PRESENT PROBLEMS FOR HOME LABOUR

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7268, 26 October 1910, Page 1

PRESENT PROBLEMS FOR HOME LABOUR

THE RECENT UNREST. A BLACK OUTLOOK. 7KOM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. LON LUX, Seijfct'iuljpr IC. We are Uviuß tu-day under the shadow of a terrible labour war. The trouble betoceu the sii 1 pbuiJ.deit and the boilermakers remains unsettled, tJio nude and tile on several of the ids railway systems ure inuliemre lltreals of strikes, Iha rpirl of revel!: is ripcnJnjf Lest anions Hie Welsh coal miners, and Lnnoissliiro is Lev to face with, lilt- peril of a general loek-unt of cotton operatives. The Labour oullook is indeed blaelr, ami the prospects are rendered the ’worse by reason of the fact that tho members of many of the. unions most likely io bo involved show a strong disposition to tick over (lie traces and act iudopcndentiy of their leaders, to ignore agreetnenfs mruio by their uniuns with employers and to treat aid id rater.-d awards us so Hindi waste paper. Perhaps the most serious danger lies in Lancashire, where a. local and twopenny half-penny dispute between the- Cotton Masker-' Association and tho Cardroom Workers* Amalgamation threatens to bring forth a general lock-out.. Tho matter at issue between the parties appears to outsiders to he far too trumpery an affair to cause such a catastrophe us a general lock-out, but unfortunately it would suit the books of many millowners to close down fer a month just now. Tho industry is in a terribly dopressed state, and the price of raw cotton to-day is nearly as high as it was when Mr Seedy startled the, world with his cornering operations in l!)0i. A general stoppage for a mouth would, it Is said, be quite agreeable to the majority of mill-owners, and tho fora' is that it the curd room workers prove obdurate the masters will find it convenient to make a. mountain out of a inolc-luu and declare a look-out. In Wales tho eoal miners are ripe for mischief, and only the influence of their tried and trusted friend “Mahon. ' and other leaders has kept the men in several of tho big collevies from striking ere this. To-morrow the miners* leaders are to hold a general conference to consider the particular grievances which have brought the general discontent among tho workers to a head, and commercial classes in South Woles greatly fear that the “young bloods’’ among f ile men s leaders will prevail upon the conference to favour united action of tho who.o coalfield against the owners-in other words, cad for a genera! strike. THE NEW TRADE UNIONISM. Combination of all trade unions—will that he the next step in the war between Capitalism and Labour? Hie Trade Union Congress held this week at Sheffield was rendered notable by the tarrying of a general resolution which may" have far-reaching results. It was proposed that all the trade unions of tho country should he combined under oiio ini prompt control. Thi.s "would render passible a. general strike in reply to the -action of any single employer or section *>t* employers. The congress by an immense majority authorised steps to inquire into the practicability of such ai combination. , , It was Mr Ben Tillott who led the movement in favour of the unification of labour. “So long as employers can fight in sections/"’ ho declared, “they will 1 bo successful/"* He believed that the : turmoil of tho industrial revolution was el ready on them. “Ent plovers will always be able to use tho bludgeon of tho lock- ; <mh a>y long ns we are divided. Tu a different condition of affairs when the mining magnates, tho textile magnates, the railwav magnates declare wav against ns, tdoy will nob merely fight a section, for tho whole organised trades of tho vtmniry will take a hand/’ “Opposition came from Mr Baker, of the cnginenioii “When wo are so well organised that we can paralyse the indus--tries of this country those who set cut to do it: Mill be the first to bo paralysed/ But the congress was against Mr Baker. Mr TiMett’s motion to circularise tho ♦ ratio unions as to the practicability of st confederation of all trades was carried by 1.055.000 votes to 445.00(1—a majority of 610.000. Then by 1,175.006 to 236.000 majority 919.CO0—Vhc congress passed tho foliowitia resolution: That in the opinion of this congress the present system of sectional trade unionism is unable successfully to combat the encroachment* cf modern capitalism, and while recognising tho usefulness of sectional trad© unionism in the past and present, the congress realises that much greater achievements are possible and tho redemption of tho working class would be hastened if all th© existing unions wore amalgamated by industries, with one central executive* elected by the combined Unions, and with power to act unitedly whenever there is a strike or lockout iu, any industrv, thus making the gi-lenvancc of one the concern of all. The .congress therefore instructs its Parliamentary committee to put themselves in convnitLnicaHon with all tho trade unions in Great Britain and ascertain their views on tho above question, also lo promote a general scheme cf amalgam** tiou and make- a recommendation on the matter to the next congress. Such a confederation as this resolution foreshadows would render it, possible, for instance, to reply to tlie present lockout of the boilermakers by giving notice that unless the men wore- reinstated within -18 hours every workman in every shipyard in the count it "would he called mit. If that, failed, all tho workers in ♦he* coal mines might be called out* and then nil the railway workers. It is easy to see the enormous power thnt might be wielded by a. properly-equipped central organisation created and upheld by the «oJidaritv of Labour. -All the same, the spirit of solidarity is still in its early stages of development, and it seems a vprv- far cry yet to the day of the general'strike. And perhaps by the time ♦ hat day comes, th© need for such it weapon will have disappeared.