The Kaitangata Climacteric.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 71, 19 July 1912, Page 7

The Kaitangata Climacteric.

Matters Moving Swiftly. After a long period of apathy, wo now find matters moving swiftly in our little village Kaitangata, with a population of fifteen or sixteen hundred human beings, can boast of about seven different religious denominations, two secret societies, one friendly benefit society, and for a while two'benefit societies in connection ■with the mines alone, and now two unions. With regard to the two benefit societies that were lun by the mine's the position was somewhat'the same as with the formation of the opposition iMiion. HcWOver. the opposition benefit society flourished for a while like tie- proverbial green bay tree, but latterly it has fallen on evil days, and at present very little is beard about it. It may bate lad some merits, but th" worst feature abotit it w'.-is the fact tb.it it was formed practically through the spite held by one man against 'a member of the original society, and because the unfortunate member alluded to was one of those who seem to be singled out by fate to be always meeting with trouble, it was suggested by those who had spite against him that lie was meeting with accidents and getting injured on purpose. Itntay have been ,so, bill all the same the man does not seem to be a lunatic, not by any means. However, as before stated, it seems as if the no>\ society is not now in as- much favor with our workers as the old one. Registration of Arbitration Union. Then came the registration of a union under the I.C and A. Act in opposition to the Otago Coalminers' Union. At the time of registration it could boast of perhaps 20 finan-.-ial members, and of these 20 only a portion—and not a very large portion at that—wore coal liewi rs actually cmploved as such. of Demands. This arbitration union had ' such a sensei of its own importance as to call meetings to draw- tip a reference to present to the employers, for the purpose of binding all the rest of the employees of the two mines. The union did draw up a reference, and has presented it to the employers. 'Hie Otago Coalminors' Union lias also drawn up a set of demands. It lias likewise presented them to the company and asked the company to meet it for the purpose of die-ending the, demands with a view to dr.au ing tip an agreement. Visit of Directors. On Wednesday, July 3, the directors of tlie company came to Kaitangata and met representatives from the Otago Coalminers' Union and later on thoy met representatives irom the arbitration union. Their purpose in coining to Kaitangata was supposed to be to decide which union they worn to deal with. However, the answer that was handed to the Otago Coalniincrs' Union

Federation or Arbitration.

By SPECTATOR

was to the effect that the company intended to deal with the arbitration union and not with-it; that they preferred legally-enforceable agreements, with the nsnal stock phrases used by the employers generally. It was peculiar, though, that'their answer was dated July 2,, a day before tliey came to Kaitangata to make up their minds. Thus it was plainly to be seen that they liad.no. intention of meeting us, but meant all aloug to turn us down. The Company gets a Surprise. The position was now serious, and if we were to exist at all wo had to do something to show that if we were going to bo ignored we were not going to take it without a kick, in return. The es.eeutive of the union met that same evening and decided to call a mass meeting of members of the Otago Coalminers' Union for Friday. July fl, at 2 p.m., and advised,that they thought, in the interest of'tho union, that members should take a shift "off to attend the meeting. Friday en mc round, and the company got the.-surprise of its life, because in the largest of the two mines only something like 20 men turned up. officials included, and some of the men who did turn out only went down be-e-niM> they were shitt men, and then only on the distinct understanding Hint they were coming home at a half-shift. A Splendid Meeting. We bad a splendid meeting, from 150 to 170 In ing present,' and after the position bad been explained to the meeting by the president nnd secretary ot the union, the members unanimously endorsed the action of the executive in calling the meeting. A motion, was then carried, without a dissentient voice, that the action of tho directors was viewed with indignation by the meeting, and it further expressed the conviction that if the directors did not, within tho ensuing week, recognise the union, then more drastic steps would have to be taken. A deputation, consisting of Messrs. Jas. Simm, W. Stephenson, W. Crowe, Jno. Hoard, and It. N. Itidd, was appointed to convey tho opinion of the meeting as contained in the resolution, to the manager for him to put before his directors. This the deputation did on Saturday, and were informed that an answer would be given within a short time. Unanimity and Solidarity. The way our boys responded to the call was a pleasure to witness, and made the arbitration union appear to bo anything but a institution. The meeting was practically all of the. one mind. Certainly one old gentleman thought it was not right. !o show s>e little consideration for 't'he company as was dene by asking the producers of wealth to take a- day off to consider their own business. However, he was tho only one who objected to losing the day. But, fellow-workers, it was just the tiling, that meeting; it certainly marked an epoch in the industrial history of Kaitangata. It was likewise a very solid piece of education to the employers. They were under the delusion that the men of Kaitanga-ta wore all spoon-fed unionists, and that they would bo afraid, after being under the shelter of the Arbitration Act for so long, to assert their manhood. But they were, mistaken, and were shown in no uncertain way that if they entered or tried to enter into negotiations with the arbitration union our chaps were going to kick —and bard at that. Whatever reproaches may have been made against Kaitangata men in tho past, it can be safely said that if they only live up to tho standard set at this meeting then all necessity for abusing them as, not being gootl unionists will bo effaced. The Employers' Taciical Blunder. Then, Again, the company played right into our bands on the Friday night. In spit© of tho fact that thoy are unable to supply their orders, they caused the horn to lie blown for an idlo day on Saturday. Potty spite of this sort does no good to the party which shows it. but, on tho contrary, like chickens, it comes homo to roost. It was a huge tactical blunder, and had the effect of further stiffening our comrades for whatever wo have to meet. Again, tho few shiftmen who have to go out on idle- days to do repairing work, were sent home on Saturday morning because they had the impudence to withhold their labor power for one day to attend to tho business of their tin ion.

