UNIONISM QUITE A RACKET

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 142, 3 July 1937, Page 8

UNIONISM QUITE A RACKET

Labour Position in U.S, Almost Out of Control N.Z. . MAN'S IMPRESSIONS A New Zealaader's impression of certain aspects of the political sitiuation in America was given members of the Hastings Rotary Club yesterday afternoon by Dr. M. R. Hudson, who is revisiting Hastings, his home town, after an absence of six or seven years in and about San Francisco. He provided an unusual insight into the political situation behind the maritime and other strikes which have featured so largely in news from America during recent years. Mr. Hudson said at the outset that the people generally were disgustod with the Hoover administration. which it was strongly contended was dictated by Wall Str-eet. The iutroductioa of the N.R.A. by President Roosevelt caught the popular fancy, and was intended to take care of the emergency situation that had ardsen and of unemployment, particularly in the mid-west States. "There is no doubt the Act did a lot of good," he said. "It helped considerably to cut out what may be termed 'slavery^ by raising the salaries and cutting down the hours and generally toning up conditions. With the decision of the Supreme Court, which declared many of the important measures invalid, there has been a retura to the old conditions of throat-cutting, ' ' Mr. Hudson instanced the case of the chain stores where the hours of work are 12 to 13 a day, including Sundays, and the wage was from 20 to 25 cents an hour. Cost of living was ever so much higher in the States, he added, than in New Zealand. The N.R.A. did deal strongly with them. During the second. election campaign, the speaker said that President Roosevelt's proposals were strongly opposed by the big industrial and other business concerns. He was down on big business and out to cater for the small paid people. However, practicallyevery one of his platforms had been xepudiated since his election, or had been sidetracked, or even reversed. Touching on recent strikes, such as the General Motors strike, Mr. Hudson said that .these could have been settled in a very short time but for one princple involved, and that was the sole bargaining right. There was introdueed an Act which called for tho unionisation of staffs, but there was one big difficulty to be faced in that thore was £io means of arbitration as in otnor bountries. Reosevelt's Sympathies. "There cts little doubt that Mr. Boosevelt was and is eympathetic wrth the strikers," he said. "He wants to be able to retire from office as tho great champion of the Labour cause. For all that certain happenings have resulted in Labour losing a lot of sympathy with the public generally." The shipping strikes, for example, resulted dn the tying up of some 174 vessels for about three months on one occasion. Ships called at the port, but had to return wi,th their cargo uutouched. To have even assisted to unload necessitous cargo, or even mails, meant danger to limb and even life itself. The shipping strike paralysed a nuuiber of cities and towns, and even now the effect of that stagnation period is still felt in certain. communities. The man who took the leading role in the maritime Btrikiing was an Australian named Bridges. He was a wonderful orator and a very powerful factor in politics. He was drawing a salary of some 12,000 dollars a year, and his present ambition was to not only control the shipping business but also the truckdng business, which is a very big affair in the States. Mr. Hudson made brief mention of other leading personalities occupying prominence in the labour disputes. Mr. John L- Lewis, the leader of the C.I.O. (Committee of Industrial Organisatdon), represented the very radical element, and he had announced that he would have Mr. Henry Ford "under his thumb" by November next. Mr. Ford was an uncompromising opponent of unionism, and defled the Boosevelt Administration by not joining up under the N.R.A. As an in-« dicatdon of his attitude to strikes, Mr. Hudson mentioned that on one occasion at Richmond a, strike was called for a Thursday. Two days later the men were informed that if the works were not in operation on the following Monday, they would be closed down altogether. On Monday morning the strikers were back on the job. Most people in the States were looking with interest to the fight between the Ford and Lewis interests. "Quite a Racket." "Unionism in the States is quite a racket," said Mr. Hudson. "Money comes fast in it. I knew a fellowstudent who spent a short period organising unionism and ho collected 30 dollars a month for his labours, and he liad not the sliglitest dnterest or syrnpathy with his partioular section of tho communiy. There are other eimilar cases. "The whole labour position is pretty well out of control," he said. "They are mad with control and the general impression is that President Rooseveit hue lost control. If there was to be another election now he would not gain as many votes as he did against Lyndon, but it would want a much strouger man than Landon to stand against kim. Rooseveit has a great personality and he has an appeal for the working man."