TRADE UNION TRENDS

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21362, 5 March 1941, Page 4

TRADE UNION TRENDS

Trade union members in New Zealand, and they include a great majority of the population, have need to look to the trend of tbe union movement lest it lead them into undesirable complications. Trade union policy is becoming less and less a reflection of the wishes of individual members and more and more the dictation of a bureaucracy. That is not good for the average working man, who should at all costs maintain control of his own union. That is the democratic principle at stake. Of what use would be membership of unions and the payment of subscriptions if the real power to decide the policy of the unions were lost ?

Some time ago the Auckland Power Board proposed to its staff that the money earned through working an extra hour each week should be givqp to the patriotic funds, with a subsidy from the board. Large numbers of the workers petitioned the board to proceed with the scheme, which received official sanction from the Ministers concerned. The scheme was abandoned, however, because the unions intervened with their veto. A most important point at this stage is whether the unions acted for a majority of the members or whether the executives acted arbitrarily. The incident serves to illustrate the danger to which reference has been made, and emphasises the need to ensure that bureaucracy is not dictating the policy of the trade unions. If it were, it would violate the whole foundation of unionism and would be liable to make the last condition of the average working man worse than the first. The workers formed their unions for the express purpose of preventing tyranny. There is a danger of running into tyranny worse confounded.

Union executives are sometimes too apt to regard suggestions from employers as an attack upon the institution of unionism when nothing of the kind is intended. Because the unions delegate certain powers to their executives the selection of those executives is a matter of prime importance. If the wrong men are chosen, the great body of unionists are liable to lose their franchise to some extent. Those who adopt professional control of the unions undertake a grave responsibility. Their duty is to interpret the real wishes of union members and form a liaison between workers and employers and between workers and the State. Workers as a whole, if they are wise, will ensure that the channels are not choked by any undesirable obstacles.