SOME STRIKE LESSONS

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 14310, 2 March 1907, Page 8

SOME STRIKE LESSONS

We are not sure that observations on the value of mutual forbearance will be of any groat assistance in the present industrial crisis, but both employers and workers might very well weigh the sensible comments that the Hon J. T. Paul offered to a reporter last evening. One conclusion that must necessarily be drawn from the trouble is that if Unionism is to play its appointed part in the settlement of industrial disputes, no pains must bo spared by masters and men and by the State itself to strengthen and uphold the organisations of the workers. The Unions have been of no practical assistance in the present strikes, mainly, we suspect, because in the first instance the Wellington moat companies did not regard the Slaughterers’ Union and its demands with" . a proper respect. The Unions, in fact, have very seldom been accorded the position to which they are entitled as essential factors in the arbitration scheme, and the sooner the State recognises that the Unions must bo given an added dignity and importance the better it will bo for the industrial world generally. The thorough organisation of the men will always operate in the direction of giving Stability to industry, and every encouragement ought to bo offered to the workers to become members of Unions. It has been suggested that the labour leaders might bo disposed to make concessions in return for “statutory preference.” 'That is a matter for their own discretion, but it is perfectly plain to us that the employers are ill advised in resisting the preference clause. Under existing, conditions the worker's themselves have often no : respect for their, own Unions, membership of which brings them no direct advantage, and it is clear enough from the present trouble that the position would be greatly improved by giving the Unions greater authority and a higher standing. The other primary lesson we would draw from the crisis is the need for restoring the Conciliation Boards to their old status and for enlarging their powers. If the Wellington dispute could have been dealt with authoritatively by the local Board immediately the negotiations between, the Uniop and the employers failed, the workers would have been deprived of the only shadow of an excuse they had for striking. The present trouble is not the result of any weakness of the original system. It is the direct outcome of the shortsighted tinkering with the. principles' of the Act that Parliament has indulged in during the past eight or ton years.