We Don't Want to Strike, but— Rut it is all for tho best for 'be haidcr the boss trios to hit us, the more solid our comrades become. It is only by making them realise that in unity alone they can gain redress that we can make Industrial Unionists. The harder the Employers try to hit us, tile stronger we become; the stronger tho opposition, the more vigorous we get, We do not want to strike, but if the existence of our union is at stake, we must take every step within our power to protect it. If a strike does come, it will only be because the company wants a' strike. Then our ot»h< r branches are all solid behind us, and are prepared to do anything they aro asked to assist their comrades at Kaitangata. Oh, it is splendid to' have, to deal with men of the calibre of our members in the outlying branches of the'union. AA r e fee] sure, too, that if (lie gauntlet is thrown down by the employers oiir 'comrades in other pans of New Zealand who compose the redoration will not turn us down. The second week of July will probably toll a tale one way or the other. If the employers want a fight here we will know it by then. And if they do. they will fiitd that we have men in Kaitangata who can show as solid a front to the enemy as in other parts of the Dominion. Membership of Arbitration Union. It is commonly and persistently reported that the arbitration union numbers amongst its members men who. ate. what could be termed business men in Kaitangata, and it certainly does contain some who are not even employe, k of the N;Z. Coal and Oil Company, and who are employed elsewhere. Rut anything to make numbers and to try to justify themselves in attempting to wreck the Otago Union. It is sale to say, too, that many of the men alio urn involved in the arbitration union would not be in it at all if it were not for the spite held against some of the officials of the Otago Union, and especially against Secretary Itidd. Baseless Accusations. The number of baseless rumors that are being.circulated against Secretary Ridd is astonishing. Among other liethat his enemies have set in motion is the story that' he was leaving KaiUingata, and thus acting the part of :- shirker in leaving the union in the lurch when it was most in need of help. He is accused of being a liar, behi.id insback ; of not entering up moneys lie never received, and generally of be eg of no account. The intelligent unionist, however, recognises that when the enemies of hia union accuse an cilicuil of being unworthy of his position, the said enemies would not do it if tiny thought it was true; becatise, if an official of a union is a waster, it :s j.•.-1----tho thing that would suit the opponent« of the union. The bigger waster the official is, the sooner will he bring, the union to grief, and tho quicker he brings the union to an untimely end the belter friend he is to the opponents of the union. Rut if, on 'lie oth< r band, the encores of the union see t"at an official is a force they have to reckon with, they do not hesitate to blackguard him for all they are worth, am! the more conscientiously the official does his duty, the more bitter do the enemies of the union become. At all events, if Secretary Ridd is compelled, by any ft of circumstances, to leave Kaitangata, ho will not be afraid er ashamed to cuter any other Miners' Union _n Australasia or elsewhere. And it is possible that many of bis detractors would get a very misted reception if their actions in Kaitangata were known, when they have to seek admittance to a .inion elsewhere. Newspaper Lies. The enemy has been very busy m the newspapers of late in an attempt to ridicule -on.- union, our methods, and our membership. When wo said we had about 180 financial members, they retorted by saying we had about six. As to membership our mass meeting answered them and hurled the lie back in their teeth and rammed it down their throats in no uncertain way. All our members were not present either, and it might be a little bit of pleasant news to our arbitration friends to tell them that we enrolled nearly 20 ne>v members between pay-day and rm week-end ; nearly as many as their t0.;,! financial membership. Awakening of Members. To sum up, our little brush on the Friday has awakened our members to the fact that thoy are members of an industrial union. Many were asleep before that day, but a new era commenced then, and the. change is pleasant to see. They now- realise that to prevent trouble the best remedy is to be ready for it, nnd not to be apathetic and just waiting for something to turn up.