MUCH FEELING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22629, 18 January 1937, Page 11

MUCH FEELING

MEETING AT WESTEIEEI) SECRETARY AND MINISTER ACTION OF THE UNION MR. ARMSTRONG'S CRITICISM Considerable foiling was shown at times when the Minister of Labour, tlie Hon. If. T. Armstrong, addressed a mass meeting of \vorkors nb Westfield on Saturday, and the .Minister found it necessary to express regret, at. the way in which he had been introduced by Air W. E. Sill, secretary of the '.Freezing Workers' Union. "We have the honour of the visit of the Minister, who is here, to use his own words to me, to counteract, the —• dope I have been putting up to you," said Air. Sill. The expression used by Mr. Sill caused an uproar, and Mr. K. Barry, workers' representative, appealed to those present not to let the meeting degenerate into a "dog fight."

The Chairman. Mr. P. Liddell: We don't want bad language in any shape or form. We have controlled the liquor and we can control the language Air. Sill: The expression I used was .Mr. Armstrong's own language when he met me this morning. (Cheers.) Expression Denied "I never thought for a moment there was a possibility that I would get anything other than a fair hearing," began Air. Armstrong. " I am a member of the working class, and I have fought all my life for the working class. My record for the working class will compare more than favourably with anyone engaged in this fight. "1 am sorry Mr. Sill spoke in the way he did," said the Minister. "I did not use the word attributed to me. I do not use bad language. 1 use hard words and strong language, but, not bad language."

- Tit ere was disorder when the Ministor bewail to criticise Mr. Sill, and a 1 tor an appeal from the chair, Mr. Armstrong continued that he ' was going to counteract the lying Irnguage used from timo to time. He thought when he had finished a different picture would have been created. Minister's Record

"I am the worst Minister of Labour your secretary hits had to contend with, according to his published statement." said the Minister. "Before Jhe last election, .Mr. Sill asked me to try to influence the then Minister of Labour, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, to get him and his union recognised. . . . if there is one man 1 helped and tried to help, both before and since 1 became a Minister, it is Mr. Sill, and it is very ungrateful for him to speak as he does.

"Since L was a schoolboy there lias hardly b<wn an industrial dispute in which 1 have not figured. I have an honourable record, and I want to uo to my grave with it. 1 am not coins: to have my reputation snatched from me by Mr. Sill. I think what I have done in the past year to improve conditions of the working class is more than any man has accomplished in this or any other country in one year. When I became Minister of Labour .Mr. Sill was still out with 'the bulls.' and his union was still unrecognised. 1 summoned representatives of the industry to my office and told them the workers in this country could appoint their own secretary and have their own union and that employers must recognise that. After half an hour's consideration the employers agreed. You couldn't have got Mr. Sill back and the union recognised if you hadn't got a Labour Go veru meu t." (Uproar.) Rates of Pay Compared

Mr. Armstrong said the Government was criticised because the rates of pay in the award were not big enough. Voices: No. Wc blame the Judge.

Mr. Armstrong: I'll deal with those points. While 1 was drafting progressive legislation making provision for a 40-hour week your representatives were entering into an agreement with the employers. Here is what you or your -representatives agreed to in February. Chain slaughtermen were to be paid 2s an hour, whereas the award is giving you -'is. For all sheep (not otherwise specified) the award gives £2 and the February agreement £l los. For all lambs the award gives £1 17s 6d and the February agreement £1 10s. For show sheep the award gives £2 16s and the agreement £1 17s. 1 can go through the whole award, and the agreement is 40 to 50 per cent lower. After an interjection, in which a worker expressed objection to the chain system, the chairman threatened to leave the meeting if there were further bad language. . "While 1 was writing legislation to raise the standard of living your representatives were writing an agreement to lower it," exclaimed Mr. Armstrong. (Uproar.) . , , The Minister: Oh, I haven t finished with them yet. One of the main issues of the election was to restore the Arbitration Court. A Voice: Got another Judge. Reaction to Award

Tho Minister: W'e are, giving you a form of legislation superior to anything in the world. It is not perfect. \ou are not going to get perfection under the capitalist svstem in any case. My outlook is bigger than a 40-hour week and suchlike. 1 want to do away entirely with slave and master. God never created men to be masters; He created us'to be brothers, and you are not going to get that under the present S ' X "W'e didn't compel you to go to the Arbitration Court. No union has been compelled to register under the Arbitration system. You wanted to do it. You submitted your ease with jf ui eyes open, and the ink is hardly dr. on the award before you won t accept it. Because of a penny an hour or so vou would have a social revolution. You would destroy the prospects of the working dM, f«r " l '" h . "git woito.l for pgr,. lia, V ,' ? to go to the Court, and you h.ne tin right to stav out. 'I be seamen don t c „ to the Court and they have a decent agreement. The miners don t go to the Court and they have a decent agieeEflorts for Settlement

"You thought you would go to the Court because you thought you would i/pt, better conditions than in any other wav. If t went to the Court I would be prepared to abide by its conditions. If there are certain anomalies caused bv persons in the Court who are nilaware of the conditions, then surely the workers and employers can get together and agree to these being removed.' ' ... Mr. Armstrong detailed tb; lustorv of the present trouble, and his efforts lo negotiate a settlement. He said he heard about the first go-slow a few davs before Christmas from a fanner. He promptly telephoned Mr. Sill and asked him who was responsible tor ordering the go-slow. "Mr. Sill eouldn t tell me," added Mr. Armstrong, "and 1 told him that if I were secretary I would go out to the works and bud out, That's his job. The day is past when trade union secretaries can shelter behind the plea of not knowing." The Minister said be was certain that much could he achieved if another conference were called. Ihe dispute had caused an adjournment of a conference and the employers were prepared to meet at any time.