DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: DEFECTS AND REMEDY

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24566, 15 May 1945, Page 4

DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: DEFECTS AND REMEDY

INDUSTRIAL relations

The last year has seen a crease in the number of serious strikes and it seems probable that the comng year and the years immcdiately fol thS S» ot this increojin; discord because, while it. may c ikia gradually to remove the causes fftBSS strife, there is «<> pros* pect of doing so within a short time. The measures required for this are or such a nature that slow progress is all that can be hoped for. The immediate task, therefore, is to Wove, as- far as is possible, our methods of settling disputes once they have arisen, so that, should we have to face post-war industrial crisis, we may do *0 with our machinery for settlement In the best possible working order. Tqo Late, Too SIOW The main'fault apparent to the external observer watching dispute ftfter dispute In many different industries Is that the machinery for reaching a settlement and preventing a strike is frequently not set in motion until too late in the dispute, and is often needlessly slow in reaching a settlement. In each of the last three years my annual reports* have contained an examination of serious strikes in which, after signs of trouble had become evident, delay was one of the major contributory causes of the strike. The strike which took place in March, 1942, at R. and W. Hellaby’s meat freezing and canning works and which, spreading to the other freezing works in the Auckland district, involved some 2300 men for about 10 days, was caused by a longstanding dispute, in which for over a year the firm had refused to pay the wages laid down in the Freezing Workers’ Award. Delay in reaching a settlement on this local issue was the chief cause of the district strike. The general strike in the Waikato coalfield in September, 1942, was caused by delay in reaching , a settlement at one mine of a single issue which had been knoWri to exist for some weeks- before the strike. Even after, the men at the particular mine where the dispute existed had ceased work, no steps to reach settlement were taken until, five days later, the , men at other mines in 'the district came out and 1400 men were on. strike. The industrial troubles on the West Coast in February and March, 1944, Were anticipated before the holidays began in December, 1943. An outbreak of strikes was to be expected because the old agreement in the coalmining industry was due to expire in April, 1944; but no action was taken to forestall trouble by reaching a new agreement some time before the old one expired. Towards the end of J943. there was evidence that a grave-dispute was threatening on the railways and .that unofficial strikes might take plate; but negotiations were carried on,So slowly that it was not until April. 1944. that an act was passed setting up a tribunal ' to hear' the dispute. There were' further delays in appointing the-personnel of the tribunal; and inUNovember, 1944, it was dangerously clear that, unless the Railways Tribunal. reached a decision on the. railwayman's claims before Christmas, the impatience of the, railwavmen. who had been waiting more of their claims, might result in a v strike, as it did in Januarv, 194J5. Th .the dairy industry it had been evident for moi-e than a year that serious trouble was developing. Throats of direct ae-

[*As Valder Research Fellow in-Industrial Relations'at Victoria University College, Dr. Ha‘re has now issued annual reports (1942, -43, -44) on developments in New Zealand Industry.]

(Specialiy Written for ’’The Press.’’)

[By A, R C. HARE. PhJs.*l

tion were heard two months before- the -f men actually resorted to it in January/#' 1945. If in all ,these examples' many more could be given) the danger of an outbreak of.industrial strifewS:,! apparent to an outside observer, hov much more so must it have been to^ ; those in close touch with industry^ Minor Issues Don’t Remain Minor While the methods available fortheT* settlement of disputes are not beyond V improvement, they are generally' adequote. In disputes committees set ud'.* under awards, in special disputes com- !; mittees appointed by the Minister of-.?. Labour, in the work of the Conciiia-rv tion Commissioners, and the Concilia?tion Councils under the Industrial • Conciliation and Arbitration Acfca wide variety of methods is provided.";by which an agreement may be reach*/ ed. It is not that the means for reach-* a ing a settlement are inadequate, 71 that they are set to work too late j the dispute, or act too slowly once they i have been set in motion. - , r-f. Even in quarters which handle industrial disputes it is generally realised how vitally impwfe ant time can be in preventing a Eveh so little as 24 hours may make;! - all the difference between a settlemento; without a stoppage and a serious Delay in reaching a settlement;giws-| time for opinion to harden on ' sides, for hot heads, to get a hearing,;* or for decisions to be taken which atri not easily rescinded. The further, dispute goes without a settlement me*?,; more complicated are the issues to become. Old quarrels are rakedmpf personal animosities grow, of irrelevances are brought in,. commit themselves to positions »froo| which they cannot withdraw witorfil loss of prestige, and comes more difficult to achieve.'-,!B«fe are very important reasons lor ing a settlement with the least sible delay. There, is a even more Important reason, relations are strained, no one cajFMani, when the most trivial matter give rise to a serious dispute.’; Ofldft'SIn times of industrial unrest, issue may generate a generalSica of feeling and. a widespread Am ] page of work. Thus, for, mstanq^M : ; Waikato strike' of 1942 began jyapgli minimum of 10 mmers/j® Ks mine and spread to all the the field. The immediate outbreak was easily deal*' negotiation when the strike It could- as ewiljr benM with before the strike began.yltp? clean therefore, that to possible cause ok friction* even^Migr. few days, merely opens the. serious conflict. . . : ' Mk What has been said lay inr- taking measures to,tf(gMME settlement, delay in setting putes committee, or delay m jatatwaK tion by the State applies :ettuSMKi the delays that occur chlnery for n®gotlation slowly, once it has: been set ffipaßflßp If dilutes committees* ad j WSttqWpa out reaching a settlement. Sit next week instead ofilaaßMppl fact *fail to reach promptly and, having once pass the dispute ;oQbody with more opportunity is given an industrial conflicts Delays in the and arbitratipn very noticeable In ■ the<lWt4ra®Pß® The interminable delays ; of Ways industrial Trlbtmak 4n',wsMf| a' decision, the years 61 the Harbour Boards’ announcement of the Coal cil, when the Kamo inineitt rei was idle as the that it would arrive in. 10 dayifetwrepi hear the dispute and give are all examples of this