Industrial Peace Vol 3 Classic Reprint

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Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781334474712
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (747 download)

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Download or read book Industrial Peace, 1921, Vol. 9 (Classic Reprint) written by and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Industrial Peace, 1921, Vol. 9 War conditions have passed; compulsory arbitration has been abolished; the wage-determining principles quoted above have ceased to operate to the exclusion of all others. Em plovers are no longer employed upon Government contracts, the terms of which could be adjusted to meet the new obligations imposed by the arbitration awards, nor are they busily employed making up arrears for a hungry market. They are once more subjected to world competitive forces and to all the risks of the commercial market. They no longer accept the principle that wages should be determined solely and exclusively by the cost of living for the reason, they say, that they are powerless in the matter. It is not what thev desire but what they can fulfil that they are able to promise. They are no longer their own masters; and precisely because they cannot guarantee profits to themselves they cannot guarantee to the workers a wage solely determined by the cost of living. Thus we return to pre-war conditions. Arbi tration once more retires to the background. There is no common acceptance of governing principles. The recent coal dispute serves as an admirable illustration. The miners demanded an entirely new principle of payment in the national pool. Arbitration on such a claim was impossible. Either one side had to surrender to the other or a compromise had to be effected. A compromise was only negotiated after a long and exhausting struggle. Manufacturers to-day claim that an industry should pay in wages what that industry can bear. If the unions insisted on wage reductions corresponding only to the cost of living a series of deadlocks would follow from which arbitration would offer no means of escape. Such a deadlock occurred between the shipyard joiners and their employers. But the vast majority of unions are now recognising the futility of insisting upon the cost of living as the only factor determining the wages which they will permit their members to accept, and are admitting the importance of the principle laid down by the employers and endeavouring to secure the best bargainpossible in the circumstances. It is not merely a wise policy: it is the only possible policy. It carries with it a serious responsibility which all employers' associations should accept without hesitation. If the latter contend that an industry cannot hear a higher rate than they propose they should be prepared to support their case with evidence. It is not sufficient merely to repeat vague assertions. The union representatives are justified in requesting that all the relevant facts relating to the industry should be placed before them, so that they may not only be in a position to negotiate a fair rate in the circumstances of the case, but be able, in turn, to convince their own constituents of the inherent justice of the agreement, and prevail upon them to accept it as o ering the best that the economic situation permits. Negotiation - even prolonged and delicate negotiation with a deadlock here and there based upon publicity and the placing of all the cards upon the table, is preferable to crude arbitration as a method of dealing with the present condition of affairs. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."