Party asks for union help

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32612, 21 May 1971, Page 2

Party asks for union help

(New Zealand Frees Association) WELLINGTON, May 20. The Labour Party today appealed to the trade union movement for its full support in order to return a socialist government at the next election.

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr Watt) and the party’s president (Mr W. E. Rowling, M.P. for Buller), both said at the Federation of Labour annual conference that union support was essential if the party was to defeat the Government

Mr Watt said the Government bad shortcomings in social, industrial and welfare fields.

“These are some of the things that are disturbing us," he said. “It is not only the: wealth of the individual that concerns us, but the wealth of the whole nation.

These are things we could right but we can’t become the government without the great support and help of the trade union movement”

Today’s need was never greater for the “two wings of the Labour Party” to be united, Mr Watt said. “Almost every action the Government has taken in the past has been designed to increase the cost of living one way or another. This is

the source of present inflation.”

Mr Watt 1 said that the Government Statistician had shown that wage increases were not responsible for the increase in cost: the main contributor was higher taxation.

Mr Rowling said that while the two groups might not always agree on detail, there would never be division on “matters of objective.” But there had to be communication throughout the movement from the top down to the grass roots.

The conference unanimously approved a motion from the presides' (Mr T. E. Skinner) pledging itself to worts for the return of a Labour government. Mr Skinner said it would be useless if, after passing the resolution, the delegates left the conference and did nothing more about it “Until we have a Labour government we have no hope of realising our aspirations,” he said.