UNITING LABOUR

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 81, 5 April 1923, Page 8

UNITING LABOUR

ONE BODY WANTED

PROPOSAL MADE TO ALLIANCE

' AJ^-IMP.OKTANT.; STEP.

'.Some big questions are at tho present ',Umo exercising the; jminjls." of' leaders .of ;L'abour in the Dominion, not the least being ith&t'iof ,how..best to se!cufe unity of action in! the industrial field. It is held,that the time has now arrived when, if ■ possible, there should be; but one body, to express the views and wishes of: Labour on industrial matters, and that, to achieve this end, there should be a co.-ordination. of effort throughout the movement.'.':'

'V,\As matters now stand, there is no na.tional organisation which can speak authoritatively on- behalf of the. whole' of the workers- throughout the Dominion on matters which affect their interests, for ;o.n the one hand there is the.Alliance of Labour, which represents., some nine of the larger federations of unions in the Country, while on the other ( are. the Trades and Labour Councils composed of affiliated craft union's, some of which ;are not'even federated industrially. 'In softie districts trades • councils do not ■exist at-all, so, generally-speaking, there ■js^'a lack.- rof-'cohesion throughout, the 'industrial Labour movement as distinct tirom political activities.

.'■■, To remedy this state of affairs • representatives of the ..trades and councils io'f -Auckland, Wellington, ■ Christchurch, and Dunedin met -<at Christchurch this .week to disenss the.advisability or otherwise of establishing, a Traces and Labour Councils Federation for New ZeaJaiid, and it was decided to recommend jthe councils concerned that every ■ effort should, be-made io secure industrial unity by .'approaching the Alliance o( Labour with a view to ascertaining its .'wishes in tho , direction. of altering its Constitution.; tp/'etiable" all', industrial amions to affiliate:and ; mako the present trades .''councils "district councils under ;th'e AJlianfie: of Labour constitution.

■y.While the,"constitution of .the Alliance of Labour permits-of the establishment :rif, district councils; it contains'no provision for I,'the affiliation ;pf purely craft tirganisations^.'OT/eyen .of trade federations. ':. To" gaiii i-'adinitt'ahce to the alliUHCB it',is necessaiy for ialliedMradfte in *f particular industry; 1 to-, be linked together in-one federation because -the basis of the .■constitution" of the alliance is: "(1) The organisation' of the'wageworkers of -New Zealand on- the lines of class and industry.;- and (2) the collective ownership|,.pf the means.of production and distribution ,;■_and/control of all industries by the workers who operate them in the interests of the community." If the alliance agrees to allow all industrial unions' to;affiliate on a craft basis, irid is willing to absorb, as it were, the trades councils as at present constituted;, it will mean that the alliance .will have to modify its scheme of organisation to some extent. Should this change Jld.Ee place and all unions do enter the ;alliancer"ii^U;aVonce -become the-sole •medium -off; expression -of industrial lablour yiews,':'an<£ will be.the most,powerful organisation"' of *its; kind-yet- seen in■the Dominion. '

! . Whether all unions will foe prepared ';fo join hands with the Alliance of Labour ;!s quite another matter, and may present a difficulty sufficient to prevent fulfilment of the scheme as suggested at the _C.hristchurch conference of trades and labour council representatives. There are some unions who are anything but favourably disposed towards the Alliance, as at present constituted, and its aims and objects. They dp not like the Alliance, because they hold that; it is an organisation with a decided tendency ,-\b wield the "big ■ stick" in industrial "natters and' that if the smaller unions did affiliate they would be under the dominating influence of more militant sections of industrial; 'thought ■ connected ytitii the Alliance. It is known, for injitancej that one important body of Dolainion workers' is associated with the i'tlUance, but that a considerable body. t)f the members of this particular section do not recognise the Alliance, and will not pay affiliation fees- from their district. Others say that, the Alliance lias never achieved anything for the workers since it has been in existence, feo they fail to see the benefits to be arrived from linking up.

']rAgain, other unions fear."that.to.throw.; in their lot with, th.c alliance may jeopardise the existence of the arbitration system in New Zealand because there are organisations connected with the ' alliance whose loyalty to the principle of arbitra.tion._is_.tp,be questioned. .To this objection, however, is made the reply that the arbitration system is at present anything but satisfactory, to the workers, who are now- getting nothing from the Gourt but reductions in wages and unwarranted /alterations. .in. working. conditions.7 It can "scarcely^ be denied that ota the question of- arbitration there ■ are differences of opinion in the Labour ■Vvorld, but--'those- who are in favour '■ of the preservation of the principle cont«nd that anomalies in iawards., can. be; avoided by amending the constitution of the' Court and the Act. - Such alterations, it is.-.'i contended,., might; life Mie more easily obtained If Labour could speak-with a- united ■voice through some'such body as the Alliance of Labour. Some.Labour officials state quite definitely; however, that they will have nothing to do with the alliance, if it desires. to do away with arbitration,, as, whatever, the faults there may be in the system' at "the .present time, these are not incapable of being remedied, and arbitration appears to provide the most satisfactory method of settling industrial disputes. 'The overtures which have; bean made %o the Alliance of Labour by the Trades Councils are naturally arousing a good deal ofldiEcuEsion in Labour circles, and the outcome ifl being awaited ' with' iuterest, more especially as the general consensus of opinion certainly 'does_ appear to. be .in the direction of uniting more'closely^ the "ranks of Labour in the industrial field.