THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1932. A COTTON TRADE CRISIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21736, 30 August 1932, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1932. A COTTON TRADE CRISIS.

The possibility of a serious labour dispute involving both the spinning and the weaving sections of the Lancashire cotton trade began to loom up towards the end of last year, and matters have now apparently come definitely to a head. At the beginning of May the cotton manufacturers gave notice of their intention to abrogate all wage and hours agreements. This applied to the weaving section. Numerous firms had prior to that seceded from the employers' organisations, and introduced either wage reductions or an increase in working hours. The employers' action had been brought about, it was affirmed, by the constant opposition of the operatives to discussing in joint conference the more looms per weaver system or wage reductions. The immediate upshot was the decision of the Northern Counties' Textile Trades Federation, which embraces ' all the trade unions in the weaving branch of the industry, to take a ballot of its members on the alternatives of a strike and negotiation with the employers. The Central Board of the Federation subsequently announced that, following the result of the ballot, it did not feel justified in declaring for strike action, but that so long as the conditions laid down by the Employers' Association were adhered to it found itself unable to enter into negotiations. The determination expressed by the employers was that before a joint conference could take place the holding of such a, meeting should be held .to mean that a wage reduction was necessary and that any agreement reached should be final. Meanwhile the deadlock was said to be causing the employers the less concern because more of their members were gradually securing wage concessions from the operatives, while the trade unions appeared to be losing ground as matters continued to drift. Recently there was report of a clash between strikers and police at Burnley, and a fortnight ago it was intimated that the crisis in the industry had been accentuated by the action of

the master cotton spinners in following the lead of the manufacturers in launching a wages reduction movement, the justification advanced for this being that the necessity for reducing production costs . was as great for yarn as for cloth. The latest development, as reported in the cablegrams, is that as the outcome of a breakdown of negotiations a general strike in the manufacturing sections of the industry was to begin yesterday and was expected to affect 200,000 employees. It is estimated that the cost of such a strike will be something like £1,500,000 a week, yet, though both sides agfee that, a stoppage of work will do incalculable harm, neither is prepared to compromise. Moreover, while it is urged-in some quarters thatonly immediate and powerful Government intervention can save the situation, the Minister of Labour has stated that intervention at t-he present stage is not likely to serve a useful purpose. It may be that it is necessary that the Lancashire cotton industry, in respect of which an important scheme of reorganisation is under consideration, should settle its own difficulties and work out its own salvation. The depression in the industry has, however, already helped sufficiently to swell Britain's army of unemployed, and the prospect of a substantial addition to the number of the workless is to be deplored. A chaotic labour situation in Lancashire is a development that must give the whole country cause for concern. The failure of the Lancashire trade to devise any effective scheme of easing the depression will certainly not be redeemed by the emergence of another crisis. It was reported some weeks ago that the uncertain outlook was having a detrimental effect on business in the Manchester market, as buyers of cloth were refusing to.place orders owing to the possibility of lower prices as a result of a reduction in labour costs in the near future. The stoppage of manufacturing can only bring the conditions in the industry to an unfortunate climax, and, at least while it lasts, retard all favourable trade developments. The situation illustrates, of /course, the difficulty attending the lowering : ' of production costs in industry. So far as the Lancashire dispute is concerned the Economist expressed some months ago the view that it might fairly be said that in the weaving section the employees would be definitely to blame for any trouble that might arise, because the primary cause of the employers' action was the intrarisigently obstinate resistance of the trade unions to the introduction of modern cost-saving improvements into the process of production—an obstinacy which even the growmg difficulties of the industry over the two preceding years had entirely failed to shake. . ■ : ■ ..";,;. ; '