own option the powerful weapon of the right, to strike, and they are opposed to giving any effective guarantee that they will not strike in defiance of any enactment that may be made.