The Daily News SATURDAY, MARCH 30. THE ARROGANCE OF UNIONISM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 30 March 1907, Page 2

The Daily News SATURDAY, MARCH 30. THE ARROGANCE OF UNIONISM.

Il is exceedingly gratifying to observe I hat Ui<- New South Wales Arbitration Court have withdrawn preference from the Coal Lumpers' I'niou :il. Sydney. It was cabled that (In- coal lumpers refund to work 'on a Saturday afternoon. They were, of course, all unionists, far it was impossible for the employers '.o "ive work to a non-unionist. Tile freak of these men, therefore, made it impossible for the owners lo get their ships coaled, delayed sailing time, and was otherwise cosily. The lumpers emphatically [possessed the. "whip-hand,'? as all unions of workers with the preference concession have. H is ol tiKursc, illegal for a non, unionist to work when 'there is a unionist bolonguvs to a union that has bid pr'Icrciico granted availal>a'. This preference is Hie very sheet anchor of all unionism in New Zealand, as (lie Trades and Labor Council have said time and time again. (if course their nin.-t be a limit in New Zealand as well as in Australia to Jit. injury and trouble unions may cause by using every selfish end to better their'own position, hamper business and prcvimt men equally enti;.ed from getting a job. In the eyes of a unionist, whose union lias preference, the. non-unionist is little short of being a criminal. It does not matter how he may need work—he cannot get it while the preference to unionists busi- I ness exists. .Tito peculiarity of the position is that while men make a great jtiiss over a breach of the Arbitration law, they wilfully break it when convenient to themselives, as in the case above., the slaughtermen's strike ami the Sonoma bother a few weeks ago. ft is increasingly obvious that this country and Australia are beginning to get annoyed at the absurd attitude of a section of labor and it. is gratifying to observe that Presidents of Arbitration Courts have seen that the destruction of commerce for the whim of a few men who may want, to go to a cricket match or a two-up school is a condition that must cense. It is to he hoped thai "preferred" unions in New Zealand will ipiickly break the law, and so give the T'i resident of the Court a chance to withdraw a lop-sided benefit 'that is an abuse and a shameful pandering to people who have no greater c'aim to consideration than any other class not. imion-lnliollfld.