The Guardian And Evening Star, with, which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1928. CONTROLLING LABOUR.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 October 1928, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with, which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1928. CONTROLLING LABOUR.

The? Prime Minister- of the Common•weaith has set about the task of endeavouring to control organised La.ibour. He appears to have created a mild sensation in waterside circles in the Commonwealth by his proposal that all waterside workers should be licensed. To those who have followed tlie happenings in shipping circles in Australia in recent years, the action of the Prime Minister does not appear at all unreasonable. The constant dislocation of trade and business through the hold-up of shipping does as much injury to unionists in various classes of employment as to the shipping and business interests directly affected. All sections of the community are prejudiiced thereby. IVhat Mr Bruce proposes is that all waterside workers shall be registered and licensed. So long as they observe the terms of the award under which they are engaged all will be well. If they fail to do so, then their licenses may he cancelled and they cannot work on the wharves. There is nothing wrong in that. It surely is in the public interest that where industrial agreements' aTo entered into or awards of the Court made, they should be loyally observed and the dislocation of transport services minimised. To describe the proposed step as “conscription of labour” is a confusion of terms, and is no doubt designed to arouse feeling in Labour circles in antagonism to the scheme. The proposal is new, but it is nevertheless inevitable if law and order are to be maintained satisfactorily. It is all very well to have an arbitration law, but unless its provisions are respected it is of no value—it is worse—it is a delusion. There cannot be two Governments at the one time, and it is now a question whether the constitutional authority should rule, or an irresponsible union or unions through tneir leaders, should he the self constituted authority to say or unsay who should work, when, and for what remuneration. What Mr Bruce has proposed is a statesmanlike method of asserting and maintaining lawful authority constitutionally. Tt does not assail unionist principles beyond limiting the right to strike unconstitutionally. All that the law allows the unions in wages, hours and conditions are to he maintained, but the members must also be licensed under the controlling government, and observe the law constitutionally. Tt is a simple and equitable arrangement if the workers through their organisations will be fair and loyal in the matter. It will he recalled that some few months ago Mr Bruce declared that the system of compuTsorv arbitration could be continued only if both sides obey the law, which must

bind and be observed by both sides—otherwise the system must go. In tho present fnn of control and regulation, Mr Bruce is serving Laibjpur as organised, a good turn, for he is avoiding the alternative of doing away with arbitration. Labour professes to want arbitration and if so it must be prepared to accept the decisions of the system. Actually the system has worked wonders for Labour, but the union organisations prefer to revolt against the awards where they are not acceptable to the rank and file, and we see to what extremes they are prepared to go to express their dissent and prevent the law taking its course as it must do if the country is to be lawfully directed, and there is io be fair play to all concerned. As the Christchurch Press puts it: For some years now it has been realised both in Australia and i\ew Zealand that compulsory arbitration can easily be made binding in the case of the employers, but that as far as the unions are concerned awards are, difficult and sometimes impossible to enforce. The unions have not hesitated to take advantage of this fact in the past, hut the action of the Australian watensiders is so flagrantly unprincipled that it should make the community pause before returning to the old system of industrial agreements. No country can tolerate indefinitely the spectacle of a section of the workers flouting at their convenience a law that was passed for their own benefit. Arbitration to be effective along the lines intended must be compulsory, and there is the necessity for the machinery to. make it compulsory, Mr Bruce’s proposals are along those lines. Labour is not robbed of anything. It still retains all that the system of arbitration affords it, and should rejoice that in th-w difficult times of unemployment there is the assured opportunity of regulated employment under the law of the land, properly and legitimately safeguarded.