THE LABOR MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 16529, 14 September 1917, Page 6

THE LABOR MOVEMENT

[By Veteiian.] Brief contributions on matters with reference to the Labor Movement are invited. LABOR UNREST. Some months ago there was set up in England a Commission'to inquire into the causes of Labor unrest. The Commission suggested that as a guide to those desirous of giving evidence the following alleged causes of labor unrest-might be adopted as a framework of statements to be placed before the Commission:—The operation of the Military Service Acts, including the withdrawal of the trade card scheme; the Munitions Aot, including dilution, leaving-certiflcate system, and the restoration of pre-war conditions j delays in securing settlement of disputes"; wages and piecework, rates; increase in food prices; the liquor restrictions; shon discipline; and the effects of industrial fatigue. The foregoing list of subjects indicates a fairly large scope for the inquiry. A writer of a Laoor column m an English exchange says:—" In Judge Parry the Commission has an ideal chairman, for he has many friends alike among the working classes and employers. He is well known to the working ctass as a man with a keen brain and a big heart." The same writer suggests that.His Honor will find that two of the greatest causes of Labor unrest aro the delay in settling Labor disputes and the high price of food and other accessary commodities. Ho then goes on to state that the trade unions ooncerned have prepared a large amount of evidence which will prove to the general publio that most of the strike* that have takon place wgr« not ebullitions of wanton trouble, but thu finri exasperation of workers who thought that too tight a hand had been kept on their, whilst profiteers had an absolutely free iisnd. The British Government have at last found that men and womon d/> not lika being robbed by food proflteors j thai) they are Btrongly in favor -of & successful prosecution of the war, women actually obiectod to sending their husbands, brothers, and sons to dio whilst other men become_ rich on the war. The Amalgamated Society of Engineers have made an' arrangement with Dr Addison, who acted on behalf of the Government, to prevent further trouble in the engineering works. The Triple Alliance (whioh in this case means the Government, the employers, and the workers) has had a meeting, and this alliance will be the controlling force of the kingdom—until the army returns to civil life with trench ideas.

" Scrutator," another writer of Labor Notes in an English paper, discussing this BUbjeot, says:— It is to be hoped that peace will suocoed the storm in. the Labor world. The programme •of war engineering work is a colossal one. The Army and Navy want guns and shells without number, and must have them if they are to win the war. The nation wants ships without limit, and must have them if she is not to bo starved into an ignobte surrender. Countless aeroplanes to maintain our mastery of the air; tanks to search tho battleships like herds of rooting pigs j rails' and engines to supply the armies: and tractors to plough the soil of Britain next autumn and winter—these and many other products of the engineering shops are necessary to our existence as a nation and to our triumph on land and sea. Happily, there is now a good prospect of a continuous and progressively increasing, supply, thanks to the patriotism of the trade union leaders and to the introduction of a little elastic in the place of rigid red tape into the Ministry of Munitions. Dr Addison has now rectified his former mistakes, and a give-and-take conference between him and the representatives of 40 engineering, shipbuilding, and kindred trade unions has resulted in a new pact, which, pray heaven, will prevent any further stop"page of work till the end of the war. What is the cause of the labor unrest?" was asked of a union official in the Midlande this week; and his reply was: "It is tiiat we are trying to fight a great war and at the same time to preserve our individual liberties." That, I think, hits the nail right on the head. It represents what I have always believed and written j and it means that the great mass of our working people, skilled and unskilled, are loyal to their hearts' core to the great cause of the Allies, but fail to see the necessity of allowing employers and bureaucrats, without just cause shown and under plea of war necessity, to play ducks and drakes with the customs and agreements which organised Labor has established after half a century of hard struggling. The time for the secret compilation of Bills afteoting Labor hos gone by. Labor is now watchful, educated, and powerful. It can see through the subtleties of Parliamentary draftsmanship almost with the 'cutauess of a Philadelphian lawyer, and those who counted upon its passivity during the crisis of the war have just found out their mistake, and have had to go back on their own tracks. . . .

Ifc is that great British principle, compromise, that has again done the trick. No more convincing testimony to the patriotism of the workers could be desired than the willingness of 40 of the leading unions to consent to dilution even on private and commercial work, as part of a bargain arrived at in open conference. The right to strike in munition works has been technically nonexistent since the early months of the war. Under the new agreement that disability stands, but workmen employed in private works have reserved to them the vital weapon of "down tools." JThe okl promise that immediately peace is declared all pre-war conditions will be restored, is to be put into an Act of Parliament, and for 12 months all employers attempting to diddle the unions in this matter are to be liable to prosecution and penalties. Leaving certificates, now granted or refused at the discretion of the Munition Tribunals, are to be totally abolished. Thereby goes an instrument'of hardship and tyranny under which the men have long groaned. You know what happened. In the early days of the war a Tyneside man, for instance, left his wife and childern and came south to Merseyside to take up a job of war work which at that time waia not available nearer home. In a little while Tyneside wanted him back for quite as important a job and at more money. But ho could not go unless he was prepared to be idle for a period of six weeks, which was out of the question; and the result was that for the convenience of a Liverpool or Birkenhead employer he had to work for a oomparativelv low wage, remain away from his family, incur a double expense in the matter of lodgings, etc., and stand any ir":-?ome condition bis firm or a foreman liked to impose. That hardshin is now to be abolished.

