Early in the week an effort was made by the | Federal Government to secure a de-registration | order against the Waterside Workers' Federation. | Despite the gazettal of War Precautions | Regulations enabling the Cabinet to de-register | the union, the Prime Minister endeavoured to | secure from the Commonwealth Arbitration Court | what he had already given himself power to | order.
|Mr Justice Higgins refused to be coerced by the | Government in dealing with the application, and | adjourned the hearing until next Monday.
| In the course of the application Mr H E Starke,
| on behalf of the Government, said:
|
That declaration made to the chief industrial | tribunal of Australia is conclusive proof of what | is at the back of the dispute. Once deregistered | there will be no authority representative of the | workers capable of filling a plaint for submission | to the court.
|That difficulty may be overcome by securing | registration for another so-called union. But it | has been stated that the men forming the national | Voluntary Workers are drawn from avenues of | activity other than the water-front. It is very | evident their earning capacity as wharf laborers | is vastly less than that of the men continuously | accustomed to the work.
|Beyond a temporary stroke at the legal status | of the union, de-registration cannot accomplish | anything. It will not place a new body of men on | the wharves; neither will it do anything the men | need fear. They did not secure registration until | they were united. Rates and conditions have only | been improved in proportion as the union has | fought for them.
|Advices from the East show that the attempts at | mediation have failed. In Victoria grave fears of | serious extension are entertained. It is now | known that the decision to introduce the card | system is wholly responsible for the upheaval.
|Incensed as the workers were at the continual | additions being made to the cost of living, it is | questionable if a widespread cessation of work | would have ensued but for the crucial issues | raised at Sydney.
|At Fremantle and Melbourne work stopped | primarily on the wharves only in respect to food | stuffs consigned to neutral countries. The unions | repudiate the suggestion that at any time they | refused to load ships or transports taking | supplies to Great Britain. Their attitude towards | war-essentials has not changed since the day they | refused to allow enemy subjects work with | them.
|So far as can be gathered at this end the whole | Eastern situation is now an expansion of the | Sydney dispute. Immediately the NSW Government | decided to employ non-union labor in place of | strikers at the shops, the unions "blacked" the | whole service. This step inevitably involved | transport by land and sea unless the Government | withdrew its policy.
| Therefore the strike could be settled forthwith
| if an agreement could be arrived at in regard to
| the initial dispute
A huge upheaval such as now rages could not but | excite a number of issues other than the | foundational source of contest. One by one they | have been determined. The general grievances of | the NSW railway men long clamoured for attention. | The Cabinet which will not budge an inch on the | card issue, has, however, agreed to facilitate the | hearing of the general complaints. That at least | is a substantial point gained.
|The "cost of living" problem is also about to | receive serious consideration. Here in the West | the Government have agreed to the composition of a | Commission to investigate the whole business. Mr | Lefroy has requested the ALF to appoint its | representative and as a result the Clerks' | secretary, Mr E L Driver, will act for the | workers.
|In the Federal sphere the deliberations of the | Interstate Commission go on apace. Evidence is | being heard and a flood of light is being shed on | the practices of the monopolists. The speedy | rectification of the evil can only come from | parliament, and it is at least expected that | something will soon be done.
|That leaves the card system as the sole crucial | difference. It has to be confessed that the | absolute insistence on the part of the NSW | Government upon its acceptance by the men, makes | the prospect of a prolonged struggle certain. The | men's original offer that the system should be | withdrawn for a week and inquiries made was surely | a reasonable suggestion. More particularly will | the public take this view when it is remembered | the NSW Ministry was elected on a definite pledge | to avoid controversial social issues for the | period of the war. What does the abandonment of | party politics means it if allows the whole | conditions of industry to be revolutionised | without reference to the opinions of the | employees?
|From the NSW shops hundreds of unionists have | gone to the war. Prior to their enlistment it was | promised that their employment would be assured to | them on their return. But the Government now | proposes they shall work on their re-entry into | the shops under a card system that was unknown | when they went away. That is a distinct breach of | the undertakings given that Labor conditions would | not be knocked out while the war was being fought | and won.
|In previous issues we have dealt with the card | system at length. There is no need to say more | about it other than the Government withdrew the | system a few months ago because of the opposition | raised to it. That withdrawal was surely an | evidence of its recognition of how unionism | regarded the matter.
|It should not be forgotten, either, that the | Premier, W A Holman, was in charge of the Ministry | when the cards were withdrawn, and that he is now | absent from the State. The Cabinet now has a | majority in it definitely opposed to Labor | principles. To their resolution to fight the | unions on the card issue is due the struggle now | in progress. Apart from the merits or demerits of | the system, a time of war is not the time for a | Government that professes to seek a united people, | to attempt the installation of practices highly | objectionable to unionism.
|For months the powers of the State remained | quiescent, while the prices of food and other | essentials went sky high. The workers were told | sacrifices had to be made. They were further told | price-fixing was a part of the political policy of | Labor. Other things were told them also. No | remedies for their difficulties were forthcoming. | On the contrary, changes are sought in the shop | methods which the workers regard as a vital blow | at collective bargaining. And the collective | bargain is the essence of all that unionism stands | for.
|Thus the greatest strike in our history is | evolved. More men are idle than has ever | previously been the case. If the Hughes Cabinet | desired conciliation in the place of strife the | War Precautions Act could very easily be employed | to remit the card system for impartial | investigation. The enormous authority vested in | the Federal Government enables it deal with the | differences between the Railway Commissioners and | the men if it only wanted to.
|All the talk about the strike being a | revolutionary act against the State is nonsense. | The man who fails to draw a distinction between | the State in its civic constitution and the State | as a commercial organiser of workmen, will never | be able to adapt himself to the problems of the | future.
| The very fact that the State enters the sphere
| of commerce as an ordinary trader
Either that or we have industrially conscripted | the public utilities and reached the dismal day of | the servile State. That, however, is not the | case. The State in Australia is an ordinary | employer. It binds itself to respect the | statutes. The card system is a point of crucial | conflict between the employer and the workmen. | The men have agreed that it should be withdrawn | pending inquiry.
|For the Government to refuse the inquiry and | force the issue to a strike is the antithesis of | what a non-controversial policy in war time | postulates.
|