STRIKES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 298, 10 September 1908, Page 7

STRIKES.

" SUSPENSION OF 1 AWARDS, JUDCE SIM HEARS LABOUR'S OBJECTIONS. HIS HONOUR'S CRITICISMS. , When fiio general labourers' dispute was before' "tlio Arbitration Court yesterday Mr. M.' U J. Reardon, the secretary of the union, 'diked if the Court would hear an. objection on its part to the new clause providing for ■immediate suspension of the operation! of an award in the event of any of the workers ■ under .the award striking. A provision to thjs effect was included in the award of the Court in the Southland sawmilling dispute. His Honour, Mr. Justice Sim, -said 'that there was no reason why the objection should not be heard. • ■ IMr. Reardon: I shall urge in the different centres potent reasons, as I think, why the. clause should, not form : part of an award in the'• case o'f these unions'. He stated, that on June 11 a'strike" occurred in Wanganui—at least the : new^ajiers-called it a strike—on jjjjjgmo, general labourers. The first intimation he received was a telegram from 'Wanj^nu'i':— ,! Strike' 'of' tramway labourers forJDs." The telegram was signed "Workers." ~Hp; immediately (telegraphed to the seere:"tai!j;'of;'tho'! Wanganui' branch ..of' the' union asking for particulars, and if he could do anything.'' Th'o branch secretary telegraphed .back'.'Localj\iranchnot affected." 'OnJune 14' the branch secretary wroto describing how the'strike -had-come to pass. The circummade it. quite obvious, that, neither the L 'Wanganui 'branch" nor the Wellington uni.on had : known anything of the strike when it took place; A meeting of the union was ilield.; afterwards,', at which-information was .given,, that, ..the men .who had 'struck were strangers, in ' the' town. It was stated • that [some unionists ;we.rq amongst them, but no proof of this was offered. • A Wellington man, •who was among'the strikers, said he had not ..known, that ; there was a branch of the union at Wanganui. In such a caso it would be ,a. grave'injustice if the whole , of tho men ,in.;thpj..Wellington industrial district wero to 'be -penalised s fo'r- the offence of- a dozen men, absolute 1 - strangers', 'to Wanganui.; . .REGENT STRIKES. Again, during a few days when he was "absent; in <Napier in. the: winter,a number of ■ m'en''. were employed at night on a section of.;tlie Brooklyn tram line." After they had worked rone might, in the rain, they asked ■ 'what, wages 'they would get, and were told ■ .Is'.: 3d.' an, hour, as after midday a new day began. Tho men demanded overtime rates, and when he came back from Napier tho men had left off work. Neither the union nor himself had known anything of the supposed strike. iHis Honour: Has not your union approved ' jof'-jtrikes ?r ■; Has'it .not .contributed, for in- . lo the 'bakers' strike fund?—No, we have not contributed. Is-not the union affiliated to tho Wellington Trades and Labour Council? —Yes. Did not the council take over the strike, and raise contributions? Reardon said that the riien were in a "position of helplessness, and appealed to . the council to help them. The matter was handed over to six or eight; rwjmbfers of the council, and they endeavoured :-to bring the strike to an end, but tlioy 'were defeated in that object. Meanwhile tho men wero straits,; and, surely, from a sentiment Vof/pity'for their wivesi.and children, it was , natural for .the council ,do something. RESPONSIBILITY OF LABOUR LEADERS. ' His .Honour: Why did';hot' the council, in- ,' stead of approving of-'.that strike, pass a , , resolution telling the.,, men that they had ■ ■ brbkenvtho law and.'.Ought.to return to work? It' was' against the principle of arbitration. What the men want'to do is to have strikes ;i and arbitration too.' J . It is, simply .disastrous. And this is what >yqur, .'leaders avow. His " •Honour said' thafr/as far 'as he was con'cenied -lie would'do his best to put a stop to it. This strike took place, he continued, bcc'aus£ a'large majority of unions '-'seemed - to regard strikes, as, a perfectly proper thing. Men' 'who went out on Strike wore 1 the labour leaders to go. on, ■ iresolfitioiis -rof r sympathy were passed, and they wero told that they were heroes. . f \ Mr."Reardon: We claim to withhold our ■ -laboUr'j ;il>-we - think lit. That has been - recognised : in British law since 1826. ' ""His* Honoiir: "You "have a perfect right to . do that, but you must not do it for the - -purpose —of to give you something which you can't get from tho .Court - - - Mr. , Reardon said there, had been cases 'ivbfcri the Court Itad not been able to; protect [ .the'workers. .In cases of victimisation it k lind, never- been able to protect them. • ' Mr.-S. Brown (employers' representative .1 'in 1 -the Court): The Court has never been ■'j 'ablo ' to -protect. employers yet in cases of « .strikes./ POSITION OF THE EMPLOYERS. -.