POINTED WARNING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 29 June 1939, Page 8

POINTED WARNING

INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATIONS MUST ACCEPT COURT DECISIONS UNCONDITIONALLY LEGISLATION OF DISCIPLINARY NATURE ANNOUNCEMENT BY MINISTER (From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter! WELLINGTON. This Day. A pointed warning that the Government will not tolerate methods at present being adopted by various industrial organisations in dealing with industrial disputes was issued by the Hon. P. C. Webb today.

The Minister made it clear that the Government expects industrial organisations to accept decisions of the Arbitration Court unconditionally. He also gave an indication of the Government’s intention to bring down legislation of a disciplinary nature. “The Government views with grave concern methods that are being adopted by various organisations in industrial disputes’’ said Mr Webb. "In accordance with its pre-election promises the Government restored the provisions of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1925, relating to compulsory arbitration, and also provided for compulsory membership of industrial union workers. It should be understood that acceptance of benefits provided by the Government under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act necessarily implies the adoption of machinery therein prescribed for the settlement of industrial disputes and unconditional acceptance of the decisions of the Court on matters that cannot be settled by agreement by parties in Conciliation Council. The adoption of direct action by either workers or employers is absolutely contrary to the principles of conciliation and arbitration. The Government cannot agree that where decisions of constitutional tribunals are not acceptable to either party such party is entitled to refuse to abide by j such decisions and resort to direct action to attain its objective. Organisations must decide whether they wish, to have the conciliation and arbitration system with its attendant benefits or whether they wish to be outside the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act and have the right to resort to direct action. They cannot have both, and I may say that the Government proposes to introduce legislation which will have the effect of settling the question of those organisations which will not decide the matter for themselves.