FOLLY OF STRIKES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 146, 17 December 1913, Page 8

FOLLY OF STRIKES

FEDERATION METHODS CONDEMNED CARPENTERS AND JOINERS' SOCIETY The attitude of the leaders of organisations of skilled tradesmen towards the methods of the Federation of Labour has been made clear at various stages during the strike- In themonthly report of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners the secretary of tho executive board of that body (Mr. Ivor Hazell) condemns those methods in no uncertain manner, and shows clearly that the policy of one of the strongest trade societies in the worid is entirely opposed to such tactics. "The attitude taken up by a certain section of our members in Auckland during the present crisis," writes the secretary, "will assuredly, meet with, the disapproval of every member of our society right throughout the world. One hundred and fifty-four members out of a total of 1200 mcC at the call of thb Auckland Central Branch, and decided to enforce a strike of the Auckland carpenters, out of sympathy with the waterside workers now on strike in Wellington j also tried to induce our mena bere in flawkes Bay, Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington, and elsewhere to do likewise, ignoring the executive board altogether. The executive secretary was sent to Auckland to carry out instructions given him by the executive board, and found, on his arrival at tne district office, that eleven members had been chosen ,to act as a Strike Committee, bound under the General Strike Committee in Auckland^ which committee was under the executive of the Federation of Labour. The Strike Committee composed of our members turned the district council, the organiser, and lady collector out of the society's office, and took full possession themselves. They actually buried the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, and the chairman of the Strike Committee sealed it by writing across the pages of our general rule book 'R.I. P.' in large letters, and the committee framed the rules, hung them on the wall, and draped them in black. Such diabolical work ahows clearly that these members are. not fit to belong to such a glorious and respectable organisation as the Amalgamated, r and evidently their intention waft to smash up the 'society altogether. The Strike Committee is a fine set of men, and how it allowed itself to besmear and drag down the good old flag of the Amalgamated Society is a problem that needs solving. If ever there was a contagious disease,' Auckland .has felt the full force of it, and these members fell an easy prey to the g«m fly of the strike. The extraordinary methods adopted by The eleven apostles of the Strike Committee to help the Wellington watersiders to win their battle is astounding. . . . Had the rules of our society been observed and a secret ballot of members taken there would have been no strike in Auckland. . . . The secretary of the Auckland District Council is a member of the executive of the Federation of Labour i?i Auckland. How can anyone serve two masters? It is impossible. We .are Arbitrationists out and out, and the Federation of Labour is anti-Arbitration. . . . The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners is opposed to the Federation of Labour just as much as light is to darkness." The report refers to steps taken to call off the strike in Auckland and vote funds for the relief of wives and children. "The writer has written in the report over and over again about joining the Social Democratic Party, but no such party has come to light; in fact, does not exist, and the name Social Democratic Party should now be dropped, and the Federation of Labour take its proper name and stand as it did prior to the July Congress : — ' Industrialism and Strikes, 1 ' Strikes and Industrialism.' Examples are given of the different effects of strikes and arbitration. In England carpenters gained an advance in wages of £d per hour oils lOd per week, after an elevenmonths' strike, and lost many pounds in wages. In New Zealand under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act carpenters and joiners gained 3d per hour or 11s per week, and no cessation of work. "Strikes are a, force used to destroy manliness and self-respect, and to lower the dignity of trade unions, if not to obliterate them altogether. How often must we tie told that strikes are the very worst form of, argument that can bo employed to better the conditions of the worker, and arbitration the highest and most dignified of all methods ever invented to settle disputes, or for the employer or employe© to gain any material advantage in the fitful pauses of life? Strikes are a force of brutal strength, and call forth all the worst of human nature — whether by lawlessness or the devilish methods of the 1.W.W., no matter what methods are used so long as the strikers' case is won, and in that light tho victory of a strike is a great loss to the worker. The parrot cry, 'An injury to one is an injury to all,* finds no standing in the circles of the Labour leaders of the world, and in countries other than New Zealand has proved the downfall of respectable unions and ruin to thousands of straightforward and honest workmen . . . Those who have lived in the land of strikes know most assuredly that such methods are worse than useless, and alwa3's bring disaster in their trail. We say we do not believe in bloody warfare ; we do not believe in innocent men being butchered because of the quarrels of others ; we do not believe in mothers being robbed of their bravo sons ; of workhouses being filled with the maimed, and cities crowded with tho outcasts, and so forth. Yet tho strike punishes tho mother, curses uud blights tho liven of womuu and in-

