UNITED LABOR PARTY'S MANIFESTO.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 15 November 1913, Page 5

UNITED LABOR PARTY'S MANIFESTO.

ADVICE AGAINST STRIKING

WELLINGTON, Nov. 14. The result of the deliberations of the Dominion Executive of the United Labor Party appears in a manifesto which has been issued to all affiliated unions throughout New Zealand. Several j ■prominent members of these unions who have already received it considered it advisable that the manifesto should be made public. The document, which is signed by the Hon. J. T. Paul (president) and Mr Reardon (secretary and treasurer), is designated "The United Labor Party's Declaratidn on the Present Crisis.',' It is addressed to the secretaries of the various unions, and is as follows: "The National Executive of the United Labor Party, has devoted much time and thought* to the present industrial trouble. We have made no public declaration on the crisis. , Our silence has been prompted because of our hopes of, and attempts at, media- i tion. We have approached the Strike Committee and the executive of the' Federation of, Labor with offers of mediation towards a settlement. We have been repulsed, by the committee and the executive. An attempt has now been made to involve the organisations affiliated with- the United Labor.. Party. Our unions have been called upon to strike without consultation with your executive, and in contravention of our constitution. In short, a policy of disintegration has been followed, and your executive and its jurisdiction has been I ignored' That is in keeping with the past policy of disruption instituted by the Federation of Labor; We desire to j point but that under our constitution the present trouble could not have! arisen. The constitution of the Federation of Labor has been treated as so much waste paper. Even the provision in the rules of the Wellington Waterside Workers' Union'for a ballot precedent to a strike has been ignored. The result is chaos and tends to work irremediable harm to organised labor. The present fight is a struggle between the Federation of Labor and the employers. Beginning with a trivial disagreement, the attempt is now being made to involve organised labor in a general strike. The United Labor Party is opposed to the general strike as a weapon of warfare. Industrial history has amply proved its failure fin other, countries, and there are many additional reasons why it must fail here. Therefore, this executive strongly opposes .any extension of the strike. An extension will surely bring further disaster, and accentuate unnecessary suffering. We declare that the points involved in the present struggle could, and should,, have been settled on constitutional lines and without an appeal to force. . As a party we .stand for constitutional methods, and the present unfortunate disturbance, has tremendously strengthened durpbsition as a constitutional party. Our chief and immediate object in issuing , this declaration is to urge our organisations and members not to strike. To extend the strike will inflict unnecessary suffering on many individual workers, injure the cause of Labor, and embarrass "the community. We, therefore, urge your organisation not to strike. A full review of the whole; facts of the. present dispute, and of our proposals for the prevention of similar disasters in the future, will be s issued, later."