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Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2015, 26 February 1907, Page 4

labor and arbitration. WILL Till? ACT BREAK DOWN ? “In view of llio slaughtermen's strike, what is to bo the future of arbitration in tbo colony?” was a question put by a Post reporter to a promiuont Unionist. Tbo Unionist’s answer turned out to bo an interesting commentary on tbo Act, and provided food for much careful thought. In the first place lie stated there has been lor a long time past intense dissatisfaction with the Arbitration Court, which, it is charged, has not studied the peculiarities of the various trades and lias not scrupled to give less wages than the employers originally offered. There is at present, be said, an organised effort being made to unseat Mr. Slater, representative ol Labor on the Court, and Mr. Al‘Cullough has been nominated by the Wellington Trades Council to the conference that is to ho held to consider the (|liestl'oil ol who shall represent Labor on the Court. p Then again then l is a feeling abroad, he said, that the new President of the Court, Judge Sim, is the last hope of the svstem. It comes to this that if the Court is to be a success it will have to take cognisance of the economic conditions existing m the different centres. In Wellington you will notice that Unionism is most militant, for the reason that the purchasing power of wages and the general conditions of living are very different from what they are in other centres, although, perhaps, employment is slightly more continuous. There must be some basic principle to act upon determining a wage. One of the chief objections of the workers to the Court ha'S been that according to their views it ignored the increased cost of living, and yet that very same argument was brought forward as a reason for increasing the judges salaries. If it was a reason in the case of a thousand a year man, it is surely all the greater for increasing the salary of a man who at present is making fair headway for the Old Men’s Home. “What does that mean?” he continued in reply to another question. “It means that during the recent years of industrial poacc the unions have been piling up huge sums of monev; many of the unions have trebled, some have quadrupled, the amount of their capital, of which a good deal is invested in the Post Office Savings Bank. Many of thorn feel that if the Court will not award, them what they would obtain under tiio natural conditions of commercial bargaining it would bo better to liave. a trial of strength now, than wart until times are less prosperous. Besides, a good (leal of the prosperity of tlie colony is based upon speculative values, which act as an additional burden on the workers. The Court has not lifted their wages eommensurately with the prosperity enjoyed by tlie various industries; it lias merely held them down while the capitalists exploited thorn. There has, of course, licon a slight increase, but nothing compared with the increased cost of living- . “It is a common saying among the workers, “said the Unionist, in answer to a further query, “that the only way to get an advance of wages is to withdraw the registration of the union and adopt measures in vogue before the Act was passed. I don’t think, however, that the ‘Fat Man need worry until Judge Sim has had a fair trial, but there is the point to ho remembered that his is a life appointment, while in the case of the previous Presidents there was always the hope that a change would be made.”. . . , , ~ “What is the union s view or the present strike?” was the next question. “So far as I can see it is this, was tlie reply. “The company has paid enormous dividends, and the more generous of the shareholders have proposed advances and concessions to the men, which, however, the majority of the shareholders have refused to give. The court must deal with the causes of strikes, which are to a great extent economic, but it has never attempted to do so, nor has it recognised skill or physical disability in making its awards. To make the Act a workable measure, so as tto prevent strikes for all time, to give it the full backing of public opinion there must ho a minimum wage established by the Act itself. There must ho a definite principle laid down to assist) the Court to determine wages, and also to guide to unions as to the principles on which disputes will ho settled. Skill should bo recognised,and there should also he a recognition of the principle of profit sharing. “If the Act is properly administered,” he went on to say, “it may exist for all time, but if it is administered on the same linos as it- was by the ex-president it will inevitably break down within three years, because the air of the Labor camp is charged with electricity. Olio way out of the difficulty would bo to make the office of president elective. It seems to me that' to make a judge the balance of the Court is wrong. His whole training and experience are against the probability of his having a knowledge of the technicalities of ordinary industries. The Act has strengthened the unions and protected journeymen by. restricting the number of apprentices, but as to materially improving the condition of the skilled artisan it has done comparatively nothing. There is no feeling against the Act, but there is a strong feeling against the way in which it has been admiiiistered. Every Labor man I have met feels that arbitration is better than industrial war, and we realise that tho workers are the main sufferers in the event of such a war, but if it is not properly administered it must break down.”

Turning again to the strike, the Unionist said it was morely the revolt of a number of men who were dissatisfied with their present conditions and feel Mint it is bettor to suffer intensely now than continue to exist under these conditions.”

“Supposing the Act. does break down,” ho was asked, “Then wc start again stronger than ever before.. The unions are all wealthy and there would ho the most gigantic industrial struggle that has ovor taken place in the history of the colony—lß9o would bo a fool to it.