Evening star., 1948-06-30
Brituin's S Lubor Crisis

Britain's Labor Government has just
emerged successfully from an ordeal re-
quiring the use OF every ounce OF its legal
authority. The successful outcome should
not obscure the grave implication behind
what has happened. There is an obvious
irony in the fact that Labor Govern
ment felt impelled to proclaim a nation
wide state of emergency" to cope with
an unauthorized strike that menaced the
very life of the British people. This is,
OF course. the wildcat walkout of dock
workers, beginning in the port of London
and spreading by sympathy to other major
ports of the United Kingdom. Since
Britain is vitality dependent on imported
food, the tie-up of hundreds of ships
loaded with foodstuffs, much of them
perishable, threatened to choke the pipe
line through which the British people
are fed.
II ever strike was unjustified, 1t was
this one. 1t started with the disciplining
OF less than a dozen London dockers who
had refused to unload a certain type OF
cargo without extra pay. The case was at
once considered by the National Dock
alike represented, and both elements
agreed that there was no merit in the
mems claim for extra compensation.
Nevertheless, the London dockerS walked
out almost unanimously in defiance of
their own leaders. When, after waiting
nearly fortnight, the Government used
a limited number of troops to unload the
most periShable cargoes, sympathetic
strikes broke out in other major port
areas.
The British dock workers are proverb-
tally turbulent lot, long permeated by
Communist tendencies. In part, this may
be legacy of former days, when pay was
low, working conditions were hard, and
unemployment was chronic. Today, how
ever, no such situation exists. The dock
workers now enjoy guaranteed minimum
weekly wages, full employment and other
social benefits. In the absence OF legiti-
mate grievances, the Government is
undoubtedly right in ascribing this Wild
cat strike, called on frivolous pretext,
as due to agitators who have been in
structed for political reasons to take
advantage OF every little disturbance to
cause disruption of British economy
and trade, to undermine the Government
and to destroy Britain's position"
Those are the words of Prime Minister
Clement Attlee in nationwide broadcast
wherein he stated In a supreme appeal to
the strikers: This is not a strike against
capitalists or employers. It is a strike
against your mates; a strike against the
housewife; strike against the ordinary
common people who have difficulties
enough" although Mr. Attlee named no
names, his implication of a Communist
plot is clear.
Spurred by trenchant criticism from
the Conservative Opposition and by the
rising tide of indignation among the gen.
eral public, the Labor Government reluc-
family set about taking the drastic steps
which the situation demanded. Invoking
the broad authority of the Emergency
Powers Act, law passed in 1920 to cope
with the similar revolutionary labor fer
ment in Britain after World War I, the
Government assigned ample troops for
unloading the struck ships and moving
the freight Since the Act empowered the
Government to take even more drastic
measures, the wildcatters collapsed
within few hours and the strike was
over.
Nevertheless, though the crisis is sur
mounted, two lessons are obvious One is
the latent danger of Communist pene-
tration into labor unions; even when this
has not involved the leadership. The
second lesson is the damage which can be
inflicted upon the life of nation by
strike OF any union that occupies
strategic position in our closely meshed
and -interdependent modern economy.
That Is equally true whether the economy
be capitalist or socialist. In either case,
some method would seem imperative to
protect society from crippling walkouts,
no matter what caused them,