To the Workers of the Dominion.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 73, 2 August 1912, Page 8

To the Workers of the Dominion.

For throo lnont'is the Vaihi strike find Reef ton lock-out havo been in operation.

Despite unprecedentedly unscrupulous attack upon the miners involved, unci upon the organisation of which they are a part, the men and the Federation were never more solid nor more determined. Statements to the contrary notwithstanding, the miners of AVailii and Reefton tire fighting the , good light of Unionism and fur the working-class. They arc enduring hardship for ciplePractically all the minors of Xew Zealand nre supporting their i'ollowminers in trouble. 11 is grant!. If, say, the Jxjoimnker.s or e.'uponi.'ns were on. strike, and Po to f>s per cent. «f oitlier .trade concerned uplu-ld the strike it would I:a accepted as .strong ovicl'-mv that- the- strike way necessary. AVhy not r< , :!'./.in similarly in respeel to tihe mine)?? The practice of on'.ani.vd labor., in every part of tin , world, has invariably boon to wish success to men on strike and to help them win. The workers everywhere know that a defeat of o"e section of the workingclass is n !>i;';ius to ill:' continued oppiessioii of al) t!i ,% v.orking-class. ll' a sirik■■ ;■ !■ isi. Ilio victory is to iJk: employ , a if') exploitation. These alone iiiiaii'-inliy '.mmiHu. AVlien a strike is won, capitalistic oncroaciiir'-nt is givn a sot-back and the standard of subsistence of all the, workers preserved. Thus, the great principle of workingclass Solidarity has impelled universal acceptance of the creed that "an injury to one is the concern of all." In regard to the strike and lock-out more than meets the eye is at stake. The trouble is not only a protest against the violation of agreement's by the miue-owuors, not only a campaign

against ' b'igus" unionism, not only an insistence upon tho right to legally cscapo arbitnUion, but also a fight against a sweating contract system and an increased dcalli-ratc.

The risks peculiar to mining are not generally understood and tho questions at issue are largely technical —but the disease and death which have come of miners' complaint must have been generally heard of, and there can be no workers but who know of the added dangers to limb and life caused by callous ' •speeding-up" in the interests of dividends.

Much is to be said of the various aspects of the disputes—such as arbitration, agreements, bogus unions—but it cannot be said in a brief article, and therefore- the workers are urged to diligently read Tick Maojuland Wokkkr and to hear Federation of Labor spokesmen on the subjects.

The miners want nothing so much as the truth to be known.

Fighting as they aro the mine-owners and their allies the federated employers and associated press; fighting as they are decisions of the Crown Law Office sooner or later likely to hit hardest tho unions not with the miners; fighting as they are tlio Trades and Labor Councils, who have basely deserted industrial fundamentals —lighting those and additional influences, tlie miners of New Zealand, affiliated with tho Federation of L;\bor, aro putting up the greatest light in our workingclass history, and will never give in. At this hour everything looks better, financially and otherwise, than three months ago. Not only have the miners themselves grandly rallied to the aid of those on strike and locked-oufc, not only have other animations responded creditably, not only have some unions outside the Federation of Labor refused to be fratricidal, but Australian unionists have pledged "themselves to render aid as lorn; as may be necessary. If several unions wiLhin the .Federation of Labor have sided with tho Trades Hall Councils' onslaught upon industrial action that is no new manifestation in working-class experience. The few, however, hardly number hundreds —the staunch number many thousands. "When the forces against the Federation are remembered, it must be conceded that the grandest sign for work-ing-class advancement and ultimate supremacy in New Zealand is the impregnable solidity of !)5 to 98 per cent, of 20,000 Industrial Unionists. The giving has been so generous— many unions vicing with each other to make the 10 per cent, levy a record — and the support so striking that unconquerable hope is lending wings to Victory. "Within a few days a pamphlet dealing fully with the disputes will be issued. Meanwhile wo again declare wit!i Marx: "Workers of the world, unite —you have nothing to lose but your chains; you have a world to win." Unite, then, in tho Federation of Labor!—for working-clas3 emancipation, i