UNION DICTATION

Southland Times, Issue 20011, 27 October 1926, Page 5

UNION DICTATION

EMPLOYERS’ PROTEST. NO FAIR RETURN FOR WAGES. Melbourne, October 26. Addressing the annual conference of the Central Council of the Employers’ Federation the President of the New South Wales Federation condemned the present system of trades union dictation. He said job control, restriction on output, reduction of working hours, overlapping in awards, workers’ compensation provisions, and the utter absence of any concern on the part of officials of trade unions to ensure a fair return for the wages paid, were some of the handicaps with which manufacturers had to contend, and from which there appeared little immediate prospect of relief. The growing feeling of antagonism on the part of trades unions towards employers was the natural result of the constant recourse to legalised tribunals, and rendered the position of the employer intolerable and impracticable, and raised the question of whether compulsory arbitration had not proved a failure. But it was assumed the system had come to stay. He declared that wages in Australia were generally speaking, 100 per cent, higher than in similar industries in the United Kingdom. The loss of four hours weekly on full pay in this country was therefore equivalent to eight hours extra competitive work weekly per worker in Britain. He urged the use of closer co-operation among employers’ organisations.—A. & N.Z.