“NOT UNIONISM”

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 228, 21 June 1921, Page 6

“NOT UNIONISM”

MR. SEMPLE AND HIS CRITICS HARD WORK AND NO STRIKES SOME POINTED REMARKS the miners who have undertaken to drive the Orongorongo tunnel for the Wellington City Council under a cooperative contract have offended some unionists by undertaking to work hard, to avoid strikes and stoppages, and to earn largo wages by giving big results. Mr. R. Semple, well known as a Labour leader and an ex-member of the Parliamentary Labour Part yi is the leader of the co-operative gang at Orongorougo, and he replied to hie critics in a. pointed speech in the Empress Theatre on Sunday night. "Those who know me best,” said Mr. Semple, "know that I have a record of fighting in every industrial fight that has taken place in New Zealand during the last twenty years. Before that I was on the black list in Australia, and I was hounded from one State to another. 1 have never side-stepped a strike when the causa was a real one, and I will never do so in the future. (Applause.) I think that every practical working man who has had anything to do with strikes will not only desire to minimise them, but will wipe them out altogether. No intelligent man who had been through a strike wtints to go through another. I have seen tho wretchedness and the misery they cause. To me tho strike is a nightmare, and I want to see the day when the strike in New Zealand is as extinct as the Moa. This can bo done, I say, by instituting a system which will eliminate the middle-class exploiter. In the job we have on hand at Wainui we have done this." (Applause.) Mr. Semple explained that hitherto such a contract had been let to. an individual contractor. It was said that the contractor was necessary, because he had the brains and constructive genius. He and his friends were out to prove that the contractor was unnecessary Here in Wellington they had a population of 160,000 people crying out for an up-to-date water supply. A plentiful supply of water in summer spelt the very life, the health, the happiness of the whole community. The big contractor .might have come a long, and he would have exploited the ratepayer on the one hand, and the worker on the other He would have been there to set his pound of flesh. He would have £n no use to anybody-the, "personxfloatum of a parasite." les said Mn Semple, "he was said to be essential, ve will prove that he is not. • • • Wi l cut out tho possibility of a strike, and what we aim at is a speedy, elution of the water difficulty. He wid he had been authorised by tile men L lad them in their task and to do Si the battling on their he would not receive one penny than they would receive. He was 01k ' „p „,l when lk« U«. ‘ h «‘ could not do that ho would get out. 4 voice- That is not unionism. . Mr Semple said that the men appoint.dMLi“ P .u ■** ficallv their own "bosses. Lrery man would do his job as rapidly as possibk. There would be no malingering, no golow and no strike "I <ie that there will Uno str ke he ’continued, "because tllere a .'A.. £ there anybody who will say not an improvement oveT t „ n tenrt Do the pe°P lo of Ant to see a strike with all its misery ? There are some of the Labour people who sav that w have surrendered the strike weapon. Of course; we have. no need for it. We want lo get the work -through as fast as we can.

A voice: SpeerAng up. Mr Semple: Yes. speeding up. and I would like to speed up some of yon roosters. Cpme out Orougorongo and T will speed you up. We claim that have not departed from any one of Labour’s principles." The same interjector: Yes, you have, unions are against the contract syst in. Air Semple: There is a great deal of Difference between the competitive contract svstem and the co-operative conera share and share alike. Ilher® is great difference. It i« better than your dirtv c astir on wage system. The interjector: Abolish tho wage sys'<’Mr. Semple: Yes; T have fought for that, and when the workers are roady I ■will do my share in another fight for the same thing. You will not find me lagging behind. Friends, you can rest as mired that there are .no blacklegs at Wainui. We have no room for them. It has been said that our party has thrown over the Labour movement. Such a statement is ridiculous We remain true to the great principles of Labour, and we are prepared to show our practical sympathy if ever an appeal is made to US. . , The speaker said he had just os muc i contempt for the working-oUss loafer as he had! for the capitalist loafer. Every mandat Wainui would be expected to do a fair share of the work. He honestly believed that the contract which had been entered into was a good thing for the community and for the workingclass in general. Workers must have some sort of social conscience. Upon service rosfed the health and. happiness of the people of the country. The men af Wainui had come forward at a time when they thought, they could perform a useful service to the community. "I have said,” continued Mr. Semple, "that we have surrendered the strike weapon. We do so because we have nothing to strike, about. I for one am not going io indulge in a for practice-just for a pastime. If them j, a real strike for a real cause anywhere I will l» in it just as quickly ns tho«e creatures who have criticised me so freely. If we put I his job through half as quick as any contractor could' do it. don’t you think it will be •i good thing for the mon nnd the community? Do you want to sec strikes and trouble and turmoil? Wo are out to give a social service as quickly as possible. Let the workers watch the experiment. We may wipe out altogether the need for strike. At least we will show how this can he done. This is a practical demonstration of (lie fact that the workers do possess constructive genius, once said to he th* monopoly of tho private contractor. When opportunity knocks at tho door, let the worker get in and show whnt he can do. Let us he without (his slandering and back-biting from poisonous industrial toads. Get down to practical methods of making New Zealand a better place for all concerned.”