REASON FOR THE STRIKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 276, 19 November 1913, Page 7

REASON FOR THE STRIKE.

REVOLT OF ARBITRATIONISTS. FEDERATION NOT RESPONSIBLE. "At his stage of the industrial struggle that is now raging in Auckland and in other parts of the Dominion." says a proclamation issued by the Central Strike Committee to-day. "we feel that it is advisable to again ask the people of Auckland to give -orae consideration to the merits of our local dispute. We submi' thai it is not unreasonable to suggest tliut 12.000 men do not go on strike for mere mischief. No on,- appreciates more keenly than does the worker the suffering that must inevitably follow a sirike. and. in spite of intolerant asscr ;ion- :o the contrary, he does not take this linal step without very seriously weighing the consequences to himself and i , tho-e dependent upon him. as well us \" .ii! whose materia l ! interest.- are concerned in the industry of which his labour is o vftaJ factor. But there comes a time when the conditions of his labour 'become, or threaten to become unbearable, and there is no course left open to him but to make tbe only protest that the limited assets of a working man pliable him to make-—namely, to withdraw ihe labour that is his only possessi, ,n of any real value. "We invite all reasoning people to give the consideration that ought to be given to the fact that, of all the unions of workers now on strike, or in active symp.it'.iy wTTh the strike, only two are iinion- which are outside the scope of the Arbitration Act. The Waterside "Workers' Union is registered under the Trades Union Act. and the. Tramway Employees' Union is an organisation tiiat stands entirely- alone, and is not associated in any way with any- other body of workers in New Zealand. The Waterside Workers' I'nion, and the Auckland Drivers' Union (the iattcr being registered under the Arbitration Act), and the Stonemasons' I'nion. are the only unions in Auckland which are in any way connected with the United Federation of .__bour. "ihe tramwaymen. the seamen, the carpenter.-, the enginedrivers, the timber workers, the painters, the bricklayers, the furniture-workers, the shipwrights, the hotel and restaurant workers, the brewery employees, and the general labourers, are all (with the single excep tion of the first named), arbitration unions, and all lrave kept aloof from the United Federation of Labour. And yet they are all, as unions, on s-trike in Auckland to-day. The Federation is not responsible for the present sirike. The -inions above enumerated have nothing lo do with the F"ederation. and they have plainly stated that at the conclusion of the present trouble they will settle their ->«n affairs without interference from the l-'cdiTJUon. -" The general strike was the direct reSuit of the appearance on the Auckland waterfront of a force of special con-f-tables. in the pay of the Government, to compel the water-ide worker- by physical means to register under the Arbitration Act while the Trades Union Act is t-till good law. Compulsory arbitration i- n i longer the only industrial law of tlii- country. It ha- lour- been recog-Ui-e.i that tho Arbitration Act and the Arbitration Court were urgently in need of amendment, and existing legislation provides the means whereby unions may 1 vancei their registration under this Act. Nevertheless, the bulk of ih" unions, as j has been show-n. have preferred to pre- : -crve their constitution mid. r ihe Arbi- ' tration Act. and to accept as genuine thp repeated promise- of the ''ovcrnment that the much-needed amending legislation would be introduced. The bill that 1 was placed before Parliament by the Massey Government showed a total lack of sympathy with the conditions of the worker-, and even then the unions were prepared to trust that constitutional methods would bring about the improvements they have been wafting for so long. • | "The deliberate and intolerant attempt, however, to force compulsory | arbitration upon a section of the workers i was the last straw. Even arbitration union- were not so satisfied with their j conditions that they were preip3Ted to remain idle while another union Icon- | Etituted according to law! was being j broken. Tbe present crisis is a revolt of j arbitraiionists. The broken promises of the Massev Government leave us no , alternative but to believe that the in- ] tention is to force all unions under an ] intolerable Act. Even if it i- too much i to ask for justice, we can at least a-k •or the law to be administered as il already stands upon the -statute P.ook. " It is ridiculous for ill-informed people io say that the Federation of Labour wants to nu this country. The unions -lave already answered that question, -nd there are no severer critics of \-nour organisations than the workers themselves. We feel that it is unnecessary to refer a: length to the strike at Ttuntiy I*.-- we believe that the Huntly pien alres.ii possess the almost whole-i»-art(-.. J =--n>-a_iv of the people of this town '"