CO129-603-4 Industrial relations- necessity for introducing arbitration procedures 16-10-1946 - 20-12-1946 — Page 57

the determination of official rates, by State machinery, for one of the most important cost factors in production would be an interference with the free play of economic forces, especially as such rates would not necessarily follow the tendency of the market.

From the workers' point of view, the Trade Union movement is opposed to compulsory arbitration because it is calculated to endanger the existence of the movement by taking from it one of its principal objects the achievement of favourable conditions by its own efforts, and by depriving it of the right to strike.

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Proposals for compulsory arbitration presuppose a state of affairs entirely different from that prevailing in Great Britain and involve a complete reversal of the present relations between employers and employed. To take any action which would tend to make the negotiations of joint machinery unreal and insincere, or which would tend to encourage the shifting of responsibility to third parties would not only destroy much of the valuable machinery which has been established, but would also tend to break down the organisation on which collective bargaining depends and destroy the chances of its development towards even greater co-operation. When meeting round the conference table the parties are parts. of a whole, whereas before a tribunal they appear always as antagonists and litigants. The knowledge that a difference between employers and employed must ultimately become the subject of compulsory arbitration would tend to encourage the adoption of an uncompromising and extreme attitude during the period of negotiation.

Possibly the strongest argument against compulsory arbitration is that in the long run the enforcement of law depends on the strength of public opinion. The public's respect for law tends to be weakened by the enact- ment of measures which owing to lack of popular support cannot be effectively enforced, and compulsory arbitration is open to serious objection on this ground. Although it may be possible to enforce awards as regards relatively small numbers of employers it is not possible to send thousands of workers to prison. When parties go voluntarily to arbitration by agreement no such position is likely to arise. The loyal observance of such awards is a prominent feature of the industrial life of this country.

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