A History and a Review.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 75, 16 August 1912, Page 5

A History and a Review.

Together with an Exposition and a Defence of

Federation Policy.

On Monday, May IS, 1912, the Waihi Workers' Union held a mass meeting *-over 700 prc\sent-*-and carried, with three dissentients, the following resolution; — "That tho mining companies bo informed that tho members of this Union have reused work until such time as the now Engine-drivers' Union disbands, and thai, all enginedrivers and firemen employed on the field be compelled lo become members of our union.' , Ou Tuesday, May 11, the people of New Zealand were made aware of a big strike being on. It was the sensation of the years. Within a few days a lock-out was in full blast at> Reefton. Sensation upon sensation. Now that they had got what they wished and done their hardest to provoke, the employers' organisations and their press puppets were happy. Nevertheless, the henchmen of Capitalism and the papers of Capitalism began screaming of the Labor Federation's dictatorship tyranny, coercion, danger and immorality.

But how came this strike? How came this lock-out? What had the Federation of Labor to do with the trouble? We shall see.