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Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 867, 20 November 1916, Page 6

The Arbitration Court having railed to concede their demands for a minimum wage oi' £3 per v eek, llu Auckland drivers have signified their intention of ceasing work at Ibe expiration of seven days. Oilier drivers’ unions, including (he local organisation, have taken up the cudgels on behalf of the Vmklanders. and unless a settlement is reached in Ihe next few days a general strike is probable. II is to be hoped that Ibis extreme step will not be taken. There can be no two opinions but that a strike during war time is indefensible, and we trust that saner councils will prevent the men from ceasing work in a body, hut that is not to say that the claims of the drivers have not a certain merit and justification. They are receiving 1/- per hour, which works out at £2 12/- and £2 If!/- for a week of 52 and 5(5 hours respectively. No doubt the drivers are fortified in their present attitude by the fact that in most other branches of labour wages have been substantially advanced on account of the increased charges for foodstuffs and other domestic necessities, and to our mind £3 per week is little enough for a married man to live on in these days of war prices. As has been suggested, it is unfortunate that the men should have taken a defiant stand at such a time. There is no doubt but that outside Wellington the carrying trade has been severely hit by the war. As one of the employers put il before the Ar- ! bitralion Court in Christchurch last .tune, “If there had been a cost of living problem for the worker there had also been a cost of living problem for the shareholders” in many companies. In many instances, the enhanced cost of materials represented increases, varying from 100 per cent, for stable sundries to 700 | per cent. for motor vehicles. It cannot be denied by the workers’ | representatives that since the present president of the court was appointed, trades unionists have reI ceived material concessions, and it iis that fact that suggests that the court had good reasons for withholding the increase asked by the Auckland drivers. But the greater trouble, the disorganisation of the carry ing business, could be averted if the employers could see their way clear to oiler the men a bonus which would bring a minimum wage of £3 per week into force, leaving the main question of a Dominion award to be re-opened when the war was finished and trade resumed normal conditions. In concluding, we think that the statement of the local union to the effect that the court is simply a bulwark of protection I for the exploitation of the working I class and the perpetuation of sweat--led conditions of employment, is strongly to be deprecated. That alllegation bespeaks the attitude of I workers who take all the court has I to give (and it has given much), and abuse it when it refuses to concede all and every demand made by the unions.