—Mfr-Reanlon--was entering into details of a case at Napier, but Mr. Pryor, representing the employers' side in tho dispute, obi'lc'cted that.'.liis information was completely, wifereut.' _ His Honour said that as the case would ■ be dealt with by tho Court at Napier, it; i .would,not Jjc. fair, to, go.into it 'then.. ficaßjbhV'S.^itejL''briefly that-an cmi. .^anidrjiad':.formed a union there, wiuclv'ijpad" held" a ".mMtinjg. If employers i couid'Od'this originate a strike. ), *: tHis Honouir said that hitherto it had not • been the employers who had causcd strikes, ■ but tho labour 'loaders in New Zealand.K Mr. Reardon; I think the evidence in the fci&Hvasf'fcntirely, tho. other way. 1 His Honour said that Collins was simply ; in a minority in his union. ' Mr. Reardon replied that that was often r the caso with "the union leaders. They had 1 to .r.emain;'loyal to tho men;,they could not ' bo--branded as traitors. .• .; . ..'-■ L,—Hi's Honour: .How many' unions in New Zealand .have .expressed their disapproval of £• :anycstriko-:that ha.S"taken.,pJaco?. t ,Eid tlioy oxpress disapproval of. the slaughtermen's ' strike?' •- Mr.- Reardon replied that it was very hard to express disapproval of the slaughtermen's ■ strike. For years they had asked Parlia- - j ment .forgive-thorn "greater facilities to appear beforo the Court. [; ":H'is Honour: Tlioy did not try to. go before ■ tho , .. Mr. Reardon':'As soon as the strike took ' ,place'.; tlioy.. woro; promised -. the legislation they had asked for. year after year. ; A LAST APPEAL. ■ Mr! Tleard'on then read correspondence in ' respcct of the strike - of employees of the ' Gear Meat Company last season, to show that ! tho union was .absolutely opposed .'to' tho i strike. Tho men applied for their discharge : (from tho union, because.it wns of no service : to them. It would liavo been' very unfair ' if, in tho caso of the Wanganni, Brooklyn, ! and Gear'-Company strikes, tho employees of the whole district had been penalised. Ho realised himself that tho general labourers - woro-tho very last persons in..the world who should,think .of ..striking, since" their places could 1)0 very'easily filled. Mr. Pryor: You would only encourage the others. Sir. Reardon: I' don't think it can be shown that tho leaders have ever encouraged ■ strikes. Tlioy havo merely stood by tho men r after the' : men have decided to go out. THE EMPLOYERS' VlfcW. #iessik ! THE COURT'S DECISION. ? ' Pryor,' Secretary of-tho Employi ers' Federation, when asked, for his .opinion on tho Court's new provision, said:— "Tl'io Court for some- time'-' has been . clauses into awards, .tho main ti Ojffyjen4o..in,;.this.case being that, on a strike jglaco tho award automatically, ceases

to operate. Employers generally feel that that is only light, as if a section of workers under any award refuses to abide by the conditions, the employers certainly should not be bound by them. As a matter of fact, tho . Court has only put. into words what must necessarily be tho, practice in tho case of a strike, as we are p.ersjiaded that the Court would never penalise employers under such circumstances for not observing award conditions, even- if action wero taken - against them.".. # • c Reverting to his first statement that tho Court had put similar clauses .into,, previous awards, Mr. 'Pryor said that this been done in connection, with the Wellington and Gisborne Wharf Labourers' -disputes, Denniston Coal Miners' 'dispute, and Wellington Gas Stokers' and Cokers' dispute. The provision in the Wellington Wharf Labourers' award, made in March last, is as follows"The union shall do all in its power to prevent any strike by any of the workers affected by this award, and if any "strike shall occur in which any members of the union shall take part, such strike shall bo prima facie evidence that the union has committed a b'reaoh of its duty hereunder:" In tho Wellington Gas Stokers'and Cokets'. award, dated a' month later, .this clause, was repeated, with the following addition: "The Court reserves to itself fujl power in the ; event of any'such'strike as ' last'mentioned occurring to suspend,' on the application of tho employer, the operation of all or : any of the provisions of this award for such period as the Court shall think proper." . Now the Coiirt has gone aV step" further, Mr. Pryor'pointed out, in'providing'f.brl'the automatic suspension'cf an award in ' the evont of a . strike occurring.'- '• VIEY/S OF LEGISLATORS. Members, of Parliament, while fully recognising 'the importance of the strike preven-; ■ tioii clauso which tho Arbitration Court" has. declared its .intention to uso. in future awards,, were very reticent on tho subjcct-wheji' approached last 'night. .There wis. a general . , indication to reserve comment "on tho whole question of industrial' arbitration until MK Millar's Bill is before the House. . On the Risht Linos, V - Mr. W. Fraser, M.P., ■ suggested ' some - months ago that strikes should:be dealt -with ' on the lines which the Arbitration Court has now adopted.