A CANDID WITNESS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6624, 14 September 1908, Page 5

A CANDID WITNESS

HOW TRADES UNIONS ARE RULED. SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS. Mr Daniel Moriartj-, president of the Wellington Furniture Makers' Union, gave sumo interesting evidence before tho Labour Bills Committee, of the House, when examined in regard to the new Arbitration Act. Explaining tho reason why he appeared before the committee, Mr Moriarty said : “Our union was practically ousted from the Wellington Trades and Labour Council because we took up a position which showed, that wc did not_ consider it represented labour, Tho Wellington Trades and Labour Council is controlled by about six or seven professional secretaries. Through their actions on the Council, and recognising that they wore not representative of labour, we were forced to retire or to secede from the Council."

Question: You wore dissatisfied and withdrew?

“Yes. It was mainly on account of the Bill of last session. When that Bill came before the Council, one of the professional secretaries moved that a Parliamentary committee be sot up to deal with it and report to the Council. Instead of doing this and giving members of the Council an opportunity to speak on it, they issued their famous manifesto. We as a union, knowing that Metisi'vs Young, McLaren, and party wera practically the Trades Council, and that they had summed the Minister of Labour up as a 'renegade and a. parasite' for introducing in tho Dill certain clauses, and recognising that most of these clauses were what tho workers wanted, sent a deputation along to the Minister to express our approval of the same. At tho next meeting of the Council we had to go on the mat over it/' PAID SECRETARIES. “The position of the paid secretaries is," said the witness, “that they are trying to get into Parliament bv any means, and it does not matter what measures were brought down they would cry out against them; so they moved a motion regretting our action in going to the Minister in connection with the Bill, and Mr Young went so far as to say outside the Council that we were a blackleg union for doing so. When the nomination of candidates for the election of members of the Arbitration Court came out, the papers were sent direct to our union, and we nominated someone other than Mr Young, the Trades Council’s nominee. This also was reported to the Council, with the result that a motion was passed regretting that any union should be so disloyal as to refuse to accept their nominee. Of course, we explained the position before they passed the motion, and went so far as to tell them that, if o, Chinaman was standing against Mr Young, we would sooner ■ vote for tne Chinaman on principle. But it made no difference; we should have sacrificed principle to suit them. THREAT OF EXPULSION. “They then passed a further resolution. to the effect that any union affiliated to tho Trades and Labour Council which did not abide by the decision ot the Trades Council's Conference should be expelled. JO Question; Were you expelled? “No; wo drew out before that. They sent a deputation to our union, and Mr Young, who was present, said there was no use in our going through the Bill nt all, as he had given twenty-four pages of foolscap evidence on it luniscll, and that should have satisfied us.” DISCUSSION BURKED.

Question: You think the action of the Trades and Labour Council prevented your union expressing its opinion on the Bill ? , "Yes. The Trades and Labour Council was verv anxious for our union to rejoin, as they considered it would never do to have a split in tho labour ranks; so they sent along the deputation to our meeting. But we pointed out that tin resolution passed by them that every union had to obey loyally under fear of expulsion did not suit us. The position is that the paid secretaries have all the voting power on the council in their hands. Mr Young, for instance, is secretary of two unions with twelve delegntcsj and unless one agrees to what these secretaries say, they will take some means to get him out of the council, even if it comes to a free fight, or threaten to shoot one, as a friend of one of the secretaries did in my case."