The Press SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1937. The Freezing Works Dispute

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21992, 16 January 1937, Page 12

The Press SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1937. The Freezing Works Dispute

The "stay-in"'strike which has developed in the principal freezing works of the Auckland province and which now involves more than 1500 men will be the forerunner of much similar trouble unless the .Government acts courageously. The main facts of the Auckland dispute can be briefly stated. Eight weeks ago the Arbitration Court issued a Dominion award for freezing workers, the main provisions being a 44-hour week, to be worked on five and a half days, and a minimum rate of pay of 2s Id an hour. The court's judgment aroused much dissatisfaction among the workers, mainly on the ground that the new award did little more than restore the conditions of the 1931 award. During the hearing, the representatives of the union contended that, as the 40-hour week was not being applied to the freezing industry, the employees were entitled to compensation in the form of higher wages. On December 14 a meeting of Hawke's Bay freezing workers passed a resolution condemning " this infamous "award" and demanding the appointment of a commission to investigate the affairs of the freezing industry. A week later the employees at the Westfield, Southdown, and Horotiu works, in the Auckland province, instituted a " go-slow " policy which caused a reduction of about 60 per cent, in the output of the workG. Two days later normal work was resumed on the understanding that a conference with the employers would be held after the New Year holidays. The conference, which was held in Wellington last week, failed to reach a settlement of the dispute, and on Monday there was a reversion to the " go-slow " policy. The managements of the Westfield and Southdown works thereupon announced that, unless these tactics were abandoned, the men would be paid off. In a sense, therefore, what is now occurring is not a strike.. The men have been paid off and are at present illegally in occupation of the works. The seriousness of the situation needs no emphasis. Unless a way out of the deadlock is found within the next day or two, exporters of meat and dairy produce will be faced with heavy losses. That will inevitably mean a recrudescence of the antagonism between farmers and the trade union movement which has been such an ugly feature of similar disputes in the past. But' the most serious aspect of the dispute is that the attitude of the unions constitutes a direct challenge to the whole system of compulsory arbitration, a system, which the present Government reintroduced and is pledged to support.' The freezing workers' award is something more than an industrial agreement; it is a part of the law of the country, which either side can be prosecuted for failing to observe. The fact that it is easy to proceed against employers for breaches of an award and usually very difficult to proceed against workers makes it ,all the more necessary that the. Government should be firm. The Hon. H. T. Armstrong's announcement that there is " only robm for one Government" in New Zealand seems to indicate that he understands the issue. v But it is necessary to remind Mr Armstrong, that if he had from the first stood -firmly by the principle of compulsory arbitration the present situation might not have arisen. , Three months ago the Minister said this:

The Arbitration Court may not always give the decisions we think it should, but there is no reason why we should always be dependent on the court for guidance.. I hope that th'e Labour movement will soon be well enough .organised to take control of industry and determine what hours shall be worked without reference to any court. We haven't reached that stage yet. ,

Coming from a -Minister for Labour and the author of Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act, 1936, that was a foolish and dangerous statement; and by this time Mr Armstrong probably realises as much.