UNAUTHORISED STRIKES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 22 August 1924, Page 6

UNAUTHORISED STRIKES.

MR JULIUS VOGEL’S SUGGESTION. LONDON, June 11. Mr. Julius L. E. Vogel, whose suggestions regarding problems affecting trade and labour are always very much to the point, again comes forward with a solution for the unauthorised strikes which are becoming so common in Great Britain to-day, and which are largely the result of the evil machinations of the Communists. “By evolution, trade unionism has resulted in the labour of this country being split up into small watertight compartments,” says Mr. Vogel, in a letter to The Times. “To work at any trade or industry a workman must belong to the appropriate union, and these bodies are careful, as far as they can, to limit their membership to a number which is less than can be continuously employed. Thus an apparent shortage of labour in a particular branch of industry can be utilised to justify increased wages. Shortage of labour in trades involving a minimum of skill and experience cannot be made from the general labour market, ivhich could easily provide men who would quickly acquire the necessary training. Equally, members of a. union who find insufficient work in their own industry simply apply for unemployment relief, as they cannot seek work outside the four walls of their union. Thus all elasticity has been removed from the labour market, and what is practically a caste system has been evolved.

“To meet the situation caused by sectional strikes of a union or part of a union it seems to me that the only effective action possible would be by labour collectively. The combined trade unions could, if they so desire, intimate that in the case of a strike unauthorised by them they will not only absolve those who take the places of strikers, but they will actively assist employers in finding substitutes. Many strikes are distinctly traceable to quarrels between unions whose members are engaged upon the same, or practically the same, work. Unless the combined body of trade unionists are able and willing to control their constituent parts it seems to me futile to expect anyone else to do this. The Government and the law can, in effect, only devise methods of punishment for unauthorised strikes, and even if these were brought within the laws of conspiracy the evil is done by the strike and not cured by punishment after the event. “We harm a Labour Government, sup_ ported by a very substantial proportion of members of Parliament, the majority of whom are trade unionists. Surely now, if ever, is the time for them to persuade Labour to subject itself to the authority of their combined leaders and. to take firm and effective action against sections which act contrary to the interests of the whole nation, including their fellow-workers r in other unions. Improved wages and a higher standard of living are only possible if the prosperity of the country as a whole increases, and this is effectually prevented by these constant strikes.”