World Of Work

Maoriland Worker, Volume I, Issue 8, 20 April 1911, Page 8

World Of Work

(Coi-LAT«D BT "BLOCBCAIBN.")

"BUT FOR ONE." "I am but one J What can I do? What use when it's done?" — Cry the thoughtless many, the selfish few, As they watch others doing the work they should doj Am they watch others bearing the load they should bear, Aβ they see others daring the strife they should darej Winning the battle their craven hearts shun, Doing a work that ne'er would be done, Beginning a task ne'er had been begun, But tor one ! "I am but one! ,, So's the first thread the spider has spun; So's the raindrop commencing the shower; So's the second beginning the hour; So Marx was but one, and his truth inspired pen Set fire to the hearts of millions of men; One thread of a web ne'er had been begun, One tick of the hour that ne'er had run, One flag for a Cause ne'er had greeted the Sun — But for one ! Verily we make haste slowly. It is .iorty-fflve years since Karl Marx wrote : Trades Unions work well as centres of re&istance against the i encroachments ol : Capital. They fail partially from an injudicious use of their power. They fail generally from limiting themselves to a. guerilla warfare against the effects of the existing system, instead of simultaneously trying to change it, instead of using their -organised forces as a lever for the •final emancipation of the Working Class, that is to say., "the ultimate abolition of the wage system. J?orty-five years! And Trade Union secretaires are content still to waste iJieir time and the funds of their unions in limiting their action to a -guerilla war against ' "effects," instead of organising to strike at the Cause. Melbourne Wharf Labourers have decided not to handle goods manufactured by the boss implement makers Tsrho are at war with the men in the Victorian capital. Thus doth the industrial conscience grow. A Toronto message of March 23rd .states that financial interests are preparing to put up a big fight against •the striking coal miners of Western Canada in the hope of permanently breaking the union. We often grumble at the geographical ignorance displayed by London journalists when writing of Australia and New Zealand. The cables in the press announcing a strike of the employees in Singer's Works at Glasgow ...veals the fact that said ignorance .applies al&o to their knowledge (?) of Scotland. Singer's workers were rexnoved from Glasgow to Kilbowie more "than twenty-five years ago. Since then around the Dumbartonshire village a j town with double the population of Wellington has grown up, called Clydebank. But the cable man errs in good -company. The London "Times" referring to the securing of some large orders fby Govan shipbuilders eaid: — "And now all Tyneside is joyous with -the merry ring of hammers!" Govan, with 200,000 inhabitants, is to Glasgow what New town is to Wellington, -»vhereas the Tyne is in Northumberland, England. An industrial agreement has been .filed with the Clerk of Awards at Wellington, the parties being the Wellington Farmers' Meat Company and the Slaughtermen's Union. The Farmers' j Meat Company carries on business at j Waingawa. The agreement is substan- ' tially the same as that entered into as the result of the industrial dispute between the union and the companies in 1910. The Farmers' Meat Company started in business since that award was made, but it voluntarily agreed to ©übscribe to its terms. Despite the doleful prophecy to the contrary of "friends of Labour" the Victorian Timber Workers won their strike. The men are to get Is 3d an ■hour and special rates for overtime. The employers have given an assur-

Notes on Labour at Home and Abroad

ance that non-unioniats will not be employed unless in cases where unionists are not available. This agreement will hold good until November, 1913. la Saul also amon. the Prophets? Mr. M. J. Reardon, Avhose growing militancy we mark with pleasure, before the Wellington G.ty Council committee, sitting on the question of the Council's labourers' demand for an increase in wageSj said: — He had patiently listered to the apologies of the Council's delegates. He could only express regret that he had not behind him then a small body of men within walking distance of Wellington. The Council would not then taunt them Avith the Arbitration Court. Councillors and the general public knew that whether or not the Arbitration Court was doing its Avork justly, it had lost the confidence of the workers from Auckland to the Bluff, and as long as that position remained they could not get a satisfied body of Avorkers. More power to ye, Michael] Thus does the Army of Revolt increase. Mr. W. T. Young, secretary Wellington branch of the Seamen's Union, says : — Until 1905 the workers in Neat Zealand still retained their right to strike if they did not accept the Court's award. But since that right has been taken aAvay it seems almost impossible to get anything from the Arbitration Court but mere unmitigated insult from a gentleman oeupymg the highest position in the Court. O'Flaherty, of the U.L.U., has no time for Arbitration Courts. Speaking at Renmark he said : — Arbitration Avas only coercion on the part of the capitalist class. He had stated that he would keep on asking for increases until they were getting 16s a day, and added that they would keep on until they abolished the Avages'system. They told the leaders what to do, instead of letting their leaders tell them and as they grew stronger they would rule the tpolitical world, instead of letting it rule them. A telegram from Auckland, dated April 7th, stated : — At the last meeting of the Auckland Drainage Board, it was decided as the result of a request by the Auckland General Labourers' Union, to set aside a portion of the drainage work to be carried out by day labour. This is stated to be the first time in the history of Dominion Unionism that this has been done. The claim in the closing sentence is not correct. Day labour under Wellington City Council has been tried more than once and was found most successful. Two instances recalled were the building of the chimney of the destructor, when the cost Avorked out at over £300 less than the lowest tender; the other was the wood blocking of certain streets, where the saving amounted to a feAV pence per yard. It is hoped the stating of these facts will not be taken as "another injustice to Auckland." Speaking at the Congregational Union meeting at Hobart lately, the Rev. Handel Jones 6aid : — Working men were abvays prepared to take a maximum of pay with the minimum of responsibility and risk. Well, isn't it wise to be prepared for the best once in a while, even though it never comes? Even with the help of his union the worker finds difficulty in getting hold of the maximum paybill. A union demand hasn't half the luck of a "call" from God. An exchange tells us: — The Queensland Railway Department hope to be able to minimise the labour difficulty" in relation to the construction of the big trunk and other lines. It will be machinery in place of men. A kind of "plough" has been adopted by the construction branch for unloading waggons containing material. A "ballast spreader" and plate-laying plant are also under construction. Special trucks for carrying ballast are also under way, and attached to these will be the "plough" or

