ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5300, 13 January 1947, Page 4

ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER

i s | i | i JJF by chance the eonf erenee | \ between the Government and | the trade union leaders, which is | to open in Wellington tomorrow, | should produce sorae kind of | fovmula for co-operation be- | tween the political and indusi trial Labour fronts, it is unlikely | to bring about an immediate | settlement of the waterfront j dispute. This and all other , points at issue will have to await i the extraordinary conference of i all affiliated unions called by the , | Federation of Labour for Janu- ! ary 21. In the meantime, the i warning has been given that j thero will be further industrial ; trouble — among the dairy faci tory workers in the YVaikato, who, it is stated, expect to come out on Thursday. As the farmers are also reported to have decided not to attempt to man the factories, for the... reason that the butter and cheese is likely to be declared "black," the cows will have to be milked and herds maintained at a dead loss. With all this futility, with the freezing chambers and the wool 1 stores filled to capacity, there comes news of the further extension of the unolhcial transport drivers' strike in England. with the hard-pressed public subjected to more inconvenience I in the distribution of foodstuffs J than it bore during the most | severe stresses of war. On the j international plane, there have I been assurances of a brighter I future for all n&tions, but - this i must be delayed, if not destroyed, unless processes of manufacture and marketing can be utilised at the maximum rate of which the transport services are capable. The higher standards of living of which Mr. Byrnes has spoken, are utterly dependent upon these factors, and they in turn demand a real sense of responsibility by employers and workers alike. The j onus of achieving this cannot be ; shirked by the individual. ! The fundamental principle-in-j volved in these disputes is not whether the unionist expects every grievance to be adjusted1 to his satisfaction but whether the democratic way of settling dift'erences by conciliation or arbitratioh should continue. The apparent lack of moral courage of the • moderatelyminded worker, who does not go to meetings, or does not challenge the- views of the more I militant of his comrades,- is a weakness shared to-day by the community at large, including j the housekeeper. It is true thaF the public can do nothing else excepting through Parliament, ' but do we bring the pressure of ■ informed public opinion to bear on the politicians sufficiently? j This apathy, based on lack of moral courage, has inevitable consequences as ominous as its ; immediate symptoms are un- S pleasant.