The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 3, 1924, Page 10

LONDON, March 22, 1924. (By Mail.)—Mr. Tom Shaw, the second in- ternational leader and minister of Labor in His Britanic Majesty’s Gov- ernment, is having bad luck. It seems to be of no avail that our labor lead- ers don't want strikes. The workers have apparently made up their minds that whether their leaders like it or not they are going to get a bit of their own back. Ever since 1921 they have had reduction after reduction in wages and have been exceedingly patient about them. They have been told that things are on the mend, and it is true that there are less unemployed than there were a few months ago. So now for getting back some of the goods that have been stolen from them. When the Loco’ men challenged reduc- tions with a strike and then the Dock- ers forced the pace and won conces- sions, a real tonic was administered to the whole movement and a wages offensive is in full swing. This time the workers are taking the initiative. Exciting Events. On Friday at midnight the 21st of March, 40,000 tram and bus men struck work. That is a terrific blow in London where transport is a key industry. The first effects of the strike even at this time of night were ex- citing. Hundreds of hotel workers and market workers had to walk from the center of the city away into the sub- urbs. Crowds of people who had counted on a last minute settlement were stranded, and rushed for. the tubes. Here the congestion was so great that the police had to be called upon to regulate the traffic. If the tubes join in the strike then London is in a fix with a vengeance. As per usual the officials are trying to con- fine action to simply a section, but whether the tube workers can stand the extra traffic which will inevitably -be thrust upon them, and blackleg traffic at that, remains to be seen. They are not in the Transport and General Workers Union which is con- ducting the strike under the leader- ship of Bevin, but are partly in the National Union of Railwaymen and partly in the Locomotive.and Firemen. There is a working agreement be- tween the latter union and the Trans- port Unions and it only requires the word from the officials and the strike can become general thruout London transport. The Electrical Trades Union also threatened that any attempt to intro- duce blackleg labor will be met by the cutting off of electric power thru- out London. Labor Government. The strike arises from the demand of the union for an increase of 8|- per week for tram drivers and conductors, made as far back as six months ago. The demands of the men have never been rejected on their merits. They have always met with postponement and equivocation. Only when the men decide to strike the employers call for arbitration and forget their own re- fusal to put into operation the find- ings of a previous court of inquiry in 1921. All the governments from that date have been warned as to what situation was developing, but none took any action until faced with the strike. There are, of course, quite a number of authorities involved, viz: The London Courty Council, a number of Local Councils and private com- panies. The private companies have refused to concede anything. The Lon- don County Council is willing to con- cede §|- and some of the other Coun- cils 2|. The councils are asking for arbitration, but the companies refuse it and the unions don’t want it. The government is in a dilemma. It has utterly failed before the strike to achieve anything which would avert a strike, and it certainly doesn’t like the idea of the sympathetic strike ex- tending. The bus drivers and con: ductors are striking with the tram men in sympathetic action as mem- bers of the same union and it doesn’t take much in the way of incitement to extend that kind of thing once it has begun. Mr. Shaw knows these things quite well, and has plunged for the Court of Inquiry. The fact that some of the authorities have expressed the willing: OA dT TROT NF RUE ness to make some concession points the way to the settlement. Shaw will aim to get the other bodies to accept the compromise and then persuade the union to accept less than it set out for. Difficulties of Metal Workers. The position of the Engineering and shipbuilding workers is more difficult. On February 19th, a thousand engi- neers in Southampton struck work, against official orders, for an advance of wages. Their rate was 47s./6d. per week, one of the lowest amongst en- gineering workers in any of the lead- ing towns. Their rate before the war was 40/6. If the cost of living deter- mined the wages, they should be re- ceiving today 72|6. On February 25th they were joined by the shipyard workers, raising the number on strike to 6,000. At the same time the En- gineering and Shipbuilding Federation of Unions has a demand for a 10}- in- crease before the employers. The em- ployers are trying to use the South- ampton strike to stop negotiations on the