STRIKES FOR PRECEDENCE

Evening Star, Issue 23113, 12 November 1938, Page 16

STRIKES FOR PRECEDENCE

UNIONS AND COURT HEARINGS THE MINISTER'S DISCLAIMER [Pan United Press Association.] WELLINGTON, November 12. A further denial that he played any part in. the sending of Mr J. A. Gilmour, S.M., to Auckland to open negotiations for the settlement of the glassworkers’ strike was given to-day by the Minister of Labour, Mr Armstrong, arising out of editorial comment in the Christchurch ‘ Star-Sun ’ last Thursday. The writer should have known from the statement he made on November 3 that there was no question of his haying compromised in the dispute, said Mr Armstrong. He repeated that Mr Gilmour was engaged performing certain functions of the Arbitration Court allocated to him. by the court itself. It appeared that the court itself had arranged for Mr Gilmour to go to Auckland. • When informed of the arrangement, Mr Armstrong -said that,;, he. immediately Entered a«J»roteste to^Slr.'-Gilmour and the court. “ I know pressure had been' brought to bear on the court by the representatives ; of both the employers and the workers to act as it did; nevertheless, to my mind it was entirely wrong. It should be explained, or course, that other unions on the court’s waiting list were not affected by the' arrangement, because it happened that Mr Gilmour had ' a couple of days free between Christchurch and Wellington’ cases. ' f But that is not the point. The Impression left is that if a, union wants an early hearing of its case before the court or before Mr Gilmour it has only to stage a strike. Unions that had bean on the waiting list for months have protested against the glass workers getting preference, and in my opinion they have just cause for complaint. I sincerely hope that preference will not be given in v •future to unions in such circumstances. “ I certainly was not a party to the arrangement in the recent case. 1 have enough to do to answer for my own sins / without being held responsible for other people’s.