A JUSTIFIED PROTEST

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 116, 18 May 1944, Page 4

A JUSTIFIED PROTEST

In the light of statements made in correspondence which has passed between a trades union secretary and a soldier home on furlough, in reference { to the payment of union fees, the indignation expressed by the official journal of the New Zealand Returned Services' Association can be understood. During part of his furlough th£ soldier in question took employment in an essential industry, apparently with the sole idea of assisting production at a time of man-power shortage. The secretary demanded a year's subscription to the union. This the soldier declined to pay. We are not concerned at the moment wi£h the rights or wrongs of compulsory unionism or with the authority the law confers on trades union secretaries to demand fees even from furlough men who temporarily enter employment. There is reason for concern, however, that a union official should see fit to use the language attributed to him towards a man who volunteered in the early days of the war and has seen service in Greece, Crete, and Libya, and who, during his well-deserved leave, volunteered to perform work of national importance. According to the correspondence which we summarise today, the soldier was addressed in the following terms: "One would have thought your experience in the Army would have taught you the principles of co-operation and mateship. While working in the factory you obtained advantages of work done by your fellow-workers through the union. According to yourself, you went voluntarily into the factory. This is all the more reason why you should pull your weight and pay your share of maintaining and improving" conditions of work. ißecause you are one of many thousands who have been in the Army, are you going to trade on that for the rest of your life to shirk your share of the cost of maintaining decent conditions?'' It is very difficult to defend the use of such words towards a man who has already given lengthy service to his country and has since returned to the front to serve again. The R.S.A. "Review" correctly points out that thousands of servicemen are making untold sacrifices in order that New Zealanders may continue to enjoy their way of life—including trades unionism —in the future. They have paid, and are paying, to the full their share of "the cost of maintaining decent conditions." The protest voiced by the official journal of the R.S.A. will be widely endorsed.