national 10|- demand. The unions appear to protest, but all the leaders in turn have been down to Southamp- ton to persuade the men to return to work and not to “spoil the National negotiations.” The men regard the threat of a national lock-out as bluff and refuse to return to work, And so far they have proved quite correct. The employers should have carried out their threat yesterday, but again deferred action. The men want an ad- ditional 7s\6d on to the national de- jaand and are intent on getting it from the local employers. And again there is likelihood of the Minister of Labor stepping in with a Court of Inquiry. nominee A. J. Cook stands an excel- Government’s Troubles. But the government’s difficulties are still greater with the miners. The de cision of the miners to reject the offer of the mine owners and call on the government to proceed with the min- ers’ minimum wage bill placed them in a tight situation. The miners had met in conference on the morning after the defeat of the labor govern. ment on parliamentary procedure Ostensibly this defeat was on the question of appropriating time for the clearance of government work. Actual- ly it was the maneuvering of the mine owners to prevent the introduction of the private members bill on the ques- tion .of the miners’ wages. This bill demanded a minimum wage on the 1914 basis plus extra, equal to the rise in the cost of living. By appropriating private members’ time the bill would be defeated. The miners’ conference recognized this and turned down the mine owners’ offer with a view to forc- ing the government into a straight fight on the miners’ question, with the -overnment adopting the private mem- bers’ bill as their own. The labor government does not want to face this issue. It is argued that the miners question is a_ sectional question and not one which appeals to even all the workers, and therefore it would be fatal for the labor gov- ernment to face certain defeat and have to appeal to the country. The Minister of Mines, Mr. Shinwell, one of the slippiest opportunists in the government, is accordingly striving for all he is worth to secure a settle- ment of the dispute by direct negotia- tion between the miners and the mine owners with the Minister of Labor as mediator. In this policy he is sup- ported by the “New Leader” and Mr. F. Hodges who, now he is employec at the admirality, feels himself some- what free to give his advice as an orlooker and appear as a bold parti- GRAND CONCERT AND BALL Given by POLISH, UKRAINIAN AND RUSS BRANCHES OF W. P. OF A. Q ON SUNDAY, MAY 4th, 1924 ———AT— Schoenhofen’s Hall, cor. Milwaukee & Ashland Commencing at 5 P .M. Sharp rere of Auasan Oper Rusisn Wandin Chas Ukeaca Work ussian Opera; jan ub; Ukraini - ers’ Choir; Polish Choir “Sila”; Music by Mr. i te pe PROFITS FOR POLISH DU alt RNR iy 5 icin 1 The Labor Government in Deep Waters san on behalf of the miner. It is inter- esting to find him a sudden convert to settlement outside parliament. It is not so many months ago, when the miners looked like taking to direct action by striking, that he told them to look to parliament, Now they have turned to parliament they have to look to direct negotiation. It is awk- ward but difficult to resist the idea that he opposes action of any kind which would involve him and his col- leagues in any struggle. incensed by Delay Danger for Both. There are big dangers ahead for th miners as well as the labor govern- ment. If the latter fails to get <on- cessions, refuses to bring in a bill and fight on it, and brings about a situa- tion where the Miners’ Federation is divided and landed into making local settlements, its fate is sealed. Already some of the miners’ leaders, Varley for example of Nottingham, of the better paid district, are in favor of ac- cepting any concession however small it may be. The poorly paid districts of course are opposed to such a policy. And the question is whether the min- ers are going to be led into the trap of local settlement. Again the government is proposing an inquiry. But if there is an industry wherein there is no need for an inquiry, wherein everything there is to know about it is known publicly, it is certainly the mining industry. The facts briefly are: 1) the miners are badly paid and everybody agrees they ought to have an increase. 2) The coalfields vary in their yielding cap- acity and in some coalfields the pres- ent terms have ceased to be an econ- omic proposition. 3) Only national unification of the mining industry can overcome these difficulties. 4) The mine owners cannot do this voluntari- ly. To expect the mine owners who are prosperous to come to the rescue of those who are not making big profits and voluntarily hand over the spoils is too utopian. 