Our Industrial Problems.
and thie. secretary have no power td .con-
codes anything.» They are empowered by
their unions to receive everything, to con-
cede nothing. The members of many
unions seem as loth to trust their execu.
tive. as -the employér. Negotiations fre-
quently fail =~ ause- the “executive, to use
in Americanism, is hogtied from the start:
“Though ~ the: unions elect their execu-
tive, they seem; to wish "to ‘keep all the
power” to: themselves. Instead. of -govera-
ment being in a few hands, the only way
that a successful government can work,
we find "a ‘tentatively: and accepted new
agrecment, -béing re-opened at a mass
aeeting of unionists... This gives a fine. op-
portunity to the leather-lunged budding lea:
det fo air his half-l 1ked opinions, and he
stoutly resists ‘anything being given away,
‘hough what is Leing received in exchange
nay be. worth considerably more.
the. ‘voices, where & szeret ballot. would is
have prevented a stoppages Raed. one E
"The “Arbitration Court. ~~
-Uuder our present: conditions the Courts
are of course open for hiusiness, and we
will assume ‘that the union has decided
to. obtain amelioration through constitu-
tional channels. ...
The plaint. js submitted. and after a
lapse. of months, the parties. reach. the
Court.
Advocates for wees -have- been prepa:
.hg their case, witnesses have ‘been coach-
ed, and put. through “their preliminary
canters. Evidence likely to conflict. is eli-
minated, and the advocate brings along
his string “of, witnesses "as letter “perfect
ag they can be- made. This of course -ap-
nlies to both sides.
Ba
The advocates as a rule, weary thé Court
and everyone:connected ‘with it but them-
selves with wordy openings lasting per-
haps for days. [t.is questionable if these
addresses ever-affect the Court; one iota.
The advocates are flanked. by books and
papers, and give every indication of hav-
ing. combed : literature from “China to
Peru’? for material that. might spit their
side. The first four or five witnesses give
avidence .at interminable length, endless
repetition .is evidently considered neces-
sary to hammer in statements as facts, to
a {Court who sit and sutfer.
The log. is generally drawn up. with a
ghoil margin that. can be considerably re-
ceded from. and. yet leave .a substantial
net gain. The knowledge that agreements
catinot ‘be finalised by an executive drives
many employers ‘to the Court, and they
ave consoled by the knowledge that a eon-
siderable time may elapse before the case
ig heard.
Why do not the rank and file trust their
feaders: ~ Kxperience shows that the lead-
ers can much more shrewdly estimate the
maximum concessions they can obtain.
than can the average worker. A cry of
course may rise from the disgruntled that
the exccutive were “in the bag,” if they
acéepted some terms that were unpopular.
In some countries, where mixed nationali-
ties form the bulk of the members of cer-
tain unions, such..a cry might possibly not
be ont of tune. It is generally I think ac-
cepted “that whatever underground work
for power may be carried on between lead-
ers, and rival factions in Australian labour
circles, ‘the welfare of the mass is never
wilfully betrayed Lv either party. Mis-
takes and short sighfedness of course
there are; but while the average executive
may crr, the union 4s a Soviet are n-
Jpoeble of forming -as wise decisions as
thov
As the case wears on, even the advocate
feels the strain, and ‘towards the last his
witnesses bob if and out of- the box, with
the "rapidity of marionettes, Their evi-
dence might be just. as vital in their par-
tienlar section as that already miver at
length, but everyone is getfing tired, A few
oases of faets in a weary waste of words
zharacterises - the bulk of the evidence
alicited, and too much talk is the curse of
the present system.
The evidence as to the nature of work
done, and condition, of employment,
varies with each casc heard, and the Court
is expected to g'v( fair and intellivent Je-
sisiong. In doing so they must also bear
in mind all their previous decisions. Two
vears ago. in a certain case, a certain .de-
cision was given. Precedents must be fol.
lowed or ineonsistencies will be laid at the
door of the Court.
So far as the matter of wages and
nonrs are ceunccerned, Courts can and do,
from the evidence and from their own
commonsense fix a scale that ean stand
eriticism
Perhaps the disinclination of the rank
and file to give the executives broader
power, is a lazy way of protecting their
interests, which they neglect by not attend.
ing the regular meetings. The members
generally find when they do attend at
some critical juncture, that the irrespon-
sible ones wiio have been active in attend.
ance, have committed them to actions of
which they may not approve. If a strike is
nnder discussion, these apathetic mem-
bers ark generally dragooned by the mili.
tant. and a decicton to strike is carried on
The matier of conditions, which to an
employee is often move vital than wages,
is where the Court frequently. fail to give
awards fair to both parties. One week the
Court deals with conditions applying to
horse drivers (fast becoming an extinet
calling}, then brewerv employees, wharf
“The West Australian” circulates throughout the State.