The Bay of Plenty Times FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1949. The Voice Of The Newspapers

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 15117, 28 October 1949, Page 2

The Bay of Plenty Times FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1949. The Voice Of The Newspapers

In the eours'e of his address in Tanranga on W ednesda} night the Labour candidate for the Tanranga seat, Mr H. >L Pickett quoted the New Zealand Official Year Book to show that during the foiuteen years before Labour took office there were 60*2 strikes and six lockouts affecting 104,387 workers and resulting in the loss ol 7.604,000 uoiking hours. Mr Pickett did not think it worth while to quote also the corresponding; figures for the fourteen years Labour has been in (office. By a fortuitous coincidence the Bay. of Plenty dimes supplied this deficiency yesterday. • , Even with the assistance of the figures from the unprecedented strikes of 1921 and 1923 to assist him, Mr Pickett was not able to present a case which would bear very close analysis. Briefly, a comparison of the two periods shows that while there were, as he saui, 608 industrial disputes from 1921 to 1934 inclusive, there were neariy double that number —1156 to be exact —from 193 b to 1948 inclusne. The number of men involved in the first period was certainly 104,387. but Mr Pickett evidently overlooked the fact that 231,981 were affected bv strikes during the period of the Labour Government s period of office. It is also interesting to note that the workers lost more than £BO,OOO more in wages during the latter period than in the former. The Year Book, which Mr Pickett quotes so accurately, also contains* some very interesting comment on the subject of industrial unrest. Tn ease he should wish to make use of it on some future occasion, here it is: “Tn 1921”—that is, at the commencement of the fourteenyear period to which Mr Pickett made reference- “the number o! disputes was at a relatively high level, but from then onwards, with the exception of one or two temporary fluctuations, the general trend in both numbers of disputes and number of workers involved showed a downward tendency, culminating in the low figure ol twelve disputes involving 2323 workers in 1935.” That was the year in widen Labour took office. “The following three years showed a rapid increase in both the number of disputes and number of workers involved, but the outbreak of war in 1939 saw a temporary check in this upward movement, the number of disputes for 1939 and 1940 showing successive reductions. At the same time however the number of workers involved in 1939 reached a new high level, followed by a substantial decrease in 1940. Tn 1941 a further marked increase in the number of disputes was recorded, but this was not maintained in 1942 and 1943, when decreases again took place. The working days lost, and the estimated loss in wages for 1942 however, showed very substantial increases over the two preceding years. “The 1944 total of 149 disputes, involving 29,766 workers, was more than double that for 1943, when 69 disputes involving 10.915 workers, took place. In 1945 the record number of 154 disputes was recorded, while, the number of workers involved, number of working days lost, and estimated loss in wages showed marked increases over the 1944 figures. Tin* marked downward movement indicated by the 1946 figures as compared with the two previous years failed, nevertheless, to regain the comparatively low level of 1943.” As was pointed on) by this paper yesterday, 1948 saw the number of disputes quadrupled, the number of men involved multiplied by seven, the number of days lost multiplied by nine, and the amount lost in wages increased twenty-times what is was in 1934. “The trouble,” according to Mr Pickett, “is that the Labour Party has not got the voice of the newspapers.” This paper appreciates the opportunity afforded by Mr Pickett in the-present instance, to lend its voice to put a clear and accurate picture before its readers