WELLINGTON NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 July 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON NEWS.

Oil! A 1! I SITUATION SYSTEM. ]

(Special to ‘ Guardian ”.)

WELLINGTON, July 0. Under the caption “ The Relations of Capital and Labour,” the bulletin (No. AO) prepared by the Department of Economies of Canterbury College, deals ' with the functions of tbe Arbitration Court, and here we get a dispassionate survey of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. In the industrial relations lint ween employer and employee there is revealed an acute problem over a minor part only of the Held of employment. Nearly threefourths of the wage-earners of Now Zealand are now non-unionists. Kor the remaining fourth alone the elaborate State machinery ol the arbitration system is provided and over a large part ol the liefd of employment they occupy, a fair measure ol industrial peace is maintained. Yet industrial warfare is regrettably common, and is becoming increasingly concentrated in a few industrial groups, such as the seamen, watersidels. freezing workers, and miners. Together they comprise per cent of the total unionists, or fij per cent of the total wage-earners in the Dominion. In the live years 1021-21, out of AO 1 disputes involving stoppages of work 2715 or 0(1 per cent were in these groups. The results obtained by these stoppages were hv no means proportionate to the cost. The HOI stoppages involved a loss of 578,000 working days and of CAT",OOO in wages alone. Of the stoppages 01 were settled in favour of the workers who numbered 1f.221 ; 8-1 were settled in favour of employers, the number of workers being 22.217; 0!) were settled by conference, the workers numbering 8.AH!); and in 101 eases the stoppages petered out without any definite solution being readied, tbe number ol workers involved being 14.952. Once stoppages of work occurred, the arbitration system aided in the setti'emeut of only 5 per cent of the disputes, width covered 2 per cent of tbe workers involved'. The remaining 95 per cent of disputes, covering 98 per cent of Llio workers involved were settled by the parties concerned without resort to official machinery. The arbitration system coniines its investigations to tbe disputes of recognised trade unionists, and takes no part in settling differnces for non-unionists who constitute three-fourths of the wage-earners of New Zealand. The liiillclin says: “ Over this larger field of employment, differences which arise between tbe parties are settled by the parties inline-., diatelv concerned, and there exists between the parties a fair measure at least of understanding, loyalty, cooperation and of those* relations which make for efficient working.” Over the smaller part of the field ol unemployment, that is among trade unionists, industrial peace is less well assured. Thus it will be seen that the nonunionist part,, about three-fourths of the wage-earners, employs no external machinery for mediation but enjoys industrial peace. For the remaining

unionists one-fourth the arbitration system is provided. A fair measure of peace "is secured over about tlireefonrths of this unionist part, but in the remaining small section comprising about ( jV per cent of the total wageearners, industrial unrest is more prevalent and conflict is frequent. Commenting on this the flu I lei in says: " The tribunal of the Arbitration Court

set up in secure industrial poaic appears now to have hut little success in achieving this aim. If operates <oiitiiiiunisly only over a part of industry

where industrial unrest never was common and is not likely to develop in the near future. Over that small part of industry where industrial conflict is more frequent the Court lots tended to promote the organisation of conflicting parties and interests in opposite camps, to encourage the emergence on either

■ >de of -in imlii ti'pai advocate to <\ !mm llio representation of in loros is is delegated. and to make tin: soltlemont of did'erenoes ii matter to be derided by a court of law rather than by agreement between the parties directly concerned.” Wages must come out of production. Compulsory arbitration, unable to escape the effects it has been instru-

mental in creating, probably does more now to prevent them than to create bettor industrial relations. And yet better industrial relations must at all costs be fostered. The standard of living depends almost entirely upon tbo standard of output. Production is of paramount importance, it should therefore he freed from all hampering restrictions hut should ho encouraged by all reasonable intentivos. The Bulletin

concludes: " Unr whole system of regulation of industrial' relations has drifted- far from the original intentions of its authors and has developed in the proces features which retard rather than aid industry in its struggle against present day difficulties. Revision is needed, hut the details of revision cannot adequately lie dictated from any single point of view.”