Earl Haig made a new attack on trade unions at the annual meeting of the National Association for Employment of Ex-Service Men at the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall.
Despite all the efforts made by the association and others, there were, he said, only too many cases of deserving ex-Service men who were still fighting perhaps the hardest battle of their lives in endeavouring to find work which would keep themselves, their wives, and their families from absolute starvation. (Applause.)
Some time ago he referred in a speech at Bristol to the attitude of the trade unions on this question. His appeal to employers and others produced a good round swn for the Officers' Association. As to the effect his remarks pr duced upon trade unions, he was less certain. It was no answer to say that the grounds of the trade us' objections to ex-soldiers were not that they were ex-soldiers, but the fact that they were not able to earn the full trade union wage.
The inability of the ex-soldier to earn a full trade union wage." said Earl Haig earnestly, "is due to the fact that some of the best years of his life were given up at the risk of his life in fighting for his country, and thereby in fight ing, among other things, for the very existence of the trade unions Was it fair that men should be penalized by trade unions for having fought the trade unions' battles? (Applause.) He did not ask the trade unions to abandon their principles, but he did trade unions and employers alike to endeavour, even at some sacrifice, to meet exceptional _cireumustances by some exceptional action. (Applause.) It was their turn for action, the ex-Service men had already given theirs.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.