patent unloader, which will do in five minutes what it would take 30 men half an hour to shift. Surely, the doing of work by machinery instead of "minimising the Labour dimcuity" ia more likely to maximiee it by increasng the number of unemployed ? True, it will minimise the wages bill, and after all the difference is only the point of view. To the employers of Labour the wages bill is the Labour difficulty. To the worker the increase of the unemployed is the Labour difficulty. Railway workers in Victoria are moving in the direction of forming a union which will embrace employee* in all branches of the service. They are tired of craft unionism, Bays the Brisbane "Worker." The Labour Council of New South Wales has set its face against the multiplicity of craft unions. The other day it refused to admit as an affiliated body the Builders Trades Labourers' Union on the ground that it clashed w.th ,the United Labourers' Union. The Builders Labourers were advised to get into the United Labourers' Union. Wellington Trades Council go thou and do likewise. A sudden strike was fought and won in less than three and a half hours by 400 longshoremen employees of the French line Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, New York, recently. The strike was launched by a number of Italian workers because the company "held out" on their wages Tuesday, which was pay day. The foreman, who took the complaint of the men to the company, was promptly discharged. The rest of the longshoremen, mostly ir.&h and Americans, then showed their solidarity by joining the small group of Italian striicers. Vv lien tne entire crew of 400 men walked out the company at once changed front. It paid the men the dollar and a half which it kept back the day before. It reinstated the foreman, and promised to pay the men for the time they were out. After three and a half hours peace, that is, activity, came. The strikers returned to work feeling pretty good over their quick victory. The award made in connection with the demands of the Auckland branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and .Joiners was placed on the file of the Court on the 10th inst. The principal point of difference is that the minimum wage has been increased to Is 4_d per hour in the case of ordinary journeymen, and to £2 17s per week of forty-seven hours in the case of journeymen employed in factories. The union asked to have the minimum increased to Is 6d. The award Avill remain in operation for one year from May Ist. Judge Blackmar, of the Supreme Court, Brooklyn, U.S.A., in making permanent the injunction restraining the Carpenters' Unions from injuring, even directly and inferentially, the business and goodwill of the Newton Company Avas punishing the Class Struggle in the persons of its Working Class -epresentatives. But that did not prevent .Judge Blackmar from recognising the fact of the Class Struggle—recognising it not indirectly and inferentially, but directly and explicitly. Said Judge Blackmar: — Capital and Labour unite in production, and between them must be di\'ided the fruits of their joint efforts. Each is desirous of increasing its own share and this is necessarily at the expense of the other. From this results an economic warfare. The forces are marshalled against each other — capital in corporations managed by directors and labour in unions managed by councils. Judge Blackmar accounted for the continuance of the Class Struggle in the folloAving Avords : — This struggle often creates waste and imposes hardships on the rest of the people; but such things society endures as the price of individualism. Had he said "capitalism," or the "continued existence of the capitalist class," instead of "individualism"' —a vague philosophic term of caoutchouc quality—the statement would have been quite correct. And we entirely agree Avith him Avhen he says that: — Fortunately, the Avarfare is subject to municipal law, and society is strong enough to impost its terms on the combatants. Certain methods and weapons the law permits. Others it prohibits. Fortunately, that is, for the capitalists, they are as yet strong enough to impose upon the Workers the conditions under which they may wage their <vide of the Social War.