TRADES AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 231, 29 September 1928, Page 18

TRADES AND LABOUR NOTES.

(Cj» INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.)

UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK.

Monday. October ] —I>rivers: Grocers' Assistants: Shipwrights; Tramwajmen i semi-jubilee). Wednesday. October 3 —General Labourers ; Auckland Carpenters; Oueluinga < arpenters. Thursday. October 4—Rope and Twine Workers : I'lumbers' Educational. Saturday. October o—Bakers. THE - COURT. Tiie Arbitration Court opened in Auckland on Tuesday last, but has not a very extensive list for consideration. After a sitting at Hamilton on Tuesday next, the Court returns to Auckland, leaving for the south at the end of the week. AUCKLAND REVISITED. Mr. .T. I. Abfalter. J.P., is paying ;i vi>it to Auckland after an absence of B> years in Australia. Many will remember him as one of the smartest conductors in the Auckland tramway service in the olden days when the Auckland service was administered by the Auckland Electric Tramways Company, whose headquarters were in London. After some years' service, Mr. Abfalter left Auckland, with the intention of entering the South Australian tramway service ill the year 1909, but on reaching Melbourne.' decided that Victoria ottered good prospects for him. He entered the service of the Melbourne

company a the cable cars and after eleven TTonthV service joined the I'rahran-Malvern Electric Tramway Company as a motoruian. driving one of the lir.-t cars used at the opening of that system. In 11)10. he was elected vice-president of the federation and in BUG he took over the secretaryship of the Victorian No. 2 branch, which position he holds at the present time. He was elected president of tht> Australian Tra m way men's Federation in 192.">. succeeding Mr. Lionel Hill. who. entering politics, became Premier of South Australia. Mr. Abfalter is still president. After an absence of nearly 20 years and with an experience and intimate knowledge of up-to-date Australian systems, Mr. Abfalter has (something to say of our local .service. He says that conditions in the Auckland service have improved wonderfully to what they were when he worked under them in the firet decade •of the century. There is a, marked ■improvement in the equipment; in his day, the inotorman had to depend on his hand and track brakes for service, and his reverse for an emergency, now, the air brake on the Auckland cars has lightened the labour and re>sponsibilty to the driver considerably. Glass fronts also add to the comfort of the driver; there were, none in his day. But, improved as they arc, the conditions in Auckland are not comparable to those obtaining in Australia, and much remains to be done. He is surprised to see the Auckland niotormen ami conductors eating their mid-shift meal while the car is running. In Australia and also in the south, there is a system of meal reliefs in operation, by which the worker leaves his car with a relief man, while he has his food in quietness and cleanliness. A through shift,, without an interval for a meal, would not i>e tolerated in Australia, so says Mr. Abfalter, and present conditions as to meals on the cateh-as-catch-can principle is certain to react on the health of the men later in life. He considers this matter should be referred to the medical faculty for an opinion. The construction of the Auckland cars he does not approve of, particularly the position of the motorman, who is not

.-hut olf from the He ex-p'-esses the opinion that siidi a condition is a menace t<> the public «:-;fe;y The :"otonnan «=lh>"'-.1 have a cihin t.i b.im.ielf, to enable him to give Tiis undivided attention iu his work and other vehicular tra flic.

Asked as to his impressions of tlie city it.self after a 20-year absence, Mr. Abfalter declarer his amazement at the progress made. Perfect concrete roads, splendid public buildings, such as the I General Post Office, Ferry Buildings, Town Hall and our magnificent Grafton Bridge, to gay nothing of other most midern skyscra]«?rs, all new ««ince his day, convinces him that Auckland has been far from asleep in thu interval. He remembers Foster Fraser coming to Auckland, and <stating that there wag only one building worthy of the name in Queen Street, the Auckland Savings Bank, but that does not apply now. Another new feature to Mr. Abfalter, is the Civic Square, and, with bated breath, he asked: "How ever did you get it?" To Australian visitors such a place is an eyesore, but Aueklanders pass it with iquanimity. I felt unable to explain matters, and it rested at that. To revert to tramway matters, concession fares do not exist in Australia. There the cash fare prevails, and twopenny sections at that; accounts are not so intricate in the office, work for the conductors is much easier, and a man cashes up as much .as £15 for each shift. He expects to leave for the South on Tuesday, officially visiting Wellington, Wanganui, aiul probably New Plymouth and Napier. TRADE EXAMINATIONS. In certain awards provision is made for additional payment to apprentices who pass the examination prescribed by the City and Guilds of London Institute. This system, had one serious disability, however, as the best- part of a year elapsed before the result of the examinai ioiiri became known. The Education ] department has now decided to conduct technological examinations, and the standard is equivalent to that of the English Pre~s. For the 192S examinations no (diulidate will be accepted for the intermediate grade in any subject other than plumbing, unless he has already passed the examination for the award of a i-enior free place at a secondary school, te-dmical school, or technical school evening class, or lias otherwise been awarded a senior free place with the approval of the Education Department. Every candidate for the intermediate grade mu«t also have the subjoined form of certificate completed on -nis behaif. No candidate will be accepted who has the standing of less than a third-year apprentice in the trade or occupation related to the subject for which he has entered. Tae examinations cover the subjects of carpentry and joinery, cabinetmaking, electrical wiring, motor engineering. mechanical engineering and plumbing. TRAMWAYMEN CONFER. The annual conference of the New Zealand Federation of Tramway Unions, which opened on Wednesday in Auckland, is still in session, and will probably finish on Monday. There are eleven delegates in session, representing every tramway union in the Dominion, in addition to which, the general president of tfie Australian Traiiiwaymen's Association, Mr. .T. I. Abfalter, has come from Victoria to take part in the pro'ceeding®.'