VITAL TO INDUSTRIAL LAW.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 799, 23 April 1910, Page 5

VITAL TO INDUSTRIAL LAW.

One of the first acts of the New South Wales Trades' Union Congress was to protest against the free laboiir!J S ™ g given free representation on the Wages Board.: The present' settle-.' • ment of the difficulty—by the free labourers withdrawing their nominee, the unionists abandoning their claim \ for • preference—has evaded* if.only post-' : poned, a very serious position. The : Sydney Morning Herald" writes:— ■ ' 'When m the matter,of the Water- ■' side Workers' Board Judge Heydon decided to grant representation to the ' l'ree Labourers' Association, he raised rather than settled a question • that lies at_ the very heart of industrial legislation; We concur iiv his' judg- .•: menb both specifically and generally, but we think it useless to disguise the' ' seriousness of the issue involved.' It is on© that may present itself in any industry at any moment, and as soon as it appears "the effective working of industrial machinery is jeopardised. Recognition pf unionism is the-basic fact-' of industrial legislation, and preference "to the, unionist is its expression. Without unionism, industrial arbitration on anything like the system wo have adopted would be'.inipossible. Wβ might indeed by some other system step in at the beginning of :a /strike and enforce compulsory arbitration; though it is at' . best doubtful if we could do so. But \ without unionism'we could., never, ensure the fair, and .smooth working of industry ..as. we. attempt to' ensure it. . through our wages boards. We, recognise- the'union therefore as ia practical necessity, and as a set-off against that recognition, we expect a union to <lo two things—to avoid needless fric,tion, and to avoid attempts at mon- ; opoly in a particular industry. So , long as that ■: is done, the employer doubtless finds it to his advantage to deal with a union; which normally in-, ' eludes the best, skilled and most dependable labour.. Bab what shall we say if a union delights in friction, and . is most insistent in its efforts to ' create a monopoly? It is plain we , must have some safeguard against ewsh, a course. It might be argued that '■'■: that safeguard. exists in the award of: ■ the wages board itself; ■ but practically ■•••■■ thiswill hardly be fpmid.to work out. , ■', "The attitudei of-industrial ..law to 1 free labour, on ,the other hand, is 'con- V ' fused and, uncertain, and sooner or : jater amendment will be required mak- ,■ ; jng it plain that free' labour is not to : be penalised by the existence of union- : ism and. wages boards awards; The in-' : torpretation of the phrase 'preference / to,unionists' requires stricter limitation ■'■■-:: than it has yet received. As' : a matter '■: of fact, the legal preference is a small } thing alongside the practical advantage '.mat accrues to the unionist;' Free lab-,■■■'■• ■ our starts 'with a severe handicap. It .. is therefore insufficient vaguely to :. Clare its-common law righte. Industrial' law must make - those'- rights effective. , • There are times when free labourcomea ■ U> the rescue of the community iu the ; most obvious way, and it should be re-,■: warded rather than punished for so ; '■;.■ Joing.'-. In particular, a unfon which!'.'■'■ violates industrial law should be made. ■ to realise that the presence of a con- ■ siderable body of. free labour will re-. Hiiiiu as a permanent reminder of its folly. It might be supposed that freelabour could be safely left to the em--..'/ ployer whose interests it had served ; at .- a critical time. But experience shows '. that this supposition is far fromisafe. , : As Judgo Heydon remarked, although l \ employers argue strongly for.free.lab- ;' "bury they givo. a ■ practical preference .-■. to unionists of a very decided kind. If it happens, then,, that a large body of free labour has come into existence' in, : an industry, its claim to representation — on a subsequently constituted, wages ; board is undeniable. ■ Yet we strike.. ; against the anomaly that the moment it becomes associated it ceases to be free, and we are in effect dealing with' two unions whose interests are common at all points but one. This is part of the .penalty of industrial unrest. The' greater the chance given to industrialmachinery to work smoothly, the less we shall be called on to suffer." ,