TRADE UNION CONGRESS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23317, 28 September 1945, Page 5

TRADE UNION CONGRESS

British Threat 1 o Withdraw Constitutional Issues By Telegrapn-N.Z Press Assn r.'.myrlKlii LONDON, September 26. Sir Walter Citrine in a speech al the World Trade Union conference, threatened to withdraw the British Unions says the Reuter’s Paris correspondent. “Acceptance of the constitution emanating from the conference depends on the satisfactory outcome of negotiations with the International Federation of Trade Secretariat,” said Sir Walter Citrine. “The British T.U.C. cannot be bludgeoned by the majority vote into acceptance. The British T.U.C. has no intention of deserting the staff of the old International Federation of Trade Unions or the International Trade Secretariat. These organisations are ready to liquidate themselves under proper conditions.” Sir Walter Citrine demanded that the executive of the proposed federation should be empowered to examine the qualifications of unions, seeking membership. Unions seemed to have sprung up in Europe before the war, but there was only a few of them. New Zealand Protest A protest against the clause in the proposed constitution appointing only one Pacific representative on the executive committee was made by the New Zealand delegate, Mr P. Butler. "New Zealand has the highest standard of living in the world. Neither New Zealand nor Australia want to be thrown in with other nations with lower standards,” said Mr Butler, who suggested that New Zealand and Australia should have one representative between them, the appointment alternating between the two countries. He was certain that New Zealand and Australia could settle it between them. Mi' Butler was applauded when he said: "We shall not end the war by talking about it. If we can spend £500,000,000 on making the atomic bomb we can spend £500,000,000 on stopping the war. I should like to see an embargo placed on all materials for war.” A demand that the constitution of the new World Trade Unions Congress be altered so as to ban the manufacture of munitions by workers was a surprise move taken at the world T.U.C. by the New Zealand delegates, Mr P. O. Butler and Mr R. Stanley, says a report from Paris. Declaring that workers must take it in their own hands to ensure that the atomic bomb must never be used again, they got plenty of cheers but, comments the report, there is no possibility of agreement being reached in such a major issue.”