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The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1920. AN ANTI-LABOUR POLICY

As information stands, the Water- t side Workers' Union, at a general r meeting yesterday, decided that work i should be resumed at agreement ' rates on the cargo of phosphates in respect of which higher rates had t been demanded. This is tho only ' decision open to the union unless it f is ! prepared deliberately and in the [ light of day to assume the charao- t ter of a body which has no respect c for its pledged word and makes f agreements only to break them. It ' is, stated (though the union at time of writing has made no official an- <j nouncement on the subject) that with ; about ■ one thousand members pre- f sent a motion in favour of resuming t work at agreement rates was carried by a majority of over 200, that is to < say, by something like 600 to 400. t Nevertheless, although a limited 1 number of men accepted employment [ yesterday afternoon on the Meikai ' Maru, that shiD was still denied the = full complement of cargo , workers | she needs, and the men who accepted < work were hooted by some other f members of the union._ Apart alto- ' gether from the question of public ( interest—and the position' at the 1 moment is that the Wellington put»- } lie is being penalised as seriously as I ever by the refusal of the water- j siders to observe their agreement £ honestly—self-respecting members of tbe Waterside Workers' Union ought j to find in fcese circumstances good , reasons for setting their own. house i in order. The only explanation of : yesterday's events that offers itself ' is that an "irritation" or "go-slow" , strike is being enforced by a minor* j ily against the wishes of a majority i of the union. In any case, it is clear < that watersidcrs who wish to work : at agreement rates are allowing . themselves to be dragooned into a ( policy which penalises them and | their families as much as other sec- i tions of the community. It is well i worth their while to ask themselves I why they should tolerate a course of . action which works out only to their own injury and that of the general public. _ There are other Labour [ bodies in the Dominion whose mem- ; bers might very profitably conccn- . tratc their '"'attention on the samo I vital question. For instance, it is ' reported to-day that the cotil output : at Huntly and elsewhere was large- ■ ly_ reduced yesterday, and that this j "is understood to be part of a con- ( certed plan of action throughout the 1 Dominion in sympathy with Kiri- ' paka and Hikurangi.in respect of miners'- demands which have not < been conceded." Thus, while j Messrs. Holland and Fraser are mouthing their concern for the families who are suffering through the j coal shortage, and unjintly seeking ; to place the blame on the employers : of waterside labour, their own fol- : lowers are again cutting dr/wn supplies ac the pit's mouth and accentuating the scarcity already created ■ by their ! "go-slow" tactics. Tho spread of such mothods in a conn- ' try in which all possible facilities are.offered for the peaceful and i equitable settlement of industrial ' disputes constitutes-a national problem which evidently must be solved ' if normal conditions of industry and cost of living are ever 'again to bo enjoyed. . . The first step towards a solution would be taken if workers who are cutting down the supply of essential commodities or making them more costly to the consumer by "go-slow" and related methods would fairly consider the consequences of their action, and consider also on whom these consequences fall. Presumably all workers desire the restoration of normal conditions of prosperity in which housing and other essential needs would be adequately met, but nothing is better established to-day than that the tactics pursued 'by considerable sections or organised Labour raise the most formidable of all obstacles to the restoration of normal prosperity and arc doing more than anything else to raise the cost of living and create a chronic, scarcity of essential commodities. Waterside-workers who, are making cargo working more and more costly, miners who are .cutting down the output of coal, and other workers who are doing similar things, are achieving no useful result, but they are succeeding only too well in establishing standing conditions of scarcity and hardship. Given, anything like sound industrial organ-isation,-New Zealand is easily cap : able of maintaining in ever-increas-ing comfort a far bigger population than it holds to-day, but any wageearner will realise that conditions must deteriorate instead of improving if restriction of output and other wrecking methods are allowed to continue. Very notably by_ the reduction of coal output, but in many other ways as well, the industries of the Domiuion' are at present being throttled, and nothing surely is 'plainer than that workers „who actively participate in this policy are destroying their own prosperity as well n's that ofthe general community. Trade unionists, above'all, are vitally interested_ in asking themselves why the policy of so many industrial organisations in this nountry is so shaped as to_ briiig not benefits, but ever-increasing loss and injury to its working population. ' It is certainly beyond 'dispute that t'ie policy of industrial stranguk--1 tion, of which'the hold up on the ' local waterfront is a late and conspicuous example, is as definitely anti-Labour as it is anti-national. ! It is a policy under which the mem--1 bers of industrial unions are duped ' and befooled into cutting down their own prosperity while inflicting similar injurv on the public generally. It would be mere madness to -uggest fruit organised Labour would ever j make progress by such methods towards any desirable goal.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200826.2.11

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 285, 26 August 1920, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
948

The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1920. AN ANTI-LABOUR POLICY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 285, 26 August 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1920. AN ANTI-LABOUR POLICY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 285, 26 August 1920, Page 4

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