Carpenters On The Warpath

Northern Advocate, 19 June 1939, Page 4

Carpenters On The Warpath

THE strike of workers on a State housing job at Karoii is rather surprising. The carpenters say they are “not aiming to harass the Government in its housing policy. But can this statement be taken seriously? Industrial stoppages of this nature cannot fail to aggravate the Governments difficulties. Repeatedly within the last few months Mr. Savage and his colleagues have appealed to all classes of organised workers for co-operation 6 * and restraint. The men at Kaioii aie apparently not to give either. All they are concerned with is the ventilation of a protest against an award with which they do not agree. . , “It is obvious/’ say the spokesmen for the union, _ that the Arbitration Court has not given close attention to important matters stressed by the workers’ advocates.” But who is to be the judge of the importance of these matters? What may appear as important to the workers’ advocates may appear relatively trivial, or at least impracticable, through the detached vision of the court, particularly when balanced against the submissions of the other side. If the employers were to refuse to abide by an award, because important considerations stressed by the employers’ advocate had been overlooked, what would the unions say? They would be entitled to complain in the strongest terms that the courts’ authority was being flouted. But surely that is precisely what the Wellington carpenters are doing. They may not wish to harass the Government, but it is difficult to see how their action can have any other result, for they are deliberately attacking the authority of a Government appointed tribunal. . The strikers are employees of a firm which received lavish and almost unprecedented praise from members of the Government in connection with the erection of the second Social Security building after the Aitken Street fire. Surely it is not suggested now that this highly reputable firm would victimise its employees. If so, what has Mr J. Hodgens to say? He recruited carpenters from Australia on the promise of attractive pay and conditions. Unless he got them over here on false pretences—which was apparently not the case, judging by their subsequent satisfied comments—then the men cannot have any very serious grievances.