THE UNOFFICIAL DOCKERS' STRIKE

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 36, 5 September 1923, Page 3

THE UNOFFICIAL DOCKERS' STRIKE

Dehaie on -Uiiioit ladies ~

About 67,000 dockers in various parts of Great Br" tain took part in the recent strlko ' against a reduction of 1/- da-ly in accordance with a fall in the cast of living, which reduci'ion had bi?.:en agreed on by the Union some months before. In Dondon, two of the Unions' most prominent officials. Messrs. Gosling and Bevln, were howled down by strikers for advising action based on a recognition of agreements. The Maori" land Worki&r has made an editor.'al comment on th's proceeding, and we now reprint from tha London "Da 1 ly Herald" a report of a debaue on the strike* at the first annual delegate conference,of the Transport General Workers' Union which was held • in London commencing on July 9 last, over 200 delegates being in attendance. This report giveis both sides ol the question. Mr. Harry Gosling, M.P., presided, and among those on the platform were Mr. Ernest Bevin, and Mr. Ben Tillett, M.P. Mr. Gosling said he had proposed in a presidential address t 0 go ove r the work of the uniton for the past year, but he though 1 , they should get down at ence to th s thing that really mattered —the dockers' strike situation. He and tiro general secretary (Mr. Bevin) had acted in conjunction with all their colleagues in the crisis, and they would stand or fall together. Mr. Bevin then moved the following resolution: "That this annual delegare conference endorses tlie resolution passed by the National Dock Group Committee as follows: "That the National Comm'tte-6 for the dockers' section of the Transport and General Workers' Union, while appreciating the resentment shown against reduction of wages generally,' resolves that the* present agreement has been entered into wi'h the consent of the elected delegates of the ports and "with thair full knowledge, and that the policy of th a un'oa in honouring this agreemenn must be adhered to, and.hereby instructs the men now on strike to return to work by July 9, and calls on the men still out to return t 0 work immediately, thereby obeying instructions and endorsing the acton of Executive Committee and officers ,in refusing to depart from the constitutional procedure of the union in dejal'ng with the problem." "The whole future existence and power of- the union is at stake," declared Mr. Bevin. Ho reviewed the history of negotia-; tions between employers and the men's representatives since 1919. He pointed out that the employers' initial attack was not on wageis. The attackon wages camo in 1921. THE FALL IN WAGES "Wages," he said, "were tumbling down all round us, and our conference at that time decided that if there were to be any retreat at all il should be on money and not on the conditions of labour which had taken 30 years of strenuous effort to build Up." (Applause). It was felt that if the situatkm in Europe settled, there would be an opportunity to win back wages mora easily than 0o get time off the working day onc 0 it had been put on. (Hear, hoar.) The employers then said they would withhold, for a certain period, changes in the wage rates if the. union would geri rid of what they called "obnoxious restrictions" in regard to conditions. He dwelt on what tli-s meant to the men, and said, amid {'.ppl.ausc, "Eight men employed at 10s. a day is better for us than four men a: 15s. a day." ?.Ht. BEVIES CHARGES AGAINST THE STRIKERS "Nov/, if this agreement had been impor-v.d from- above," went on. Mr. I'evin, "without consultation with the in en and without a delegate conference, and if there had been no effort to explain I', one could understand hieii revolting against the'r union— because this is a revolt, whether we like it or not, against the union. (Cries of "No!" and counter-cries of ! •Trs!") "Well, let us face the- facts of the case*. , "There was continual nibbling and i efforts to break down tho conditions | Vn. tho ports. "When the last 2s/ a day reduction { was demanded in January, 1922, we i