5) Only Nation- alisation or some form of compulsory state unification can overcome these lifficulties, 6) The employers have not a case, considered from a national point of view, the production for the last twelve months having been near record breaking and the profits total- ling £26,000,000, that is more than double pre-war profit. The Role ofriNationalization. But the issue @€ nationalization is being avoided both by the government who doesn’t want to make it a ques- tion upon which they would have to face a general election and by the miners who feel that they were mis- led when this was a burning question in 1921. This is even reflected in the Miners Minority movement which has been thriving on the crisis. Even this omits the question of nationalizing the mines. It demands: 1) That the gov- erning principle of the New Agree- ment shall be the cost of living. 2) An immediate advance in wages equal to the increase in the cost of living as compared to 1914 (i. e. at present 79 per cent). 3) All increases or reduc- tions in future shall be by the addition or reduction of the flat rate. 4) Six, days work or six days pay, i. e. a guaranteed week for all. 5) All work- ers on night and afternoon shifts shall in future be paid 20 per cent above ordinary day wages for each shift. 6) Membership of the Federation to be a condition of employment in or about the colleries. 7) An instruction to all District conciliation Boards, to ar- range a regrading of the workmen with a view to reducing the present number of varying standard rates to a A. Bonczkowski. ORKERS PRESS ss OLLIE EEN DINGELL LLL LEESON LOELEL ELIE EEE 5 By T. J. MURPHY maximum of three scales of payment. 8) This agreement to operate for one year, to be afterwards terminated by 14 days notice on either side. May Be Political Crisis. Upon-this program the miners’ min- writies are Cyeloping thruout the coal- fields and it may be that the salvation of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain depends upon the development of this movement. At the moment its lent chance of securing the post as Secretary in succession to Frank Hodges. (He has since been elected. Ed. note.) But it is impossible to tell yet whether this effort has struck deeper roots than the discontent aris- ing out of the wages agreement. But it was through the actions of its lead- ers that the first offer of the employ- ers were rejected and the government was challenged to proceed with the wages bill. And now it is a struggle between the politicians of the labor government and these leaders as to whether the miners’ crisis will land them into a first elass political crisis. But housing is the one question upon which the government is schem- ing and hopes to make the big thing of its existence. It is in fact calculated by many that upon this question they will ultimately go to the country with Wheatley and MacDonald united in a campaign of indignation and rousing oropaganda, But there is a gap be- sween now and the time when they hope to challenge the parties. This they hope to fill with international negotiations as their contribution to the solution of the unemployed pro- blem and the raising of “British pres- tige in the Councils of Nations.” But evictions are developing on a big seale and making things urgent. Hence facilities nave been given for the pushing of the Rents Amendment Bill which has now gone before a committee. This is a private bill to which Wheatley gave his blessing but -hicn the government did not adept 2% its own biil for fear of defeat. This proposed not only the reduction of rent but the continuation of contro} until 1928, with the provision that anyone wanting their house back or wishing to turn out a tenant must provide alternative accommodation. The Liberals and Tories have com- bined to defeat this measure in the committee stage of the bill. But the matter is urgent and there are already the threats of Maxton and others to challenge the evictions with mass ac- tion. So one more item is going to be watered out of the situation. The gov- ernment will be compelled to intro- duce a measure within the next few days to stop evictions, but in order to get it thru quickly the question of rent reductions will be sacrificed. Rough Seas. The government is getting into rough waters as well as deep. While the plans for house building are being prepared and negotiations between the unions and the employers are go- ing on, the building workers are Push- ing in demands for 2d per hour in- crease in wages. There is a deadlock on this issue already and the build- ing workers are threatening a na- tional strike if something tangible is not fortcoming during next week, They have already had six months of negotiation on the matter and pa- tience doesn’t last forever. Then the price of bricks is going up at the prospect of big contracts. In the last few weeks they have risen 5 shillings per thousand. The fifteen to twenty years building program with guaran- teed employment for three years on end to the building workers and 9 shillings per week houses is looking a bit sick under these conditions, Bu then, they will persist in chasing this will of the wisp of “gradualism” and - ll 4