:
OUR INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.
By “The Hobo” (ERNEST E. SHILLINGTON, 32 St. Leonard’s-avenue; West
Leederville).
AWARDED SECOND PRIZE. OF £10.
A cure for industrial troubles will not pe
found, so long as greed, envy and obstin-
acy are part and pavcel of human nature,
That industrial unrest can be modified
in much greater degree than at present
obtains, is however quite true.
For strikes and lockouts, there are, in
the majority of cases, two parties to blame.
The obstinacy and short sightedness of
the employer is as a rule, matched, or more
than matched, by the exorbitant demands
made by men, who are either ignorant of,
or close their eyes to what may be, the
econoniie results if their requests were
graated, and who view enviously the spec-
tacle of men in other occupations, doing
better than a comparison with their own
work should warrant.
Before suggesting a method that might
be an imsprovement, it would be as well
to consider the =osition as it stands.
When one remembers that every State
has ts Arbitration Courts, or Wages
Boards, Courts of Conciliation, ete., and
that our law makers bav honestly stri-
ven to provide the most effective machiu-
ery to keep the wheels of industry in mo-
tior, the first conclusion is tbat the ma-
chine should work, and that, on paper
anyway, nothing has been overlooked.
“Surely there are enongh laws” says one.
“Too many laws” says another, “with
Federal laws overlapping and overriding
State Laws.” )
“A two headed penny” cries the Capit-
alist, and the worker acquiesces in smiles,
if not in words. There are penalty clauses
certainly, but can one get blood out of a
stone, or indict a community who refuse
to work?
The right to make holiday is certainly as
sacred to the white frre born, as is the
vight to work. The penalty and deregis-
tration clanses stand on our Statute Books.
pure bogie, rotten sticks which the Courts
wisely refrain from shaking too often. In
the procedure I would recommend, penal
ties for strikes and lockouts would prae-
tically disappear, whilst those for breaches
would remain as at present.
What causes the need for all this ela-
borates machinery that our legislators set
up, and which refuse to function? And
what causes 1.)f our street accidents? Mis-
understandings. The motorist thought
the other fellow was going to stop, or that
there was no cross traffic approaching the
intersection. Ha'l our industrial troubles
would never reach th. Court if the em-
ployer thoroughly understood the position
as the worker viewed it, or if the worker
knew the difficulty the employer had in
obtaining orders, in financing his business,
of scraping up the money necessary for
the pay roll.
Obstacles at the Round Table.
The union prepares a new log and hands
it to the employer. The wise employer
will unbend and talk the matter over
with the union executive—strictly without
prejudice. The average employer says,
“Take it to the Court. That is what Courts
are for. 1 will not discuss it.” Very
often a case that could have been negoti-
ated ‘is thrown into an overloaded Court,
and dissatisfaction in the industry becomes
acute as no early date of hearing can he
fixed. The Conrt should be considered as
the place of final appeal, but too often it
is looked upon as a clearing house for all
d'sputes, in fact as a debt collecting agency.
Again, employers endeavour to fix up
an agreement at a round table conference.
They may have gone a considerable way to
xneet the demands, and then when they
sonsider a reasonable agreement is within
reach. they find that the union executive
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