LABOUR NOTES

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 56, 8 March 1919, Page 11

LABOUR NOTES

ORGANISATION AND DISCIPLINE.

Sooner or later workers must realise that organisation,, no matter how perfect, is useless without discipline. It has been argued that where there is no discipline there is no organisation, but this is hardly correct. ' A section of workers employed in any one industry might be thoroughly, well organised, but. events in New Zealand and elsewhere, have shown that this does not. prevent independent action by a minority who have a petty grievance. If there is just cause for complaint sympathy will be general—the miion as a whole will stand firm. It is important always to re-member-that the officials of any union are elected, by the rren, and their election is clearly an expression of confidence. That being so, surely the men can rely on fair treatment when any. dispute is referred to an executive. Sectional differences, independent action, will do more to break up a Labour organisation, be it a union or a federation of unions, than anything else. Not only is the organisation placed in jeopardy, but the general body of workers, too. In Now Zealand the Miners' Federation is by no means the strong body it was a year ago, purely on account of the sectional strikes—unauthorised strikes—strikes which are not backed by the federation—which, have taken place. Only recently there was an instance of where the agreement entered into with the pxpress intention of preventing pet .j strikes was ignored. Subsequently the machinery provided was set in motion, bat only after work had actually ceased for a while. Other instances of sectional disputes, carried- to tho extreme, have occurred in the freezing industry. In deciding upon independent action, instead of making representations through >the proper channels, these men have, in the opinion of those prominently connected' with the Labour movement, committed, a foolish error. When a. worker becomes a member of any union he should be pre-pared-to abide strictly by the rules of. that union. If discipline is lacking the whole .organisation must suffer. Unions would be well advised to stand apart from disputes which have not been .conducted, in what may be termed the constitutional way.