CHANGE NEEDED

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4816, 28 July 1939, Page 4

CHANGE NEEDED

ARBITRATION SYSTEM. MINISTER'S VIEW. The Government's concern about the need for some improvement of the existing mechanism for dealing with industrial disputes was expressed by the Minister of Justice (the Hon. H. G. R. Mason), when replying, yesterday to a deputation representing the national council of the New Zealand Labourers' Federation which waited upon him in reference to the builders and general labourers' award and the operation of the Arbitration Court. The Minister . said that the Government would use its' best endeavours to devise some > means of effecting improvements. "I thoroughly agree with the principles which underlie the existing arbitration system," said Mr. Mason. "However, it is getting old now and the admiration one has for those who introduced it should not turn into mere ancestor worship and prohibit v modification. The Government is concerned about the need for some improvement in the mechanism. It is easier to say that than to say ex- < actly what ought to be done, because the question needs some constructive thought. We will use our best endeavours to devise means off effecting improvements."

Mr. Mason, referring to the question of workers and strikes, said that strikes might be instituted under great provocation, but he could not agree with the proposition that the existence of a strike showed that provocation was great. It was known that loyalty among workers might cause a strike to,*spread where the original reason of it was microscopic. "The proposition that every strike justifies itself cannot be admitted for a moment," Mr. Mason said.