The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1948. WORKERS SUFFER MOST FROM STRIKES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22619, 23 April 1948, Page 4

The Gisborne Herald. IN WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” GISBORNE, FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1948. WORKERS SUFFER MOST FROM STRIKES

r jpHERE are times when figures can tell stories with the aid of very little comment. On some occasions the stories are quite bright and cheerful; on others the message of the statistics is fundamentally one of sadness. Taxation figures today by no means belong to the first category. At least part of the taxation burden, however, is the outcome of the heavy expenditure involved in paying for a major war. Naturally most people would like to see it reduced so that industry would be encouraged to expand, increase production and so create a more stable and prosperous economy. In New Zealand easement of the incidence of taxation in many forms is something which should be the subject of strong public pressure before the opening of the next Parliamentary session; certainly no harm can be done by reminding the Minister of Finance, Mr. Nash, that he is expected this time to show some mercy towards industry, both primary and secondary. Yet there is a set of figures even more depressing than those relating to taxation, and they have a direct bearing on the volume of' production. Our Parliamentary correspondent telegraphed yesterday official information to the effect that industrial disputes in 1947 made records for the number of working days lost and for the total wages lost. The direct strikes recorded numbered 123, involving 22.170 workers. Although the strike total was not so high as in 3945, the loss of working days amounted to 78.835 and that of wages to £123,326—an increase in each case over 1945. Situation in New South Wales

A somewhat similar situation has been reported from New South Wales, where emphasis is laid on the number of strikes caused by unions known to be Communist-controlled. Communist-controlled unions, with only 26.1 per cent of the union membership in New South Wales, were responsible for 84 per cent of the time lost by strikes in the State between September, 1945. and December, 1917. In young countries like Australia and New Zealand, whose produce' is more than ever needed in distressed older lands and whose workers are well protected by arbitration and advanced social legislation. Ibis state of affairs should never have arisen. It reveals either a selfish disregard for others or a determination on the part of loading agitators to undermine the democratic system as we know it and prepare the way for Soviet-inspired communism. Since the majority of workers are not at heart selfish, the more likely explanation is that communism lias taken an iron grip of industry during too many years of laisscz fa ire in the control of unions.

In Queensland the union leaders wore recently taught a lesson through the failure, after 60 days, of the railway strike. The lesson is based on the fact, that in the end the strikers paid the bill, and the wives and children of the married men suffered more severely than anyone should suffer in these supposedly enlightened days. It is surely obvious now to moderate union loaders—in any Australian State or in New Zealand—that frequent petty strikes do not benefit workers. Such stoppages can mean a loss and an annoyance to employers, but there is always a far greater threat to Labour’s own ranks through wage losses, disunity, disruption and conflict. Secret Ballot Winning Favour

Probably a big awakening is at hand. In many branches of the Labour Party and in sections of the trade union movement there is a marked trend of opinion in favour of requiring a secret ballot to be hold before strike action is taken. Secret ballots, for which there is ample provision in New Zealand, protect the voter against hustling tactics, but they are generally opposed by the more militant of the union leaders. The criticism by these men, of course, condemns them as people who cannot put their arguments to the unbiased test of ordinary democratic methods. Trade unionism will he a healthier movement and a more efficient guardian of rank-and-file interests if it, invariably ensures that all its big decisions are made by secret ballot and none by the manipulation of mass meetings.

The president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions was among the first to suggest, that further peacc-in-industry talks should he held between employers’ organisations and his council. This form of co-operation is one of the wisest moves. It brings employers and workers together in a true spirit of co-operation, induces a readier understanding of each section’s problems, and breaks down the unhappy barrier of class warfare which the extremists appear bent on fostering. The conditions necessary for industrial peace remain what they have been for a longtime—an equitable system for adjusting wages and hours, a strict regard by all parties for the authority and judgments of arbitrators, and a plan which encourages employers and employees to win extra rewards by extra effort. These should he Ihe foundations of order, increased production and prosperity. Hasty recourse to the strike weapon should he ruled out of favour by those who' inevitably pay the pi-ice of lost wages.