The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1910. A THREATENED STRIKE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2705, 8 January 1910, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1910. A THREATENED STRIKE.

It is to be sincerely hoped that the threatened strike amongst slaughtermen will not eventuate. If it does it cannot fail to work tremendous harm to the 'country as a whole, and in the disaster the party or parties bringing it about will most certainly suffer very severely. Just at this time of year the industry should be at its busiest, and all directly concerned should be obtaining the maximum benefit from its operations. With thousands of sheep going through the works every day, the companies find their business most remunerative, and the men are able to earn substantial cheques. Yet this is the time that the industry is threatened by a strike, the reason being that the men consider the busy time of year provides the best opportunity to force the hands of their employers to concede their demands. In other words, they are quite willing to suffer themselves in the hope that the greater injury bestowed upon their employers will compel acquiescence, and load to better terms for the future. "While this struggle is. on—if it should transpire—the farmers all over the country will suffer enormous loss through being unable to dispose of their surplus stock, and this injury to the man on the land will quickly ho transmitted through the ordinary' channels of trade to the people in the towns. Nature has been exceptionally kind to New Zealand during the present season, and the greatly improved prices on the London market have given .magnificent promise of returns that should effectually remove the cloud of depression that lias lately hung over the Dominion. And now by the perversity 0 f things we aro faced with the prospect of general disaster and more depression simply because the slaughtermen and the employers have failed to agree on a question of wages and conditions of labor. It is difficult at the present stage to attempts to allocate the blame for the deadlock that has arisen. If it is true, as stated, that the slaughtermen were willing to renew the old agreement, it seems to us that the employers have made a tactical blunder by not accepting an offer that would have given the industry stability for another term of years. On the other hand, the offer of the employers to place the position in the hands of the Conciliation Commissioner, as provided by law, seems to provide evidence of their bona fides. The men have so far refused this offer; why, it is hard to say. If they carry out their present threat of striking, tho result may be much mor e . unsatisfactory to themselves than they suppose. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Amendment Act in 1908 was devised specially to prevent the dislocation of industries, and under its provisions each man who goes out on strike will render himself liable to a fine not exceeding £lO. In Gisborne the position has not yet reached an acute stage, and if the employers and employees were freed from outside interference there is little doubt that a satisfactory arrangement would be eom 0 to. Unfortunately, it is by no means certain that terms mutually agreed upon can be made a definite basis of settlement, for the men are working in conjunction with other branches, and their course of action will probably be dictated by union offiicals in "Wellington. However, it is to be hoped that better counsels will prevail, and that, some means will be found of arranging an amicable settlement. No one can reasonably blame the men for seeking to better their lot, but when a legal method has ‘ been provided for arranging fair conditions as between employer and employees, they should certainly give it a fair trial before resorting to the bludgeon weapon of the strike. This is an essentially reasonable stand to take up in a country where democracy has such a hold as it has in New Zealand. With laws made by men who are elected by the direct votes of all the men and women of the country who care to exercise the privilege, there is no sound excuse for any unionist to refuse to recognise the legal tribunal which his own representatives have appointed. To object to do so and, instead, to invoke strike methods, suggests an inherent weakness in their cause.