A STRIKE COMING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1252, 7 October 1911, Page 5

A STRIKE COMING.

Bid INDUSTRIAL UPHEAVAL WORKERS TIRED OF THE COURT. LABOUR LEADER'S OPINION. The statement mnde by tho Hon. J. A. Millar in tho House of Representatives yesterday in which i ho admitted that tho Arbitration Court had failed to achieve iu full tho purpose for which it was intended has caused employers pud labour leaders to think more than a little. When the Arbitration Act was first made law, unions crowded ono another in their eagerness to register under it, but, nowadays, as Mr. Millar admitted, the larger unions were one. by ono cancelling their registration until presently there would 1)0 nouo left. His opinion was that tho causo of tho, defection was tho constitution or tho personnel of the Arbitration Court, and ho thought confidence in tho Court might bo restored if someone of great industrial experience, not a lawyer, were made president of it. Mr. E. J, Carey, Labour candidate far Wellington North, when asked by a representative of this paper to state his views on the Minister's statement, declined to deal with it at length. Ho said that the subject had been exercising the minds of tirades union officiate for eorao thuo, and that ho was prepared to speak on tho subject at his next ejection meeting on Monday. Labour, said Mr. Carey, had a constructive policy ou tho subject, more far-reaching than a mow change- of tho personnel of tho Court as indicated by tho Minister. TOO LATE. Mr. M. J. Renrdon, Labour candidate for the Hutt seat wasmoro communicative"lt is not tho Act so much as the. .Tudjje of the Court that is creating tho hostility that is now apparent," lie said, in answer to a question. "Unfortunately tho Minister has discovered tho true position too Into. The agitation from the Labour side against existing conditions has now developed until it lias become an agitation against arbitration. Primarily, it was an agitation against the decisions of tho Court. From this it has been an easy transition to tho conclusion that arbitration is not as good as tho strike, and in view o£ Iho fact that the majority of tho workers in Now Zealand liavo had no, nractical experience of the strike for tho last twenty yeare, tho new creed is being swallowed. "I am satisfied that nothing that is now done by Parliament or by anybody else will stall off the impending disaster of a strike. My own opinion is that it will come about the end of the present year, and that when it does coino it will not bo among thoso who have condemned arbitration so much, but among men who luivo given tho present Court several trials. This view as to the early occurrence of tho striko is not shared by a good many in tho Labour movement. Ihov think it is rather farther away than that —probably fivo or six months hence. "An arrangement had been mode to place tlio decisions of tho Trades Conference before the Prime _ Minister, but unfortunately owing to his illness this had to be postponed. I had been, entrusted willi tho task of dealing with tho grievances of the unions against the President of tho Arbitration Court. I felt that tho (ask was an extremely painful one, but still wo are all agreed that it is ono that has becomo necessary. ABOUT CANCELLATION.

"What I think is duo to happen is & very serious industrial upheaval, and then it will bo for tho Parliament of this country to determine whether tho Act will be retained for the protection of unskilled labourers and women .workers, or, whether tho action of thoso who havo endeavoured to wreck tho arbitration system is to be allowed to prevail. 'Of course, wo realise that there aro certain unions that ca.n act unitedly and independent of protectivo legislation. They can havo their agreements observed by resorting to forco, but there aro many organisations not so situated., ,If these workers had not tho'force of law, 'behind their industrial awards, free contract would prevail as between master and employee. And this would bo to the dfctriincnt of tho employees in those trades. "My opinion about tho cancellation of registration of unions is that tho unions who_ take this step ought to havo some consideration for tho classes of labour that are not independent of tho law, and that while they aro probably warranted in withdrawing from the Act, sinco they fuol they can do better'outside its scope, they are not warranted in creating an impression that the strike is preferable to arbitration, for New Zealand experience is in tho contrary direction. "I hope that tho Arbitration Act will be retained, but whether or not any. alteration is now niadp in tho personnel of the Court, I am satisfied that wo can't undo tho mischief that has been done in the Inst thrco years. This can't be undone by anything short of a striko, and a strike will surely come. "The fact is that every nnion in New Zealand is distrustful of Judge Sim, and having once made up their minds about this, they look round for a better method. Then they hit upon tho strike. Tho striko notion has got into their blood, and nothing wo can do can preveut a strike from happening," ■ . . ■ CONCILIATION COUNCILS OP NO VALUE. What do you think of Conciliation Councils? "Tho Conciliation Councils are, in my opinion, no better than the old boards were. They aro of no practical valuo at all, They Have shown some results so far, for the simple reason that the unions come out. for now conditions with tho full knowledge that they aro only wiistinjj their time in going past tho Conciliation Council. They know they need hope for nothing from tho Court, so they lako what they can get from the Conciliation Council. They have simply accepted conditions—short of satisfactory—wliich they knew they could not improve on by appeal to tho Court.

"Yes, I belicvo in a permanent Court. When yon get men on tho Court acting only for a solitary case once every few years, they don't appreciate tho weakness of their own terms, whereas men who nro experienced understand more exactly tho points of a proposed agreement. Also, there would, under a varying Court, bo a difficulty iu securing uniformity of conditions.

EMPLOYEES SAY NOTHING. Mr. W. Pryor, secretary of tho Employers' Federation, declined to discuss the subject, saying that Iho Advisory Committee of tho federation proposed to consider tho matter. The lips of other leading employers wore sealed for a similar reason. From general remarks let fall by some of them, however, it would appear that they are equally us sure as Mr. Kcardou that a big strike is coming, and coming soon.