MR. ARMSTRONG'S PROMISES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 22, 27 January 1937, Page 25

MR. ARMSTRONG'S PROMISES.

"We didn't compel you to go to the Arbitration Court. Nd union has been compelled to register under the arbitration system. You wanted to do it. You submitted your case with'jjrour eyes open, and the ink is haTdly dry- on the award before you.wpn't accept itl - Because of a penny dn sd you Would have a social revolution. would destroy the prospects <jf. the Working class . . ." This extract froni your leader on the stay-in strike is good propaganda for the Hon. Mr. Armstrong; Let us, however, go a little further,: and We find that, this is so much eyewash .for the general public, "See what a strong man am-I''' kind of business. Mr. Armstrong also said that if the men did npt get from the conference what they wanted 'he would pass special legislation. He also said that he appreciated that it was asking much of the men to dicontinue theirr "stay-in" tactics before any demands had been conceded and without the Minister being in a position to make promises.

He did make promises. First he promised a special conference, and secondly he promised the men that their grievances would be adjusted, even if special legislation had to be passed. Had he said, "You fellows are breaking the law; unless you call this strike off, I will instruct the Department to take action against you; I am not prepared to talk matters over with you until you do so" ■ —the men would still be there. We all know what really happened. The trade union secretary, assured of the support of Trades Hall, told the Minister that first no action must be taken against the union, or the men, and . secondly, you must give us a definite understanding to adjust our grievances. "If you do so we will call the strike off, otherwise you may take the next train back to Wellington."

The Minister is very anxious to protect the workers. Neither he or the Prime Minister, however, show any anxiety in protecting the non-union salaried man—the thousands of retired men and women on incomes depending on interest from Government and other securities, which have been reduced. The Minister's action and suggestion really amount to this—that an award of the Arbitration Court should be altered to suit Labour if the cost of living goes up. Every increase of pay and decrease of working hours puts the cost up, so the awards would be ever changing. The men will get what the Minister promised and the farmer will once again pay. The freezing companies'will say, "Well, that is so much per head—cut your buying price. We are subject to open market competition. The Argentine to-day can handle meat, wool, etc., at a much lower cost than New Zealand. We can fix prices here, but we cannot fix prices in London."

The farmer pays. As long as the farmer is content to l>e governed by a trades hall or an industrial workers' (iovernment, his produce, be it meat, butter or wool, is at the mercy of the union secretary. All the bluff in the world will not alter this fact. The dairy farmer is paying the wharf labourer 2/8 per hour for loading his butter on the overseas/ships at a slower rate by 30 to 50' per cent Australian rate of loading. the ." :JBew Zealand wharf labourer get«i * more money for doing ieto-rSafurday work. 3/5 to 5/3 per hour. On the presenfc'price-paid by the Government, the farmer, his wife and children are paid, if you work it out, at hours worked to produce butterfat, i.e., cream, at "about Ws-per/hour. If the farmer would only wake up, realise" what the worker aaya, and thinks about him, he would demand, not a fixed price for his butter, but a fixed price per hour for the' hours he works, plus 5 per cent oil the capital he has invested in his farm. v CITIZEN.