The Magazine Page ISSUED BY A TRADE UNION EDITORIAL BOARD. CRISIS IN THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

Grey River Argus, 24 February 1944, Page 7

The Magazine Page ISSUED BY A TRADE UNION EDITORIAL BOARD. CRISIS IN THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

I Never in the history of New Zealand has the fate of the Labour movement hung so precariously in the balance as .it docs at the present moment. We have got to do-some sober thinking right now. We have got to decide whether we are* going to put a. stop to the rot that basset, in, or whether we are going to allow certain irresponsible people i to lead the whole Labour movenment into disaster. That is the issue which confronts us at the present time Are we going to deal with the disruptors in our midst? Or are we going to sit back and commit suicide That is what we have to decide. And we haven’t much time to make a decision. Every Labour supporter remembers that the recent general election saw the Labour Government returned to office ■with a smaller majority than ever before. Every Labour supI porter who thinks and reads knows that the Holland Opposition are puffed up with arrogance, and arc eagerly awaiting the coming session of Parliament to let loose a political blitz against tin 1 Government. Everybody knows that they hope to accomplish at the coming” session what they failed to accomplish a.t the election—the defeat of the Government. They • ; hope ;by making political capital out of unrest on the production front, to make the Government’s position untenable ' and to force its resignation. And Holland and Company made it very clear at the election what they intend to do if they regain power. They ■ mean to put the interests of a small group of wealthy people they represent before everything else. They mean to reduce the country’s war effort. They mean to provide greater profits for their industrial bosses. They mean to attack and smash the Labour .movement, and in particular the big industrial unions (miners, watersiders, freezing workers etc.) They mean Io make New Zealand a paradise for the wealthy few, .and .a hell for the working-class. ? And some of us in the Trade Union movement are doing j a great job for Holland and his gang. By falling for proyoI cation and stopping production, we are furnishing them with all the ammunition they want. / A few weeks ago we published an article on this very question. We pointed out that we have a moral obligation ■ to those people overseas who have preserved us from Fascist invasion; that we owe it to these people' to do al] in our power to keep up production for the defeat of Fascism. v\ e . tried '.to make it clear that the fate of the working-class throughout the whole world (and that includes us) depends upon the successful conclusion of this war. But it is evident now- that there are some people in the trade union movement (as well as outside of it), who are not concerned about the winning of the war: Who want to take advantage of the war to force certain demands upon the Government, and who are prepared to sabotage war production in order to force their claims. • This minority is bringing the whole trade union movement into disrepute. Their ill-considered acts are making i the name Of decent trade unionists stink in the nostrils of the whole country. They will, if they are allowed to carry on as they are doing, bring ahbut the downfall of the Government and the smashing of the whole trade union movement. Are they going to be allowed.? It is well known that the big majority of the trade union members ''throughout the country strongly disapprove of such [acts, It is time they spoke on this matter. It is time they spoke publicly and sharply. If certain people in the [trade union movement are bent on courting disaster, benft on causing the downfall of the Government; let them be told at once they are getting no support from responsible trade unionists. At the same time the Government must be reminded that not all industrial hold-ups have been the fault of the workers. Managements, and people who sit in high places have been guilty of provoking workers, sometimes, unfortunately. beyond endurance. Such individuals have so far escaped scott-free a fact which has not passed unnoticed by the workei'S. If it is found necessary to discipline irresponsible workers who refuse to recognise their obligations .to the men overseas who are sacrificing their health and daily [risking their lives to ward off the deadly danger which still threatens every one of us, then it is still more necessary to deal drastically with those people in responsible positions who, through stupidity 'or through malice, provoke, or attempt to provoke, industrial stoppages. 'The rot must be stopped. . -• . , , ■ . —•—• —