UNION MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 23501, 15 February 1940, Page 9

UNION MOVEMENT

GROWING IN GREAT BRITAIN ILLICIT ORGANISATIONS IN GERMANY ADDRESS BY MR JOHN ROBERTS Trade unions in Britain are receiving greater recognition in wartime than they did in peacetime. So _ much so, indeed, that Mr Chamberlain himself has instructed the various Government departments to collaborate with the unions. That was a remarkable state of affairs, considering that Britain’s Government was a Tory one. So averred Mr John Roberts, general secretary of the New Zealand Clothing Trade Workers’ Federation and Dominion delegate to last year’s conference of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, in ah address in Burns Hall last night. There were only between 60 and 70 persons present at the meeting, which was presided over by Mr D. T. Vorley. Mr Roberts’s talk was largely in the nature of a travel address, beginning from the time he left New Zealand in March, 1939, but he devoted some considerable attention to trade union matters and working conditions in Europe, which he toured extensively. Unionism in Britain, he stated, was growing steadily, and to-day there were .‘about 6,000,000 members. Wages, ' though, were still low, particularly in the cases of hotel workers, waitresses, and chorus girls. Dealing with the Geneva conference, Mr Roberts outlined some of the work which had been transacted. “ The International Labour Organisation is the best thing that has come out of the Versailles Treaty,” he remarked. “ That treaty has left a legacy of hate, but the 1.L.0. has a wonderful record of achievement, and it has led the way to facilitating the passing of labour legislation throughout the world.” He believed that when the war was over the organisation would be called upon to solve the problems which must arise. Anything the New Zealand Government could do to assist the organisation would bo well deserved. ACTION OF WORKERS IN GERMANY. Suppression of trade unions in Germany \vas_ referred to by the speaker, who, in citing one case, said that in 1933 there were 900.000 railway workers in unions. The Nazis had then dis-, banded these unions and 17,000 of, the heads had been some of them being sent to concentration camps. Those who were left, however, devised other means of forming themselves into organisations, and these illegal _ organisations were functioning. During the winter of 1938-39 the railway workers called a “ work-to-rules ” . strike, and this strict adherence to rules resulted in chaos in the transport system. Because of the strength of the illicit organisations the Gestapo paid special attention to the railway workers, and in each division members of the. Gestapo were now planted to watch every movement.

Miners, particularly those in the Saar district, were militant, and the International Transport Federation was carrying out the distribution of propaganda among them, and before the war ■it was fairly, easy to smuggle literature 'frontier. '

The Nazis were not meeting with much success in controlling the German mercantile marine before the war, Mr Roberts alleged. All efforts had been unsuccessful in getting the sailors to give the “ Heil, Hitler ” salute. “ Though it seems difficult at first glance,” stated Mr Roberts, “ there is still hope for the German workers. Before the Great War officers rendered the toast, * Der Tag,’ meaning the day war would be started with England • to-dav it is the workers who are drinking to ‘ Der Tag ’ —but in their case ‘ The Day ’ means that day when they are able to overthrow the Nazi regime ” CONTENTED SWEDES. A glowing picture of workers’ conditions in Sweden was painted by the Each industrial occupation had its individual union. The hours of work each week were 48, but wages were very high, and the people were liappy. contented, and well fed. Sweden was one of the finest countries in the world, truly Socialistic. There was even a guaranteed price scheme in operation, this ensuring a given return for butter, none of which, he added, was allowed to be exported. The trade union movement was notso advanced in Finland, the speaker went on. That was a democratic country, and the lot of the people received special attention. At the same time wages were low—much lower than in Sweden. . The. speaker attributed this to the absence of unions operating specifically for the benefit of the workers.

Mr Roberts concluded his address by making an appeal to Labour supporters to remain firm and to show a charity of thought to the man who did not think the policy quite right. In Christchurch (the speaker said) there were men who had been in the Labour movement all their lives and who found difficulty in subscribing to the British Government's war aims. Tolerance and respect for the other person’s point of view was necessary at the present time.