WATERFRONT STOPPAGES

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 141, 11 March 1938, Page 10

WATERFRONT STOPPAGES

It would be interesting to know what exactly is in the Government’s mind in regard to the statement by the Minister of Labour on the subject of hold-ups on the waterfront. . Mr. Armstrong says that if the Union cannot control its men “we will find another organisation to do it,” and he further declares that the conduct of the watersiders cannot be tolerated any longer. This' statement may be. regarded as rather belated, but if it really means what the words would imply it should be welcomed with whole-hearted satisfaction. In the last agreement signed by the Union it was expressly stated as an essential condition that in the event of disputes arising work should not be interrupted. This stipulation, as everyone knows, has been persistently and flagrantly violated. The obvious inference is that those who defied it knew that it could not be enforced except at the risk of a serious hold-up which the employers, in the interests of the community, were anxious to avoid. But there has to be an end, sooner or later, to the present unsatisfactory state of affairs, which has made the New Zealand waterfront a by-word in the shipping world. It is suggested that the Government has in view special legislation constituting an organisation to control all waterfront labour. The problem will not be solved by the, simple process of changing one system of control for another. The essence of the. problem is the observance of agreements, coupled with a recognition of the obligation which all concerned in waterside work owe to the general public.