MASTERS ADAMANT.

NZ Truth, Issue 437, 8 November 1913, Page 6

MASTERS ADAMANT.

Men's Offer Ruthlessly Rejected

Most Adopt Form of Unionism ofAvbtch Masters Approve.

-' ltrrwe___sMs_niwunced soon- after the eoitteniricc of .masters , and men resumed on Tuesday t afternoon that tho efforts at settlement had proved, abortiveThe adjourned conference only' - lasted five minutes. , It is understood that insistence by tho employers 'on the Arbitration Act provision' -was the cau^o of tho . deadlock. , It Is quite clear now efven to those of tbe dullest; of Intellects that the assertion? of tho master' class that the present lock-out at . waterside . workers was to . put an :epd. to "stopwork" meetings on< the; l "wharves of .Wellington was merely . an excuse for instituting a. system, of drastic repression. Clearly, the . masters have arrogantly assumed the right to say how the noon shall organise, which, as things arc, is . the next best thing to saying, Jbo men shall not organise at all. In fact, wo have a very grave * suspicion that the Association aro now ot opinion that it is of much greater advantage to them as employers 'to havo tbtjir men organised under the leg-ironing Arbitration ' Act than not to. be organised at all. It would seem from tills that history is repeating itself and we aro m for a cyclo of compulsion. Wo have had compulsory Stato unionism and now wo arf> to havo a particular form of unionism— -and. that thoy form of unionism objected, to. by, an cver-lncrcats-ing majority of. tho working class, FORGED UPON US. Thb J plttte p.nisis' and ' pluto politicians wjll tell yptu" <_0 .That ibpk.yhiojfe b<,longing to tUo llnitodYlaifor Party are m fay.or of thoY^^Tbttration Act, and tbat.tbto. lea^er^.Y of, the Labor Patty a-dmit tjbs: ijreat benefits uc- . crning to labor under the Act. (2\ /that' )Ae : tJnitOd Federation of I^tbpr is'Yas' a Federation opposed to tho Arbitration AcL JJtst ns evkmiae thp verity and veracity oC the, first assertion: CD That tbb. Unions belonfcing to the United Labor Party arc m j favor of tho Arbitration Act, and tb%t £l^ leadera^gf the Labor Paii^'anmit' the* great benefits acNow.fuiJa. is not so, has never been so. No onoifcas used strongiv language ih oondemn&tion .CjlJ;^h^. compulsory Arbitratiop. Act loaders of the various TrsidcJH tiouhVUs' Unions. In juwoC(of this let us turn to tho writ- ] .tan vtprA. \ J^ MICHAEL JOHN KEARDON is aiT bx-prcsident oC tho Wellington Traded Council and ex -editor of the late "WcnWy liorald," a^.. paper published m tho interests of- I; ho N.Z. Labor Party. He has boto'^for a number ot yearn and is at njs&ent general secretary of tho Wcll|Mton General Laborers' Union. Itt^f^Toct^ni dispute Ik> twocn his Union 'and th^ Wellington caty QoujocU Mr. Itcartlbn seitd; Ho had patiently, listened to thu apologies of tho 'CouociPH delegat/ts. He could only ex promt r«- 1 grs that he had not behind him j then a wnaJl body of men within j talking distance of Wellington. ' •Tho Council 'could not then taunt tnem with tho Arbitration Court. Cooncillpra and "the general public know ibat whether or not Uio Arbitration Court waa doing ita work Jturfly, IT HAD LOST TMB CONFIDENCE OF THE WORKERS FROM AUCKLAND TO THK BLBFt;. ,Sut oho' swallow does not make a «m*mcr. Let u» cail **> tho witness Btand . another ox -president of tho Wellington Trades Council. Dealing* wjtb the question of the right to strike this gwntlcman said: ' tlntti ISOS the workors m Now SSoaJaud stilt retained their right to mriko if thoy did p.* afceept tho Court's award. \t\jx sine.; that light haw been taklftvaway It jwenu* almost IropoKslole to set anything from .thn Arbitration Court but mero unmitigated insult from a gentleman occupying th« highest position m -th..- Court. tThcso two authoritative «(at<"tneht« .^ tht(v lh v

Trades Unionists of this Dominion do not blindly worship at the shrine ot compulsory arbitration. But let us, call another witness. l\J.r. David McLaren, ex-?«f.'P.''for'"'Welling-ton East and v ex- : Labor Mayor of. the Empire City of Wellington, nas had long experience .of the Arbitration Court as the secretary of several Wellington Unions registered under . the AcL And what is Mr. McLaren's opinion of the Arbitration Act as administered m f this Dominion? ' 'air. McLaren said: . ■ ■ .. I would define the Conciliation and Arbitration .Act as: AN .ACT FOP. THE ; SPECIAL PROTECTION OF EMPLOYERS AND THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF NON-UNIONISM IN NEW ZEALAND, i Remember especially the closing clause 1 of that, definition: THE EN.COt'RAGEMENT OF NON- UNIONISM IN NEW ZEALAND. And remember also Waihl, Huntly,' Timaru, Kaitahgata, and again Huntly and now Wellington! The second "assumption is: That the United Federation of Labor is, asa Fcderaton, opposed to the Arbitration Act. This also is contrary to fact. Many of the unions affiliated with the-United Federation of 'Labor believe m settling their differences OUTSIDE the Arbitration Court. Soma of- them wild horses wouldn't draw into the Court' were they free agents. .On L- the other, hand, while many, of ' thy leaders of the Federation, especially those of them who are pronounced Socialists, are ! opposed to compulsory arbitration, the! great majority of the Fedej-ation, and! by far the largest number of ."unions ih the .Federation, are registered under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. It will be seen, then, th:U "the Foderajtion DOES -NOT condemn the members of a union as scabs sifnply because the members of that union decide to register under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Did it .do so, It would be m the 1 unhappy position- of having a majority of scabs 'on its own membership ' roll. This assertion of the : Piute pen-pushers is- absolutely untrue. Eut when a union declares H-

self, against compulsory arbitration, especially m the^gmphatic manner ;n which tho waterefi-fo workers havb dpiie, thon tho United Federation of Labor will see tho resources of civilisation absolutely exhausted before becoming a party to that uniou bcuip forced to organise along Une.s and after a- fashion approved of only hjr thcit cmploycrK--the vcrj' parties they »ro organising to defend themselves AGAINST. , From the policy now being pursued by the Employers' Association, backed up and supported by tho Massey Government, It is' quite 'clear that they are - determined not only to forco the workers under tho control of the Arbitration Court, but with tho aid of the pluto push- now paramount m Parliament to have torccd apon the Statute Book of this -Dominion 'an Act for tho governing of that Court which ALL ORGANISED WORKERS, - .whether . designated prorarbitration • ista or tmti-urbitrationJsis, absolutely condemn wind abhor. They. sou 'in the proposed Act a weapon- which will drlvo them back into wevMlonal unionism. -A' reversion to this condition of affairs means that tho employers, by the devioii/- and Insidious methods [they know ( «u well poiy to, »-jnpll»y. y 'would bo i|blc, by playing up to th«. 'jealousy anjjl'* cu pldi^S'" so,, often found ;,ili Liibor's rinks, ic».H«t union ngainKt union— yen, .oven section against section. Tho worker to-day has learnt his lesson, and knows t hat the basic principle of all organised movement is . an Injury to one is tue concern of all. [and that only by putting that splendid motto Into actual operation can he [hope to succeed.