GAGE TAKEN UP

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5284, 21 December 1946, Page 4

GAGE TAKEN UP

npiiE Order-in-lC'ouncil giving the Minister of Labour plenary powers to deal with the waterfront dispute is not a step forward in the attempt to find an early solution. It has merely set aside the Waterfront Industi"3r Commission, which was invested with all the legal authority- necessary to implement its decisions and has brought the union — and by implication the Federation of Labour — face to face with political instead of judicial judgment. What Mr. McLagan is supposedly up against is made clear by the national president of the union, who declared that if the Prime

; Minister wished to challenge thej industrial movement (this I phrase is significant) , the union ( would regretfully accept the ! challenge. Mr. Barnes further alleged that the union had atrall times been prepared to arrive at an amicable compromise. The long letter of the Prime Minister to the national secretary of the union disposes of this last contention and makes it clear that Mr. Justice, Ongley's p-ronouncement did not run counter to,any of the principles on which the union wasibasing its case, 1101* does Mr. Fraser cohsider that any of the matters discussed were incapable of settlement on the basis of those j general principles. If his letter ! means anything; it asserts the I competence of the commission | to deal with all points at issue | and it leaves open the door for i further negotiation under its j auspices in such terms that a rej fusal by the union would merely j underline its present intransi- ■ geant attitude. Therefore, the Order-in-Council at this stage is meaningless if it was intended to use it to bolster up the authority of the tribunal, and in the view of most people, it derogates from its status. In his appreciation of the j points at issue, Mr. Fraser points i out that far from'" Mr. Justice l Ongley's pronouncement being | against the main points of the men's claims, it was in fact a lucid and temperate approach to an improvement upon them in some respeets and offered a measure of security under. the guaranteed wage that would have removed all the disabilities' suffered by the industry on account of the casual nature of the work, while allowing it to retain all the advantages " o'f ; lengthy periods of highly remunerative employment. A minimum of £25 for A grade workers and of £21 for B grade men, with the addition of bonuses, also includes, Mr. Fraser points out, allowancd for reasonable absence. There is also an assurance that the proposals for an annual holiday of two weeks will receive favourable consideration. The accommodation and amenities at main ports are matters for the Harbour Boards and eiforts to effect the improvements sought will be undertaken. Mr. Fraser makes it clear that the cancelling of the commission's powers " will entail the 1 abandonment of the contracting system, under which the workers have reaped considerable benefits. He does not go any further in indicating the futur.e ,of the industry under the old method of engagomept at bureaux, nor does he neea to do j so. Those who have been n/embers of the union for more th'an * half-a-dozen years will realis'q what .the abandonment of cooperative contracts would entail. It is idle for the union president to cry poverty and provocation when, as everyone knows, there are hundreds of men in other occupations awaiting the opportunity to enter this most favour-

' able class of employment. H the present union were deregistered, one of equal strength could be enrolled overnight. Mr. Barnes knows this; he also must lmow that thts would mean the industrial snuffing out of Mr. Barnes, so'^he would be well advised, in the' interests of Mr. Barnes, to cut i.out the barnstorming and shovr a reasonable f ront.