CAUSES OF THE STRIKE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1917, 27 November 1913, Page 9

CAUSES OF THE STRIKE.

EMPLOYERS BLAMED. An o(lieial repiv has bran issued liv liir- Inderal mil of labour— signed by .Messrs. J. Dowi'rav (aetinii-prosidcnt) tfind I'. Ji. Ilirkov'(secretary)— to the' statement nmdo on Tuesday by tho 10mployers . Kunnors', and Citizens' Dclenee Committee: :-« "If. the gnrbtal inner uraeics of the employers' 'revieiv' is the only excuse lor Hio of (he' present struggle, it is a culling eonimentarv upon the rottr-imcM n f (Heir rase. "First of all, lot it ho understood' that the onus of tho present stpikn. does not vest upon the' workers, but upon the flipping companies, particularly ibe- "Union Steam Ship Company, through their arrogant refusal to deal with tho shipwrights in (heir efforts lo adjust their grievances. The shipwrights of Wellington, be it noted m passing, asked for an aHe rat ion of their working conditions for the first time in forty years, and were practically insulted by tho shipping-trust. It was only after Ibis troublo'aroso that the Wellington Waterside Union Isold a meeting oi its members to discuss the situation.

"Tho employers' 'review' then states that, 'having resolved to strike, tho "Wellington Wai-crsido Workers sank its identity, handing over tho whole' of the strike negotiations to tho executive of t'hc- Federation of Labour.' This statement is false. The dispute was not handed over to the United Federation till about two weeks after the strike eventuated. "This extraordinary 'review' goes on to say that 'that body (United Federation) rejected 'all offers made bv tho employers for a settlement of tho strike, but subsequent)}-, when too late, signified its willingness to accept certain portions of the employers' tonus.' Tliis statement is grossly inacctivato. The <i"Jy terms offered the Federation were the Act, and nothing but tho Act. r It v;as the one and only proposal submitted by tho employers. "Another gem from the 'review' speaks of the Wellington "Waterside Workers' Union, 'acting at (he behest of the oxecutivo of the Federation of Labour,' a statement as devoid of faet as many others in this comical effusion. Jt is a. matter of common knowledge that the "Wellington watorsiders struck upon their own initiative, as' the- employers themselves point out in tho beginning of their alleged 'review.' "Piegardiug the oft-mentioned reference by tho employers to the .Federation of Labour and the waterside agreement,, let, it be understood that tho United Federation of Labour is in no way responsible for what tho ,]ate Federation of Labour may or may'nol have done. The birth of the United Federation dates from July last. Tho waterside agreement was entered into oyer eighteen mouths previously. Since the Waihi strike took place over twelve months ago, obviously, ihe United Federation can have bad no part in that struggle. "It ill becomes the Employers' Federation to Speak of 'no reliance to be place;! in tho written or spoken wortl' of any labour organisation. , A persual of the fines and summonses indicted upon employers for breaches of agreements in the annual reports of the Labour Department bears the most eloquent ' testimony <if their puritanical standard in this connection.

"It, is very apparent that the string of inaccuracies at the commencement of the 'review' is but a. preliminary puff to the declaration at the. end, that the one end, aim, and object of the employers is to wipe out those unions not prepared to bow the knee to them. We, on the other hand, are cqualjy determined that tho smashing of legitimate unionism by scab-created concerns, hatched in the headquarters of the,; Employers' Federation, shall not prevail. The despotism of which the employers speak is all fin their side. Tho demand that unions shall register under an Act that the. laws says is purely voluntary is the demand of a despot. Tlio refusal of the employers to assist in conveying foodstuffs to West-port is, to mif-it mildly, despotism, ; "It is inconceivable that any considerable section of Ihe community will lw misled by tho glaring inaccuracies of the employers' statement. Migh't wo suggest that in future 'reviews' fiction be replaced by fact, for logic and argument, after all, nrc tho best means'of convincing a people. If logic and argument cannot bo , applied, tho wisest course to pursue is-to drop what is a palpably rotten case."