Union Affairs

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 100, 14 May 1937, Page 7

Union Affairs

"NOT COMMUNISTIC."

OLD LABOUBITE,

(To the Editor.) ' Sir, — After reading the letter under the . heading. of "Lemocacy v. Communisrn, ' ' ± think that at least some of the other side should be made known. Of late, Mr Jeiuuings has made use of your valued paper to place the affairs of the Hawke's Bay Workers' Union before the public, and by the tono of the contributions he is the o'nly man that ia helping tho workers of Hawke's Bay. Yet it is Btrange that he is not receiving the backing of the men he is striving his utmost to assist.- ! Perhaps it is .becauee of the Communists, . and then, again, perhaps it is not. When Mr Bellerby. was secretary, Mr J ennings tried very hard to get Wellington to take over the Hawke's Bay union and, on Mr Bellerby being dismissed and Mr Jenning3 being asked to stand, he quickly accepted the olfer, an.d then he fought against the Wellington union very strongly. Now he is once again turning to Wellington. lf "Rank and File" had attended taat meeting in Napier, he would have noti-ced that Mr Kay did not vote on the motion, and as there were twenty at that meeting, and only five voted, two for and three against, surely this gives an indication just what the f ealing of the meeting was concerning tho motion put forward by Mr Peter Butler, of Wellington. It seems that "Bank and File" considers that half of the workers of Hastings, and the whole of the Napier men, are members of the Communist Party. Surely it is time "Rank and File" consulted a doctor to see if his head is O.K. Perhaps "Bank and File" remembers when Mr. Jennings led the "hunger marchers" from Gisborne, all of which belonged to the N.U.W.M. At every town the "red flag" was carried and the song most sung by that mob was the "Bed Flag." (Is not the N.U.W.M. a Communist movement?) In conclusion; I hope to see a great muster of workers present on Saturday afternoon, when the question of "rank and file" control will be settlcd, and perhaps all the washing will be quite dry and plaeed away on the shelf. — Yours. ete..

Hastings, May 14, 1937.

Sir, — Reading in your paper this uvenring, I consider there are a few unliuths in the letter over the nom-d.e-plume of "Rank and File" that I would be pleased if you allow me space to point out. llrst, Mr. Cummings is a member of the Napier branch of the N.Z. Labour Party and was the General Labourers' Union delegate to the recent Labour Party Conference. He is ajso a member of the Napier L.R.C., and whoever "Rank and File" may be, he delinitely should be sure of his ground before he makes the wild statements that he had rnado dn his letter. Regarding last Sunday's meeting, the position again was not as- stated, the position being that Mr. McKee moved and Mr. C. Jennings seconded a resolution that meant in effect that Mr. H. Kay should be asked to withdraw alibel suit he ds bringing against Messrs. P. Butler and C. Jennings as a result of a slatement publishcd in a recent issuo of your paper and further circularisvid Avithout any authority of the union by Mr. Jennings to every member of the union. * It appeared most remarkable to me that, as one so vitally concerned in the comdng libel suit, Mr, Jennings should second this resolution and vote on it as he did. The actual voting was 13 to three against the resolution, and four refrained from voting because they considered the legal action was a personal matter of Mr. Kay's. We who know him best know quite well that Mr. Kay, the Napier branch secretary, has eontdnuously worked in the best interest# oi the General La-

bourers' Union — yes, even before Mr. Jennings came to Hastings. The choice before the union as it appears to me is as follows: Efficiency or Inefficiency? and Hawke's Bay Undon or Wellington Union? — Yours, etc.,