The Maoriland Worker WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1914. A Square Deal

Maoriland Worker, Volume 5, Issue 177, 24 June 1914, Page 4

The Maoriland Worker WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1914. A Square Deal

0 Another glaring illustration of tho "short shrift" given to legitimate trades unionism by tho magistrates of the Dominion, is afforded by tbo report of tho case, Canterbury Drivers' Union wjrsua ! ; !. VTolfo z:-.H A. LcuU, fu: arrears of contributions, which appears in this issue. Mayristroto Bishop, when ho realised that the union, must win its caso upon , St;:.tuto law, fell back upon the "equitable jurisdiction" of the Court, and jrnvo judgment against tho union "in equity anil good confidence." Tliis means that the law can bo eot aside at tho sweet will of a magistrate, and tho wishes of tho employers given effect to, to bolster np a bogus organisation of blackleg unionists, brought into exist-

once, illegally, by the employers I In the case under discussion, the registered office of the new union is the office of one of tho largest employers of drivers in Christchurch 1 If Mr, Bishop's ruling is correct, and a union which has gone on strike cannot recover any further contributions from objecting members after the committal of the offence, then it would b,o ; ight to argue that a union cannot be sued for any debt, or prosecuted for ■ivy offence after it has engaged in a strike; in other words ite registration is automatically cancelled, and it ceases to exist! Of course the decision of the mugibirai« is wrong ,because paragraph of section 5 of the "I.C. and A. AcV' definitely lays it down that "members must, giro three months' notice of resignation and pay up all dues, etc., up to tho expiration of the notice." The magistrate based his decision on the fact that tho union's, rules provided only for resignation of those members who wero "leaving the industry or the district." Rut these rules have been registered l>y the L.ibcrtr Department, and as euch should be binding on members. Tho secretary of the union, Mr. Hiram Hunter, wished to appeal on the union's behalf, aiid the Act allows seven days in which to lodge notice of appeal, but for amounts of under £20 it i<? pecessary to obtain tho mngistratp's consent to fhe app e »il. This has boon applied for f><m refused by Mr. Bishop, because his decision n 'as given "in equity and good conscience." Evidently this monnmenfc of magisterial "equity" is not prepared to allow his dr-cision to bo reviewed by the Appeal Court. Tho sooner the workers of New Zealand wake- up to the fact that it is impossible to get justice or equity, as wo understand equity, from our law courts, tho better it will bo for them; and perhaps they will then take more interest in the Labour movement, and see to it that class legislation, and class administration are wiped out of existence for all time.