INDUSTRY’S GREAT PROBLEM

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21584, 21 November 1941, Page 4

INDUSTRY’S GREAT PROBLEM

Too lightly and superficially the conference of the New Zealand Federation of Manufacturers touched upon the subject of relations between masters and men in industry. While it is encouraging to note that the problem is engaging intelligent attention, it is still evident that both sides in industry have not yet fully realised that the establishment of harmony between capital and labour would supply one of the greatest contributions to the success and permanency of the new era that will follow the war. Increasing numbers of men and women are coming to the conclusion that the tactics of the ostrich are no longer in the interests of the individual or the nation. Industrial relations, the most prolific cause of the modern world’s ills, must be brought out into the open and tackled manfully and objectively. No nation which is divided against itself can reach full stature, and the same applies to a business or an industry. The solution to which all men look is the one that will cause all the people concerned in a business, an industry or a nation to strive for a common objective. Unless that objective is reached there will always be two extremes, a divided house and constant cause for strife. It is, of course, much easier to state the problem than to suggest the remedy, but realisation and acceptance of the framework of the problem mean substantial progress towards achievement of the solution. Neither master nor man, by and large, is satisfied with industrial conditions as they are. Then let them face the difficulty honestly and sincerely. Not one side alone but both must gain from the effort.

Those who scorn a reasoned rapprochement—those among capital who wish to continue to squeeze every ounce of profit out of industry without regard for the consequences, and those among labour who are prepared to extort the last penny out of capital in the form of wages with equal recklessness—are merely confirming their intention of carrying into the new world one of the worst features of the old. Britons on the whole are sensible people, and good sense is not confined to any one class. The Empire now has an oustanding opportunity to strengthen and rejuvenate itself by solving without resort to the violence that is racking many other countries, the problem that is the root of most of the modern evils. Britons do not want Fascism, Communism or Nazi-ism. They want a sane middle course that will render justice to all classes. How is it to be done ? What conceivable remedy is there apart from giving both capital and labour a satisfying interest in the fruits of their united industry ? What sense is there in having capital viciously triumphant in this decade and labour in the dictatorial chair in the next ? Serious men and women on both sides of industry are today applying themselves to the task of bringing order out of chaos. New Zealand has taken one Important step in establishing a Chair of industrial relations at the University, made possible by the generosity of a Hamilton citizen. But speed is essential, and if both capital and labour are alive to their own interests—if they look into the future—they will see to it that the process of ascertaining and removing the causes of discord and extremity in politics is expedited. Let there be no mistake that both capital and labour have a contribution to make to their mutual future.