Few Militant Unions

Northern Advocate, 3 September 1947, Page 2

Few Militant Unions

Mr Holland said the latter portions of the Minister’s speech were typical of the poisonous political propaganda in which he indulged on every possible occasion.

Morepver, a suggestion he had made earlier, that some people were" intimidated by business pressure into joining the National Party, although they voted Labour, was absurd. Mr Holland said the Minister who that night proclaimed that strikes could not be prevented by anti-strike legislation was the same man who, as a member of the War Administration, had asked for the right to impose fines on strikers and to dump them into prisons. Mr Holland said strikes could not' be prevented on all occasions, but every legislative aid should be given to conciliatory negotiation, and there must be provision for fair and firm administration of the law’ once negotiations had been conducted.

The Government hacl fallen into a simple human error on addressing itself to the reduction of working hours per day, of days per week and weeks per year, with the regrettable' result that, as acknowledged in the Budget, production had fallen. The Government's legislation had thus defeated its own end of providing a higher standard of living, and it was interesting that Mr Baxter, secretary of the Federation of Labour, was reported from Melbourne that day as warning Australian unionists against making the same errors Vs New Zealand in regard to the 40-hour week.

Labour had claimed that it could bring industrial peace more successfully than any other Government because it understood the workers, but it was no exaggeration to say that the chief Ministers were greatly disappointed that their legislation had been accompanied by a great deal of industrial trouble, and those who should have been grateful had been openly defiant and regardless of the public welfare.

The average New Zealand worker loathed strikes, but the workers, through their Parliamentary representatives, had failed to find an effective way of stopping strikes, from which the workers themselves suffered most.

The militant unions that caused the trouble could be counted on two hands, and even in those unions it was only a few leaders who were responsible. Mr Holland said the militant leaders had discovered that by employing direct action, intimidation, threat of strike and go-slow they obtained better results than did other unions by lawful processes. That was a serious blot on the system. They had also discovered that if they pulled together strongly enough the Government would give way, and that penalties under the law would not be enforced against them. They had seen the Prime Minister override the decisions of courts of justice, wiping out penalties, and how could they be. expected to respect a Prime Minister who set aside the courts?