THE BAKERS' STRIKE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 236, 29 June 1908, Page 6

THE BAKERS' STRIKE.

-• ——e There will be very little difference of opinion amongst the inhabitants of Wellington this morning when they learn Chat the late troubles in the bakery trade have culminated in a strike. An award was recently delivered by the Court to govern the trade, and the men, after making demands for concessions over and above those that they have, just; received, have ceascd work. " We've struck," they say; " we've broken the law, and we are willing to pay the penalty." It is unnecessary to discuss the very serious possibilities of the situation should both sides remain firm. It is unnecessary, also, to discuss the merits of the demands made by the men, which may or. may not be reasonable in themselves, but which are unfair and improper violations of the duty undertaken by the Union when it submitted its ease to the judgment of. the Court. This outbreak, touching closely the personal convenience of every member of the community, would have hardened up the public's disapprobation of strikes, against Court awards were it not that public opinion has already been well formed on the point by the past year's carnival of labour lawlessness. Public opinion will bo unswervingly against the strikers. A deputation of master bakers is to wait on the Minister for Labour to-day, with the demand ■ that he shall forthwith cnforce the law. What reply will, the Minister give to the deputation 1 With Parliament assembled, and with the entire population of the capital city waiting on his words,- he will hardly bo able to carry further the policy of evasion and surrender that has been adopted by the Government in every case during the past year. No doubt the strike will terminate with the concession of practically all that the men demand. If- the bakers were proceeded against individually without a moment's unnecessary delay—there need be no delay—and if at the same time they were prevented from obtaining the assistance 01/ outside unions, they would speedily see the wisdom of returning to work. But the Attorney-General's interpretation of the law, and the Government's refusal to allow the Court to give its decision have left the way clear for every union in the Dominion to assist the men in their defiance of the law and of their own bond. The strike will impress- upon Parliament the urgent necessity for early reform. The want of equity in our industrial legislation, which is tolerated only because it is equity that it seeks to'secure, cannot'any longer bo blinked by. the Government or Parliament. It is that, and nothing else, that is at the root of the deeply-seated. discontent and indignation of the fairminded section of the community. A striking parallel to,the methods of some of our trades unions comcs from Sydney. The Painters' Union there applied to the Arbitration-Court for a " common rule " in respect of an award, in delianco of which the members of the Union were at the moment actually on strike! This is a little beyond what has been attempted by our own unions even in their most robustious moods, and it is little wonder that it moved Judge. Heydon to amazement and indignation. ; The Judgo

thought that it was of little use indicating principles and laying down rules while the Court was " on its death-bed," but he nevertheless enunciated a common principle of fair play that must be emphasised again and again in this country until public opinion forces Parliament and the Government to shake off the yoke of labour tyranny. -"The Act," said Judge Heydon, "was designed to secure industrial peace, and for getting rid of strikes. It was not intended to add another weapon to the old ones, but gave something in substitution for the old weapon, which would savo the community

all the expense and annoyance and' loss and ill-will that attended the strike method."

Labour, wo arc afraid, is almost beyond the reach of appeal. The trades unions have everywhere demanded the retention of the Arbitration Act. is it not time for the Government to face the realities of the position, and lay down the principle that there must bo n choico between strike methods and arbitration 1 The trades unions desire both, bccauso they realise that under existing conditions arbitration commits them to nothing while it binds the employer. The Prime Minister must no longer seek to confuse the issue by making a din with liia hollow rhetoric about the good sense of the workers and the misery of the old strike system. ' There is an easy means of making it impossible for the workers to use both weapons. Wo have frequently discussed Mr. VV. Eraser's suggestion that the moment a body of workers go on strike they shall lose all the benefits of the award. That, could be made a very real deterrent by enacting that a strike should at once dissolve a union without absolving it from the penalties incurred,- and that for a certain substantial period no union of the kind should be recognised in the district. Thus, if a strike occurred at Blackball, the award and the union would disappear, and for a ccrtain period the Act would take no cognisance of the existence of any fresh union of Blackball colliers. The public will look to Parliament for an early discussion of the very grave injustices that exist at present.