> held & : : c.ff :: by> until a year week! "Th© union sucoeeclied tfoen in getting Is. post dat©d #11 OctGber,. after that, we said th%i& more tampering w'tb the ctfndlttidns, • '"" _.- imUES.PSOTEGTIiiIB ...,_.:.,-,: "As a result we suec&ctded in get- ' ting in the first c!,a,use of the agreement a reaffirms, fon of the 44-hour 1 week, and all its concomitants. 5 "Finally, we made it a condition 1 that unless the co&t of "Hv.'mg fell, that 5 should net come off. If thena was anything wrong in 'that proposition, then the union is responsible, for we proposed it, and the employers 3 resisted it to the hilt." \ In. Hull, where ths' ctrike started, wen 1 :, on Mr.' Bev'in, a mass ineet'irg of the -men 'with only seven dissent--3 lents accepted the agreement. In Hull, for every penny the union had 5 received they had spent about 4d. 5 In trying to organs,? the rn^in. i COST Or ISSUE ' Reverting :'o the cost of living fig- ' ures agreement, Mr. B'&viii sa ; d: "If 1 the employers had sad the figures had bejdn jockeyed, every docke 1 ' , would bav,o said: 'Stand by the agreei ment and the cost of living figures.' i (Applause.) "You can't veer in these things like I a weathercock_ No union can run on r thisi basis, iand the un'cn is cii. tiled to _. call on members to play the game. t "Th's un:o v holds 286 agreements. P If the policy is now t 0 be to adopt . agreements ona day and break them the rie/xt, then do it wi'h your eyes open—but trade unionism is finished. l "The strike up to novy has been 1 against the union and not tho employer. At the request of ihe Group ; j Committee, I asked the employers to keep the ring for a few days—l don't ■ suppose it can be kept long—iand let '. j us- settle it, if possible, and so demon* ■ fi-rate that we represent what we claim to represent. . A BARGAIN, OR— ■ "Now, having accepted a bargain, ■ j shall Aye stand by it? That is the . I question. Or shall we jump from one • position t 0 another at the whim of ■ thlo movement?" i He had been asked to get into touch with th, e unofficial men, but he pointed out that ;the proper machinery existed —a National Commit- ! t& 3 direct from the trades of the ports. MOVE TO SUPPORT STRIKE Mi*. Fitzgerald (London), a member* of the Na tonal Dock Group, moved an am.endment: "That conference supports the men in their acton in resisting this reduction." He argued that the men were no" breaking the agreement, since the employers had never put the full! agreement into operation. J "We have lost," he said, "6s up to ! now." I He held th.at '.he me n were not act-1 ing unconstitutionally. Mr. McGuire (London), seconding, \ hold that the w'shes of the men had j not been carried out. - "Tf th's conference," he declared,! "does not back up the men out on j strike to-day the union is going to : lose from 40,000 to 50,000 men.'' { He asserted that no provision had been made by the-negotiations for this union for a ris© in wages if thg" cast of commodities went up. NO RETURN! Mr. Jack Williams (Bristol) said he had instructions from 5,000 Br?s' ol j dockers to resist any proposal to re-; turn to work on present conditions, i Mr. Mills (Bristol) attributed the! unrest there to displacement of, labour by-employers. Casual men, i ••le said, who had suffered badly, came ' ou+ on Monday, and fruit was gomg j rotten. Blackleg labour was being | regported to. . j Replying to © delegation, Mr. Bevin said there was no question of expel- ! 'dug anyone from the union. Mr. Hill (Cardiff) read a resolution pas sled by Cardiff dockers urging the ofilcija,ls to approach 'the employers with a view- t 0 their waiving the last Is reduction. "I am in sympathy with any man who has to work on docks at 10s a day," siaid Mr. Dooley (Swansea). All the same, he added, to prevent tb,3 smashing of the union, they should honour the agreement. ."This is a picnic compared with ftomo of the troubles we have passed through," said Mr. Ben T'llett. Ha had se'an too much, he went on, of breakaways, and he now urged un,i;:y and support of tho officials in honouring an agreement made. "At the same- time," he said, with i a fir,e that draw loud applause, "I am not ashamed of the men who have ; had courage enough to show their re- ; eefntnient. They hjave shown we are not trained ; 'iO attrit'on or cowardice." i "I plead with our men, our brothere" fee added, passionately. "I 1

i appeal to them to go back to work. ■j We have to show a united front." j Mr. Fitzgerald's amendment was I deflated by 136 votes to 18. | Several delegates wanted the I officials to get in touch wii'h the men |on strike. I Mr. Bevin sad they had never lost i touch, but tho men nacl not accepted • lidr advice. There was no talk of however, of deserting about 65,000 ttuon. THE STRONG LINE It should be the conference, not tho employers, who should get the men r>*,ck to work. He recognised that this was their strong line. Other delegates were for gentle nid hods. The resolution, as it stood, was too harsh. They suggested modifications. .__. Tlie Chairman said they were all anxious to get the me_, in again, and to see that none wer,© victimised. Finally, tlie conference accepted a modification of the original resolution, wherein the mien wer© "requested" to observe the wishes of the conference by returning* t<, work, so that in fighting future grievances th-eire would be an unbroken front.' Only flv,o Relegates voted against this, and they expressed themselves willing*, to talk over the matter -with the Group Goizu_33sa.