PEACE AND UNDECLARED WAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5282, 19 December 1946, Page 4

PEACE AND UNDECLARED WAR

! . « _ ^ ^HE false facade of industrial peace that shored up the Government's C'astle of Com- | munal Content during the I election skirmishing has begun ! to gape pretty badly. The first ! suhstantial bit of the structure , was painted out by the still life j artists on the waterfront; the | second has been holed by.Cabinet . itself. There rem'ain a few bits : and pieces but the trend to- . wards a very troublous New ! Year is too apparent to be ! ignored by any but the .most ! ignorant or most inexperienced. j The waterside workers have | done their part to extract their i f'ull demands by strictly legal" I but nevertheless contemptible means. The Cabinet's Order-in-Council, framed with the best of motives — peace at any price — nevertheless runs counter to the schedule of the Factories Act governing the payment of overtime rates and the Government nominee of the Dairy Board, Mr. W. E. Scott, has resigned in protest. The effeet of the modifieation order is that, although the dairy industry is a seven-day •industry, workers employed on Sundays and holidays, notwithstanding their hours of employment, come within the 40-hour week, and they will be paid double time for all work up to eight hours on the days mentioned. The Employers' Federation has submitted that this i move is an encouragement to militant unionists to seek to gain. their objectives by direet action, that it makes a farce of conciliation and arbitration and expresses the opinion that there will be far-reaching repercussions. The decision of the Cabinet has had the effect of the strike threat in the^ Waikato factories being withdrawn, so production will proceed pending the continuance of the negotia-t-ions, and the necessity for the j suppliers working their own factories has been postponed, if not obviatfed. While this much has been gained at the sacrifice of statute law, the watersiders continue to nullify the production effort by employing every device in. their almost watertight award to hold' up the trade of the country and the British Commonwealth and to hold the real workers of the Dominion to ransom. A f&w lads who are worth their salt, offered to do their bit in the loading and unloading of cargoes in Auckland; they had to be dismissed because they were under 21. The extent to which these minor mikados are prepared to go to demonstrate their power and impress the gaping multitude which maintains them was shown by another farcical application of regulations, when only a score or so men were allowed to be conveyed in the "pool 4n launches licenced to carry 140. x % Neaiiy 5000 sacks of potatoes arfived in Auckland this week after having lain in the ship's hold for three weeks subaequent to their being loaded at Timaru. The vessel lay in port five days before unloading commenced. Naturally, part of the shipment has deteriorated and will ziever reach the market but the watersiders are winning "dirt money" for handling what will be a loss to the consignee. The main hope for a settlement seems to come, not from any new rule of reason but from the lack of the customary spending' 'money at the festive season.