Other valuable; commonsense benefits are secured by the new agreement to the workers. The status and benefits (such as superannuation) due to/thope leaving railway and other employment for munitions are to bo restored; wages awarded by statute are to apply to all the firms in the same industry; no changes in the conditions of employment can" be mado except by the Minister of Munitions, and then only after the men or their representatives have been consulted; and arbitration proceedings are to be expedited. Taken altogether, the compromise seems to me to be an excellent one, and I am glad that there has been no crowing over a victory or snarling under defeat on one Bide or the other. The real object to be kept in view is the' defeat of Germany, and anything in reason that tends to the smooth working of the industrial machine is a matter of plain commonseriFe. The lesson to be derived from the strike and its sequel is that if yon treat the British workingmen right they will do their duty like the true-hearted men they are.

But' this is only half the story. Profiteering remains. Lord Rhondda calls it blackmail, and I hope he means what he says, and that he intends to take drastic steps to put a stop to it, and to secure to us our food at a fair price. in cotton has just been

stopped, temporarily—but why tempor. arily?. -Gambling in wheat .is still al« lowed, and the waste of bacon and - fish at the portß is a frequent scandal Why are not the people responsible for this Erosecuted and punished at least as eavily as the old lady caught giving bread crumbs to the birds ! Profiteering reached the outside limit, I should say, the other day, when.a wholesale firm sent out its representatives to buy.back from the shopkeepers provisions .on which they could see their way to make another profit. The men who engineered that plot ought to be in the dock. Well, if .anybody, Lord Bhondda knows the ropes, and it is said that no one can destroy a system so well as he who has been brought up in it. If he meanß business, good luck to him! *■ * - * * « ' * » THE AUSTRALIAN STRIKE. It is t relief to know that most of the Australian strikers have • gone back to work. There are still one or two unions such aa th© Seamen's Union, stall standing out. Wo hope that before this appears in print tho, whole miserable business will be over and work going on as usual. We have had a good oleal of newß in regard to tho strike (happening* in New South Wales, and it is not necessary to enlarge upon them in this oohunn. But as regards what occurred in Queensland, wo have seen very little. It appears that the strike of raifwaymen extended to jSbrth Queensland, but tho Government met the delegate* and offered certain terms for settlement. I have not seen what the exact terms were, but on Friday, August 24, the delegates who had gone to Brisbane to attend tflw conference telegraphed the Government's offer to the men in Cairns and Mackay, with the result that work was resumed at 9>,a.m. on the 26th. and in TowrssvUlo the delegates reported in person on tho following Monday, and work ■was resumed next day. It is significant that t3w follpwinff resolution was carried imanimcusly by a largely attended meeting oi the Australian Workers' Union, held in Inmsfaal an Saturday, August 25, the day the Cairns and Mackay men returned to work: —"That this meeting consider the proposals made by tho Government, and unanimously adopted by tho Trades Union Congress in BrisDanc, as fair and reasonable, and if the proposals aro riot accepted by the railwayman, we request the branch executive io dissociate members of the A.W'.U. from all connection with tho northern railway strike, as we consider such an obstinate and unreasonable attitude wou'ld not oniy destroy the discipline and solidarity oi tho industrial Labor movement, but would also endanger the existence and nullify the arood work of our political' party in Parliament, and would consequently place tho railway men outsido the pale- of Labor sympathy or support." A meeting of tho Herbert W.P.O. and Progressive Carpenters and Joiners' Union was held oil Sunday, at which resolutions on somewhat similar lines were carried, and the Government strongly commended for adhering to the principfe of conciliation and arbitration.

**** • # * * AGAINST CHILD LABOR In the Education 801 l introduced recently in the British House of Commons far-reacihing provision is made to guard against tho introduction of child labor. No child is to bo employed for profit under 12 years of age. There is a further provision, which, is in advance of New Zealand legislation, that every child no. longer obliged to attend elementary schools snail attend continuanco schools, receiving fulltime education to 16 years and part time to 18 years, tho latter to be taken from employers' time and given in the day time. In introducing the Bill, the President of the Board of Education said that the life of the rising generation could only be protected against the injurious effects of industrial pressure by a further measure of State compulsion. "D. O'G.," in his Labor notes in the Wellington.' Evening Post,' commenting on the above, says: "It is significant of tho importance attached to the matter by tho British authorities that this Bill should bo introduced in war time, when tho tendency is to neglect the child's ultimate welfare on the plea of national emergency. Recent reports indicate that America also is taking a wade view of the question, and will not permit any exploitation, of child labor during tho war period. * * # * - * *...*- HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS. An interesting summary of household budgets has been prepared by tho Post and Telegraph Officers Association. • The sumnxaxy shows two adults and an average of over three children in each family. The average salary is £l6 4s o£d par morvth, and tho average household expenditure, apart from boots, clothing, medicine, medical attention, dentist, school books, etc., is £l3 7s The principal I items are: Rent, £3 16s 9£d (which it must be agreed is remarkably low if Wellington bo considered), bread 14s lOd, meat £1 16s HAd, milk 17s 3id, buttor 18s 6d, eggs 5s lid, sugar 6s, coal 14s 4W, lighting 10s 9W, potatoes 6s Bd, vegetables 6s Id. The Post and Telegraph Association at its annual conference discussed the salaries question. An example of what is complained of is given in 'The Katipo.' " There are eight men at tho top of Class G 12 who reached £l4O on tho Ist of April of this year. They have 92 yeans' service between, them, while their accumulated ages are 207 years, giving an average age of 26 and an avcrago service of 11 years six months. Does this not cry out for improvement? Is not a radical remedy needed to set such gross underpayment right? And, mark you, these men are of tho right sort. Seven out of the eight are with the military forces, while the eighth is a married man with children."