THE SHEARERS AND THE ARBITRATION COURT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 299, 12 September 1921, Page 5

THE SHEARERS AND THE ARBITRATION COURT

Sir, —As the representative of the sheepowners before tljp Arbitration Court in. the recent shearers' and shed hands’* dispute, I wish to express my surprise at the reasons given by Mr. M'Cullough for his action in resigning his \ position on, account of the recent judgment of th* .Arbitration Court in connection with ‘this It must be admitted by any fairminded person thtpfc Mr. M'Cullough can ‘have no genuine grounds for stating that the Court lias gone back on its stabilising scheme in any way. It must be obvious that this could only apply to an industry where the extra price paid for. labour could be added to the price of the " article produced by that labour. The primary producer is mot in the position to do this, and it would bo manifestly unfair to fix a Standard rate for labour, unless a standard price can also be guaranteed for the product of that labour sufficient to cover the cost of. production. The Court stated in plain language that it laid this principle of stabilisation down as a guide to parties coming before it, but that it would not depart from the pronouncement unless "extra- 1 ordinary circumstances” were shown. If there has ever been extraordinary circumstances in the industrial history 'of this-Dominion, they are surely with us now in connection with the wool in-’ dustry, in fact they must be self-evident to all, and wore especially to Mr i M'Cullough himself, who by virtue of his position on the Court has had,access to figures and information which must' demonstrate to the meanest intelligence that the time has emphatically come when a substantial reduction must take place in the working expenses attached to the sheepfarming industry, if those immediately connected with it are to survive. • Mr. zreferencj '■to. wool values suggests wilful blindness to the actual position. Mr. M'Cullough denies that there are any "extraordinary circumstances." Well, that, of course, may be his opinion, although it is difficult to seo how that opinion could be arrived at by him. But what have those connected with the industry to say? A novice in industrial matters must know that the bottom has dropped out of this industry, and that in consequence employers aro being ruined and workers thrown out of employment. It is incomprehensible to me how Mr. M'Cullough can deiiy the position, and it compels one io ask whether there is not some other cfuse behind his resignation; especially as since the pronouncement, where extraordinary circumstances meant .increased wages, ffie had; no grievance. It'is equally strange that' Mr. M'Cullough, after having sat for so many years on the Arbitration Court, where he was placed by the great body of workers who have stood by the Act, should have felt it incumbent upon himself to state his reasons for his action in the first place to the Alliance of Labour, a body quite outside the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. I have always understood Mr. M'Cullough; stood ffist for conciliation and arbitra-i tiqji, and, was a believer in the Act he assisted to administer. Under the circumstances it appears as if these bodies of workers who appointed him have been misled. If the workers of New Zealand wish to bring about; industrial chaos reduced -wages to ’ all, the easiest and surest way to go about it 'is to follow the lead of Mr. M'Cullough and rely upon the Alliance ' of Labour and its determination to wipe out the Industrial Conciliation and Ar- ' bitration Act. The employers I feel sure ; will not stand in their way. I Mr. M'Cullough hasi for years sat on ■ the Court and drawn his good salary . whilst wages were rising, and now that ■ the tide has turtaed he throws up his arms and goes under, leav- . ing some comrade to take his place un- •; del - the altered circumstances. I trust his will appreciate his action. As far as shearers’ and shed hands’ wages are concerned, however, I do not admit that the tide hjis turned to their detrh' ment. The shearers under the nep- conditions are still in a position to earn a ' good living—they are as well off now as' they were in December of last year. The big drop in. the cost of living which has taken place since that time, and which will be still more favourable by December of this year, makes it highly probable that the purchasing power of their money will be quite as high, and will go as faj. if not further, than the wages of last season did. Will the shearers please note this? The worker’s who have not had their wages reduced are already in an exceptionally good and improving position, and have the\Court to thank for it. I am of opinion that 1 the person who discredits the Court and thus risks its existence is more a friend of the employer than -the worker

if the think they can do better without the Arbitration Court, then of course they have every right to work for its abolition, but this does not explain how Mr. M'Cullough, who represents Labpur on the Arbitration Court, and was voted there by industrial unionists, should report his extraordinary action in the first place' to the Alliance of "Labour, whose avowed object is to destroy the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and as a natural sequence the Court also.—l am, etc., WM. H. NICHOLSON, Secretary, N.Z. Sheepowners’ Federation. Christchurch, September 9.