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Hokitika Guardian, 18 June 1928, Page 2

The Cooks’ Strike in Australia lias ended according to .tke cabled hows, but.it is doubtful if the rancour and bad feeling engendered will yet be at an end. It is regrettable that unionism which lias done so much for labour, has drifted into the control of such extrnvgant leaders. The men at the head of many unions contrive to hold excutive positions though they are quite out of joint with the real opinion of the unionists. The leadership in the cook’s strike, judging by its aggressive character throughout, was not in conformity with the trade union opinion generally. The strike broke down primarily because of the lack of support from other unions, the assistance of which, was essential if there was to lie a complete tie up of the shipping. A complete dislocation was what the leaders of the Cooks’ Union aimed at. But the seamen and watersiders failed them, as also did the stewards, engineers and officers, so ca-_ pitubvtion' was inevitable. The cooks’ leaders whether agents qf tjie cpm s

niune system or not, were bent on a complete hold-up—a stand and deliver attitude brooking of no compromise or of no' way out of the impasse other than at the dictation of the unions. The ordinary and legal channel of the arbitration law had 110 place in their creed, and like one of the Now Zealand Labour leaders they were prepared to consign all legal agreements to a hot place for immediate consumption by the flames. This aspect of the general Labour situation is worth studying because it is appearing in various countries. Dealing with England a writer says that: “To-day there arc well-trained and well-drilled agents of a. Communist movement centred in Moscow, who are subsidised to a greater extent than any other political party in Great Britain, busily engaged in sapping at the foundations of our established society. They aim at controlling the trade unions, and, if possible, the co-operative societies, and their hope is, by working under camouflage of the Labour Party, to achieve a favourable opportunity to bring about a revolutionary’ coup. It may seem a forlorn hope, but it might, at a moment favourable to its mischievous ends, at least shake our delicate mechanism of national life into ruinous chaos.” It has been declared very often that money from tlie same source is finding its way into Australia. New Zealand must needs he careful of its Labour leaders, and the unionists should demand from them an expression of their loyalty and regard for the law. For arc they prepared to flout the law and by their demalnour and particularly silence at critical moments, encourage a state of affairs harmful to the nation at largo. This is not a bogey, it is a. reality in some countries', and New Zealand should he kept clear of the same men-