SAWMILL UNIONS.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 26 November 1901, Page 4

SAWMILL UNIONS.

(To the Editor).

Sir,—la a recent issue of the "Argus 0 , and under the heading of “Lake Brunner Notes” appeared several very misleading and erroneous remarks regarding the local Sawmill Unions now being formed.

The correspondent states that the EinpL.iyers bav« formed a union to combat against unfair m amres introduced by the employees. Now in order to have a voice in the Concil iaffoi Board, the members of whic- are 1c «d by the Industrial Unions, it will be seen that it was absolutely necessary for the employers likewise the employees to form and take steps to register their respective S iciety’s under the Arbitration and Concili i i m Act, after which they would bo in a position to combat against unfair demands.

Then on the other hand it is extremely unlikely that any intelligent society such as the Employees’ Industrial Union would even attempt to place unfair demands before the Board to deal with, and the Union does not intend to do so, What the unfair demands or measures are the correspondent has failed to state. He is unable to see how a union would benefit the workers, a- all appear to be satisfied with the present rate of wages, which it has never at any time been proposed to attempt to amend. As to the organisation being of no benefit to the employees, such an assertion is ridiculous as is obvious to any level headed and intelligent pa-son, that in the timber trade the mutual interests of employer and employee are concerned, in fact one of the first rules of timber worked unions is “to foster and encourage the industry as far as possible,” while another reads “to assist employers in every reasonable and just demand.,’ It will therefore bo seen that the object of the West Coast Timber Workers’ Union shall be as far as possible to maintain the existing condition of the Industry. Then again he says that the employees in this locality are very luke warm about joining, but it might interest him to know that nearly all those who have not already joined have signified their intentions of immediately doing so, and if he has an axe to grind I don’t think he can persuade the mill hands here to turn the grindstone.—

Unionist. Lake Brunner, November 22.