nocent children. . . . That has been the state in England, as witnessed by the writer. Now hero in New Zealand we aro blessed with Conciliation Council and the Arbitration Court, and the law of the country is at the back of these two noble institutions. The Conciliation Council is not a failure. Far fiom it. With such advantages as the worker possesses iv this country, we are bound v 5 Exclaim that New Zealand is the white man's land to live in and the white man's land to die in. ... The New Zealand Labour party endorsed the policy of arbitration and the establishment of treaties of peace towards the settlement of international disputes between civilised nations^ Every sane man is bound to believe in international arbitration! Wars are inhuman, devilish, and barbarous. Strikes are likewise, and in the face of such reasoning the note of discord sounds across the seas : ' Boycott all Londonbound vessels.' Reply : ' Federation makes common cause.' Thus showing clearly that the I.W.W. methods are the fundamental principles ot the Federation of Labour, inasmuch as an injury to one is an injury to all. The seed of discord has been stealthily sown among the peaceable people of New Zealand, and in one mighty shout lias endeavoured to swamp the trade unions and paralyse the industry of the best country in tho world. . . . Strikes have never advanced our social position, never improved the law of economics, never raised or beautified the conditions of living ; but always bred vice, hatred, and poverty. One of our members in A-nekland committed suicide, and this inhuman monster, the strike, is responsible for it. Had the shipwrights and those affected taken the wise and sure step of tho help afforded there by the 1 Conciliation Council, this friction, this unpleasantness, and evident misery would « unquestionably*- have been avoided. The strike force is always lowering tho ground of trade unionism, and washing it down into the sea of forgetfulness. We contend that our organisation is of the first quality, with, up-to-date methods, and can, and will, meet the requirements of all the branches and members in New Zealand, and we place on record our unbounded faith in the Conciliation Council and Arbitration Court, and our fidelity to these grand institutions, because it is the fore© and law of reason and the sane method of settling disputes without cessation of work, thereby giving the worker the privilege and benefit and every conceivable advantage under the law of arbitration as against strikes. Direct action is not to be thought of when laws are made or can be made to elevate the workers' position. Is it not regrettable that so many workers 6hould straggle and fight and bo willing to leave their wives, their children, their homo comforts, and all they hold dear to them for a prison cell, in order to improve their working conditions, which improvement is unattainable in this fair land of New Zealand by the methods adopted. It is dangerous when a man becomes a law unto himself ; rather submit to the law constitutionally made. The folly of strikes in. this country will soon be apparent, and once the worker sees through the hollowness of them, never more will he be found dabbling in the meshes of strikes, and fighting for that which profits little. . . . Upholding the Arbitration Court and at the same time condemning strikes is not to say that the Arbitration Court is perfect or that the men who strike are inferior to those who adopt the principle of arbitration. Experience and training have a lot to do in both cases, and would-be leaders are often responsible for the rights and wrongs of the rank and file. . . . Do not belittle yourselves by advocating methods contrary to the law of tho country you live in, but try to improve the law by sending true representatives to the House of Parliament to fight your battles." That Mr. Hazell has the confidence of his organisation and can speak with authority is proved by the following motion unanimously adopted by the Executive Board recently:' "That this board fully appreciate the manner in which Bro. Ivor Hazell has upheld the prestige of the Amalgamated Society in Auckland, and pass a hearty vote of thanks to him, 'and endorse and uphold his action in every particular in all that he has done in Auckland during his delegation on the society's business re the strike and matters relating to the District Council."