A YEAR OF UNREST.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1945, 31 December 1913, Page 4

A YEAR OF UNREST.

IN THE LABOUR WORLD.

DECLIKE OF RED FEDERATION.

TRIUMPH FOR THE ACT?

The year 1913 Sins been probably'the most remarkable i:criod in the industrial. history of this country. It lias been a year of practically ceaseless unrest, and at the end of it has come the biggest strike the. Dominion has ever experienced. AVith some reason it may be claimed that the .poriod has marked a most' signal triumph for tho Arbitration Act and tbo gunnortors of it. Certain it is that at tlio beginning of the year the Act seemed likely to b'o utterly useless because moss of the bluest unions of- workers refused to register under it. NoiV t-hcy are ail icgister*-*! under it, and tho employers, oven in the mining industry, which has for many years been outside the scoop of the Act, have declared that thoy v.-ill employ none but Arbitration Unionists.

.syndicalists Olsersititot!. Tho year lias also marked the decline and almost- tbo fall of tbo body calling itself the .Federation of Labour, a body which is controlled by a handful of men who by their noisy braggart spcech had been ablo to attract to their red Hag of anarchy, miscalled Socialism, .1 very large body of workers, mostly unskilled.' These leaders bavo. now lost their .influence. This cannot mean that a very larco number of -unionists have suddenly become wise, for doubtless men will bo found to follow foolish counsels until the end of mankind, hut it does mean that tho workers have been, faced with a new sot of facts not dreamt of in their leaders' philosophy. These' workers may bo cxpcctcd to snlimit—many have already submitted— with an illgrace perhaps, to the yoke of the Arbitration Act, now that they have seen that their prophets have prophesied falsely. To Avoid Dissolution. Until last, year the leaders of tho Federation of Labour contented them-'-selves with boasting, but in tho Wailii struggle tlio body had an opportunity of trying its strength. In that fight they were beaten, and it. appeared that the Federation was in imminent-danger of dissolution by the secession of those unions containing in their ranks a leaven of cautious , men. The. leader's therefore, decided on a bold counterstroke. . They called a conference of all unions, proclaimed their desire to dissolvo their snmller body, nnd announced their desire to form a new giant federation of all the unionists in tlio country, under a constitution to be decided upon at the conference. It was a specious proposal, nnd unions'took-.the bait. Tho conferenco was a large one' but it was dominated entirely, by the | mullahs of red revolution, ■ and somol months later there was roll.sum united. I tho establishment oi an allegedly new j body styling itseif the United ■ Feder.v j tion of Labour, with all. the..--,/.direct. j actionist programme of the oldiFedera-' t:on of Labour and also the j meiifc of a Socialist political party,,with j the loreigu and meaningless stylo bf'.thii Social Domoet ratio party. ,■ No'eneVbiit-,] side the body, however, was' 1 :?, foolish j enough to admit that any. had been founded.. The new. organisa-!] lion was, merely tbo Federation/of ':L:i-'i hour, grown a little,, .'icious, New mesuvi.cr was but., cl>l 1

! large.v3laii.vj i!ig' ; tho'.s. Amalgamated". Socicty: of Hail-, v asServants i.and the,,.Seanien'V rel'usc-d io. bifdrawn into tlso-.whirlpool,,but cei'tarn'menfreputed "wise, among -them Mi'. Edward':..Tre.fi:oar,'.. the gentleman from Milwaukee, 'Ventured in and were overwhelmed, This "new" .syndicalist, body, was ruled by tlio same little party of:...talkers who controlled the 'old..Federation, and sonic of thorn liavo ,heen. ; - before tho.. Courts recently, charged ' with offences ■ against • public order. .- • Tlio Big Strike .■■■■Those leaders^have had charge of the ■strikers' end of the big' industrial upheaval ' recently ended. 1 The events of ic aro so rccent, and so vividly impressed 011 the riiinds of all citizens, whether patriotic or'rebellious, that they scarce need• recapitulation. '.Suffice it to say that-, the''Federation>! throw' .down : the page ivith' a-, light • heart; entered : the lists..with, much swagger nnd insolent talk, and Countenanced violence of 'the most cowardly sort, bul they were overawed into; submission by tlio forces .of law and order with surprisingly Jittlo retaliatory It was. soon evident that tdio.'"rebels'?-had no stomach [ tor hard knocks. Tlio reign of terror ended, it'was an■ easy--matter to deal with the strike. So soon as protection was afforded free .workers, they woro available in plenty, and the ports of tno Dominion are now working rather better than ever before.' Cargo is being handled expeditiously and carefully so that'there are . loss breakages, anil the banishment of undesirables from the waterfronts has 'absolutely stooped cargo.pillage., . ■-; The Slaughtermen. So much '. for tlio.-big strike;" .. There , were others, I :'however, ■■ important..- "in their. ; . way,' , 'but' overshadowed ■■ now by tlio -jjig unheaval. In J; inwary . ... the" slaughtermen in ~ the freezing works throughout the Dominion went out on Strike, demanding an increase of os. per hundred in the killing rate for sheep, or virtually an increase of up war-.ls ot ss. per clay. The oiuplovers ottered an increase of 2s. Gd., ami this the men, voting by ballot, rel used to accept. The employers immodiately set out- to seek new workers, an-d before many, weeJis the killing boards lii all tile works were manned with new bitlcliors,- who fast acquired skill and speed, until at, the end of the year they were quite ,as good workmen as thy strikers. ' The export of frozen meat for the year was reduced by the strike, however, bocauso' the trado is wholly a seasonal trade, in \vhich lost time may not bo mado up later. Tlio strike was interesting from a legal aspect, owing to tlio peculiar finesse attempted by,the strikers* union to evade tlio penalties of the law on the one hand 'and to reap the benefits of it on tho other. They cancelled registration- under-the 'Act"to-