- 'When seen-last night-ho re- . affirmed the principle, but was' not prepared to. say that the details of the Southland award .would prove satisfactory.' Ho _ regarded it as. a flaw, that one .small-union' or branch, by striking, could; nullify "an award'over a whole district. The automatic working of the new clause was a strong 1 feature. At present no- action could -bo taken against a union.'in connection-' withVa strike except: through tho .'Labout'. Depart • ment, which' only-moved if authorised by Cabinet, and therefore there was room for all the worst evils of political influence to : be brought to' bear before anything:. could 1 be done in the .way of ' administering .'the' ' Act. • '

'! An Extraordinary Position." Mr. Laurenson said'that the nature of the decision was a complete. surprise to him! It was an extraordinary position that'a,strike . in some obscure. tAwnship could destroy an award throughout a whole provincial district. - In. view of the absolute necessity.of putting tho judge in a position that 'would ensure him giving his decisions without fear 'or favour, he did not care to say,much about . the matter. _' A Labour View... . ' The Hoi). J..lligg, M.L.C., said that the Court in • qdopting this clause was; really ■ legislating against strikes, and he'submitted that that'was the function of Parliament. He strongly.. upheld Mr. M'Cullough's con- . tention that if thorowas to be such a clauso the award should not be suspended automaticallj', but only, after the inquiry by the Court. The powers given to the Court were certainly very wide,,but, speaking from memory,, he believed it, laid down by ; the Supreme Court, on-iappeal from the decision .-- of Mr. Justice Wilharas in the bootmakers' • case, that, the-,'v powers ! of the . Court" were confined to, the matters laid down in the Act. If that was so, he thought the Court- had in the present instance exceeded its jurisdiction., Th'e judge had also apparently overlooked the fact that the ceasing of the award might be an unmerited punishment to tho employer by, placing him at .the mercy of unfair and. unscrupulous competition on ,the part . of. other employers who would underpay and overwork their wen. He questioned whether the operation of the ,new clause, would have much-effect in. preventing'strikes, even along with the penalty clauses of the . Act, for it was .obvious. that if a strike occurred even under. the conditions obtaining hitherto there must have been, in. most, cases, something .unsatisfac-; tory in the award. "In my opinion," ;con- . eluded Mr. Ridg, "the Court has shown •itself so incapablo that it would bo better advised to devote a little'more time to perfecting the details of its administration before' undertaking duties which belong mord. properly to tho Legislature." ' Another Labour View. " v The Hon. J. T. Paul remarked that the principle embodied in the award was, hot a. now one. Part of it was to be seen in the', Wellington Waterside Workers'-Award, and . more of it in the ,Gisborne'. : Waterside Workers' Award, while it was also/partially, incorporated in the Arbitration Amendment Bill lately introduced by the Government. In the two awards mentioned the unions had agreed to such a clause' in consideration-, of getting preference to unionists. Ho strongly disapproved of the clause, as it stood in the 1 •new Southland award,, but ho would favour, a similar provision being made' by. Act of. Parliament, if surrounded by proper safeguards and accompanied by'statutory preference. Ho did, not think the Court bad; gone outside its powers, but ho questioned its wisdom in putting such a clause into;-its , award.;. _He wholly disapproved, of an;award ; automatically ceasing to, exist simply/.because a small section.of workers-went on strike. It was iniquitous to punish a majority .of, unionists directly or indirectly > for the acts of a small minority., ,He held .that the Act could not be permanently successful without', a strengthening of unionism, ..which , was its. basis, by means of statutory preference. QUESTION FOR THE MINISTER.; Mr. Laurenson has given notice to ask tho Minister for Labour—" Whether his atten-; tion has been drawn to an award by tho Arbi-- ' tration Court to tho effect that when a strike takes place in any branch of any .particular,, industry, then all awards in connection with this industry shall become void for the whole . district; and, in view of this award, does he not think that it is time that,the.law. lyhich , deals with this point was amended ?" !t ■