BRITISH STRIKES

Southland Times, Issue 20205, 16 June 1927, Page 7

BRITISH STRIKES

TRADE UNION BILL CONSIDERATION OF NEW CLAUSES MAKING CONCILIATION COMPULSORY (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) London, June 14. In the House of Commons Sir L. Scott in committee on the Trade Union Bill proposed a new clause making it illegal for any strike or lockout to occur in an essential industry prior to or during reference of a dispute to a conciliation tribunal. This he said was an attempt at something constructive in the direction of settlement of disputes. Mr Clynes said if the Government wanted industrial harmony it would have to proceed on lines of the new clause instead of introducing a Bill which had gone far to crush the spirit of conciliation. Mr Lloyd George agreed that it was unfortunate to link safe conciliation proposals with such a provocative Bill. If the Government introduced the Bill along the lines of Sir L. Scott’s proposal it would be worth tons of the Trade Union Bill. Sir A. Mond disagreed and said the new clause was inconsistent with the Bill. Sir L. Scott’s proposal followed the legislative provisions in the Dominion which avoided numberless strikes. He hoped Britain would eventually adopt compulsory arbitration like Mr Hartshorn had said. If the Government wanted conciliation let it scrap the Bill and Labour would then help them find a better way of dealing with disputes. Sir A. Steel Maitland said that though it would welcome machinery to prevent disputes coming to a head the Government could not accept the amendment. It did not desire to more than deal with a situation arising from a general strike and did not wish to go further in preventing the right to strike than the avoidance of a recurrence of last year’s trouble. Sir A. Steel Maitland offered if the new clause was withdrawn to have a committee appointed to consider an improvement of the industrial conciliation machinery. Lieutenant-Commander Kenworthy said that this was the most useful day devoted to the Bill. He believed compulsory conciliation as tried in Canada and Australia must be attempted here. Sir A. Steel Maitland said he could not commit himself as to the terms of reference. but the Government was willing to go forward with the appointment of a committee, though he could not promise appointment before the Bill left the Commons. Mr Clynes said Labour would not accept the arrangement as a supplement instead of a substitution for the Bill. If it wanted a really representative committee the Government ought to withdraw the Bill. Mr Thomas said that no responsible Trade Unionist would sit on the committee with the Bill hanging over them. Sir L. Scott’s new clause was withdrawn. —A. and N.Z. LABOUR ORGANISING FIGHTING FUND. (Rec. 7.5 p.m.) London, June 15. Labour members of the House of Commons made a suggestion that workers should abstain for six months from the use of alcohol and tobacco, as a protest against the Trade Union Bill, but this has been abandoned in favour of a scheme by which the workers contribute a fixed proportion of their wages in order to continue resistance to the Bill.—A. and N.Z.