The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1913. UNIONISM AND SYNDICALISM.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 278, 21 November 1913, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1913. UNIONISM AND SYNDICALISM.

Tor the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that nteds resistance, For the future ir. thi distance, And the good that tee can do.

We believe that all ri.zht-thinking and f reasonable men and ■women in the com- E munity, including the great majority of the workers themselve-, must approve r o; the action taken by the Executive c of the Carpenters and Joiners' Union, in ; declaring that so far as it i= concerned - the strike lias closed. Mr. Hazell, the t secretary of the Executive Board, has j come up to Auckland oa a special mis- t sion to make it clear to the members E of his union that the strike has never r been officially sanctioned, and to urge , that the men should return to work at r once. It eeem3 that the local branch : of the Carpenters and JoineTs' Assoeia- f tion declared a strikn heTe without r consulting the Executive, and were j maintaining it in defiance of instruc- j tione from headquarters. It is natural ! t that a powerful, -well-established, and ;. wealthy labour organisation like thi3 j r union, which, a3 Mr Hazel pointed : ■ out. during the fifty years of its 1 8 existence had expended f4,000,0001 in benefits to its members,- and j paid £60,000 a year in superannua- 1 , tion, should decline to hand over the [ control of its affairs and the direction '• of its policy to a body of irresponsible | ( agitators like the heads of the Federation of Labour; and xc have no doubt j that the great majorty of the workers i in this union who have been deluded I into striking agree vith their secretary that they are quite capable of managing : their own bu3ine3a without such inter- \ ference. The Executive has, therefore. decided that thi3 unauthorised strike j shall be declared off', and that the offices ; of the local branch shall be handed over j to their representative, who is to carry • out instructions ' from headquarters. After this, all members of the society j who continue on strike do co oa their | i own responsibility and at their own risk. At the same tine, wane the Executive Board of the C arpentere and Joiners' socijty objects ;r> being dragged into a 6".r;ke without its own consent -by the Federation of Labour, it ;e not a-t ail ! .nc'ined to «v,-de its responsibilities toward the strikers. Mr. Hazell has already propcsed that a large donation I should be given from the eociety'e funds to assist tb» families of the strikers, and that a eubstantial levy be raised | from all numbers of the society for the | ! tame purp *c. Aβ we have frequently ■ I pointed ou:, euch a method of rendering financial assistance to workers on strike is infinite iy the me*: effective way of showing sympathy for them. It is surely sf if-evident that when men down tools * > chow their eympa-thy for strikers they need a!l their resources to keep taemselves going, and they thus | at one" deprive themselves of the power ; to assist their neighbours. As Mr. Ramsiy Ma-cDonald said recently in a lette" to the '"Daily Xews," which has been widely quoted already: "The sympathetic strike is always defended on the ground that it helps the men invo'red in the original dispute. But that is exactly what it does not do, and never c: n do. We may go farther than this, and j aiy that when, through the extension ; of the sympathetic strike, trade and j ndustry are paralysed, and the workers :hernselve3 are reduced to destitution i and starvation, it becomes clear tha-t the j ■ sympathetic strike is not only destructive and futile, but from the workers' standpoint it is simply suicidal. It is damaging to employers with whom the men have no quarrel, far-reaching in the injury which it infiicta on wage-earnes not concerned in the strike, and ruinous to the industries upon which steady employment and the prosperity of the community depend. After all the floods of vituperative and melodramatic nonsense that the heads of the Federation of Labour have poured forth of late it 13 a great relief to recognise in Mr Hazell's appeal to the Carpenters and Joirjere something of the robust common sense which was once supposed I to be a general characteristic of British workers everywhere. It Ls perfectly true that the Syndicalists have never done anything for the workers, and that nothing but misery, poverty and ruin follow in their train. And it is simply because Syndicalism is wantonly and pitilessly : J destructive that a strike carried out on ' I such line 3 most effectually alienates from the workers the sympathy that they might otherwise secure from the rest of the community, and induces so many people to regard them as the declared enemies of society—like the I.W.W. and kindred anarchist organisations. Such, a result i 3 in every way deplorable, and if the workers are wise they will make every possible effort to obviate it. We regret to see that even in the local Carpenters and Joiners' Union the prejudice so assiduously fostered by the Federation of Labour against the secret ballot still exists; and a good deal of opposition was I raised to Mr Hazell's extremely reasonable suggestion, that the workers should . ' decide by vote to support either a rontiimance of the sympathy strike or the ' levy of a contribution to assist the -trikers. But now that the Executive ! Board of this powerful organisation has definitely decided against the sympathy ; strike and all its attendant evils, we j hope that the common sense of the i workers of Auckland will prevail over

the delusions nourished by She infia.ni- : matory preaching and teaching of the Federation of Labour. We may point out, incidentally, that the Carpenters and Joiners' Society has just concluded with the employers an agreement that gives the men 1/6 an hour and 44 hoars per -week, and the men stand to lose these Tery substantial advantages unless they are wise in time. But we have good hope that the unionists here, who have indulged in this mistaken sympathetic strike, will now realise that they are inflicting upon themselves and their city hardships and injuries that the rest of the workers of New Zealand are not inclined to share, and that they will refuse any longer to sacrifice themselves for no good purpose by persisting in this misguided policy. A majority of the timber workers tbjs morning followed the example of the carpenters and joiners by accepting the invitation of their employers to resume work, and the city mills are once more tee ecene oi busy industry. We hope that the tramway employees will follow the prudent example thus eet them as soon ac the company is in a position to resume the city services. They are working under an independent agreement, which i 3 admittedly the best oi its kind in Xew Zealand. Their Ireedom of action is in no way challenged or rnertac€d, for they are neither undeT the Arbitration Act nor connected with the Federation of Labour. All the other tramways in Xew Zealand are in operation; why theti should the whole com- ! muaity of Auckland be specially penal|ieed because o: a dispute in which they are not directly concerned-, and have no powerto settle? It is specially wrong that Auckland should have been singled out lat the present time, when a work conj ceived in the interests of every class, ' and which hae occupied two year 3in its I development, is on the eve of successful : achievement. If they persist in an [ unjustifiable action of this kind, the 1 tramway workers will undoubtedly es- ! cite a strong public feeling against their 1 organisation, and prejudice the very ■ amicable relations which have hitherto existed between themselves and the ; management. The Auckland tramway ! service ifl now deservedly popular, and !we hope that the common sens* md I public spirit which have hitherto characterised the large body oi men engaged in conducting it will lead to a sensible I decision upon the issue now under I consideration.