avoid penalties for striking,'and then, when on strike, re-registered to prevent other ne\y unions from doing sb. > This

sehemo,' however, did not' work, for the new unions. were registered and memhers vf them are the only slaughtermen now einolovetl. '

RostiKc Firemen. At 'Easter the firemen on the coastal vessels, who had'been restive and -\er.v .unsatisfactory people to deal with for weeks or months previously, becanio a littlo more difficult, and a few steamers were laid up in eGnstcsueiicc-. Firemen Siro protected by a clause in tho Shipping and Seamen Act, which provides that no person'may go . io" sea as a fireman ' until he bball- bavo served tbreo months as & trimmer. •_ This, with a rigid preference clause in their agreement, gives their union a very strong position, and for months before the strike they had treated. their work and their officers in a somewhat -cavalier fashion. Frequently drunken' men went 011 board ship:;, ouite useless to fako up their proper tasks, merely to fill up the e< mplement icquired by law, Engineers were driven to distraction to find men. The striko was strictly a localised one, afftcting only- three ships seriously, tho Maori, the Regiilus, and tho Jlapourika, but apparency it did permanent good, for there have been fewer complaints of later. months about- tlio conduct afloat ran! ashore of steamer firemen. Tho causes of the strike were different in tho case of each ship, and not at all important. The fact was tliat at the time tho firemen wore spoiling for some kind of a fight, and they bad their fun at tho 'expense of the shipowners and the public.. Tbo disturbance was not in facfc*a big one, but there, was. anxiety at the tiniOi.as to whether it would spread. TllO ercw of tho Maori went back on If ho owners' terms after come four days, and tbo Regulus and the Mapourikit were laid up in the stream for several'months. Other ships had groat difficulty in getting crews in Wellington while"the .trouble.lasted, but 110 inconvenience' ; inorc. than an occasional .postponement ;of. tho sailing hour was. reported.. -'4„..' j. Manno Engineers."

Y-The-marine engineers -^had 1"a littlo troubldy;ivith-thc owners a mouth or,two iaturiVv'They./wanted, a little'better recognition of, their services, and they applied! for';.it/'" ?Their-' doinanda -were refused out-of. hahtl,but-as soon as it was apparent-that :the engineers meant business, the Union - Company took notice, There'was si, a. confcrcnco, over which Mr: Massey presided, and tbo engineers -were given-, concessions very satisfactory-to them, which were 0111bodied in Arbitration Court awards.' A big striko was imminent,' but everything was done dceently and without baste, and thero -was.no stoppage of shipping in the end. Pretention oj the Act. ■ Contrary to tho usual custom, tbo employers '■' have ,in these ' disturbances* used the .-.Arbitration-■:» Actto protest themselves, reversing the process of the previous years of the existence of the ■Act, ■-' when ■ the ' applicants ..- to tho .Court were, invariably: workers. They: wore in this difficulty .•■'■that tho men" with whom ihoy.;were; dealing treated; agreements "as- of no account,? and were I ready to' break thenrat any time. The j employers;-therefore,-have insisted, and: with 'some:'success,hy;that ■ such agree-, mcula ns-t'ney mav in future, make shall! have'the''s'aiictipnVof" law: behind them, ; ■in , ;Wrder';fthatg'thero v 'iiiay;. , :flt' least, bo I .-penaltiesilforilireaclics. of • them bv the-; workers.'- , ,'fhis.'is the. best protection omployersseouid; get!:.;.,j;AVhether tiiey ..regar(H'iiyLs" r ailequa(ojor satisfactory' praieriiou is" not. clear,. but friends of ;t!ic ;arbitratibiiSsyslem^'are :.av for the., present/that thesystem is flu • hi's!.-, offering. . There --. worn 81 ''awards' made'byMhe..-Court - of Arbilra- j ; t ion; during ,tho.. yea r.'-one ctf tho .biggest -j !i!iuib:'r:i'..f!;iiice.;tbe' coming .into .oiieration of-.t<:•' Ac l .. Iterii-,!ration .'of,.unions' ■ lias boon; nernial siiitil tl'.e, last month,-j ;wheirUhe|3%w&uiiinns 2- replacing'cgistercd&;JMpro..unipns, ;df4sean!Mffi(?y in c ay e > to" be:!; r^gistei'ci]