WORK AND WAGES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 636, 13 October 1909, Page 8

WORK AND WAGES.

~ • MR. TREGEAR'S REPORT. ".'.'' ARBITRATION AND' THE ; MINIMUM ; '' ; :\ WAGE. . "In spite of. thoso who told us that New Zealand was too far'distant from the groat centres to be affected by the financial crisis which was marked by 'the Wall Street panic,' that event 'gradually. ■ but surely wrought its effect even on our small and distant community," says the Secretary - for Labour (Mr. E-. Tregear) in his annual report. . '. . . "The building trades (carpenters, painters, brick- ' layers, plumbers, etc.) not only found many of their members out of work . for the first time for years, but employment continued dif:ficult to find, and hard to keep, if-found at all. Nevertheless, the Dominion as a whole'has not -suffered-' except by a diminished margin of profit;'work'and.production have steadily proceeded, and if'some hundreds have been compulsorily idle or precariously employed, still tens of thousands have remained steadily and' profitably" at work." .'.,'"" ' .i'The roport deals with tho year bnded March '31,- 1D09,' and states that during that period 10,391 men,-.with -7510 dependents, weTe found work by : the Department, 4190 being , sent to private work, and G2Ol .to Government .employ-ment.'-'Among, the men'. assisted;' there were 1679 from Great' Britain, '485-from Australia, and 232-from foreign: countries. Eighty-eight wives,-with .112 children, were forwarded to localities, in which their :• breadwinners were at work.-The; cost of such passages has since been in all'cases, refunded to 'the Department. Of : the 1679 coming- from Great Britain, T by'far tho largest-number were-sent tofarming work.

, Factory .Labour and the Birth-rate. In: regard to employment in factories, the secretary draws' attention to.the sudden falling-1 off in tho year as. to' the annual increaso in persons employed;;, tho steady rates 'of : such increases hiving > been proofs of satisfactory industrial '•progress,during many l year's.' The diminution may bo owing to any one ,of several 'causes'or toseveral acting together. Among these are mentioned the growing .difficulty of procuring young-, people 'as .beginners in the clothing and , food trades. Had it not" been for the arrival :of of immigrant families, the younger members of which have 'taken ■ factory' the' want. of hands in ■ some:' manufactures would have greatly c'rippled,!,busrhess'.',.figures, relating . to the families: of;J,the: : .m'enT. ; assisted by the Depart-meht-.since''its-inception 7 are quoted'as showing .that: the:decline in the ,birth-rate"is- not by any "means confined to .those classes of the community .which are .sometimes .referred to as being enervated by luxury. Young families do not belong to the men (artisans,'mechanics, and labourers)' who are • helped to employment by the Department.' A possible cause for there being■ practically no. increase in factory-workers this year in comparison with, previous years 'is -tho decline of certain trades, notably those of.imillingr.flaxKand'timber. Most of the "men no -longer etnployed in these industries have been absorbed ■' into 'other occupations; . but, these being mainjy / agricultural occupations, the workers therein escape from being included in the factory figures. ' A curious point in regard to the year's statistics is "that whilst tho - number of factories increased by 454, the number\of workers increased by only 223.: .The.: explanation is, that workers discharged oh .account of slackening -trade have, in many Cases, started small factories on their own ''account,,/so drawing away other'workers from, longer-established places of business. The total amount of wages paid in the ■• New Zealand factories last year was-.£5,710,226, whilst that of the provious year was ".£5,319,019, showing'that we X 391.207 on the wages of the previous year.'' ■ Ninety-five Vper ■ cent, of -the females employed, in factories-are. under thirty years of ,age, ,so'that, the ratio' of.'femnles underCthirtyto above .that' age.would be as high ,as 1900. .The average ■■wage paid' to "factory' .employeeslast year 18s. ''''■ :, '.'.:': :■'.;!.":' . ..ShiopS.: .. .■:,'.'' :';,;■'.-,-'„'v ; '. In regard (to shop assistants in the-four chief cities, Auckland leads mth the largest wage 6-' sheet: Auckland, Christchurch, £228,-< 764; Wellington, -.£225,610; Dunedin,The average-'wage of ; a-shop assistant;' maloor female,, in'New'Zealand is-.£86:115.' 6d—an advance' on the'average rate of last year,- which was ,£B2 10s.-The'rate of wage'differs consider-' ably 'in the', chief ■ cities;'. being .in.'''-Wellington J9B '18s. :3s. 4d„ in ■Dunedin''.£Bß'lls.'ilid;,-;jn Auckland JEB3 '18s. \IOA.;~ r ''sw-*:~aVy%w-:'i-. ■'■>: -> ■< -: ■ ': f ". '■'~,.,:.Cohcillati6n.:and'.Arbitration. • "■'.".

...The report missipDersi'.jWho.were'op'pointed on January 28, '1908/ 'have-already : done Rood' service, as. their appended', reports will show,;,'lt is early to pass an opinion on the new principle they are working under,' but:.it certainly appears that there is. already ,a-, betters spirit becoming apparent ;on the'parts ■both- ofjemployer ana employed. There is'a greater' readiness,'to givo and.-take, and less disposition to,'press the letter of an awardor agreement to excess. ~ Alto-.. gether the .p'utlbbk for industrial arbitration is reassuring,'and full of "encouragement. v Tho year generally,'has been free from:any.serious dispute terminating in strike or lock-out, the bakers'.'strike: in. Wellington .being' the' 'only : trouble 'lit ,*the. .kind demanding .'attention; ■ ,

■; Women's Employment Bureaux. V ': The, work dohe.b'y tKe branch offices:to' facilitate -the". ;obtainirig: of., employment 'by >omen has justified the institution of these offices, .-.'which-give equality of opportunity i (so . far as free' Government'. assistance goes) to women'and to; men. 'They .have in'the ten months since the offices were opened found employment for. 2255 women and.girls, mostly in domestic service, but, the 'lists, include the names. of.'seamstresses, .typistes, governesses, laundresses, dressmakers,' milliners, etc.... The persons':assisted- included 517' married'women with 270 dependents, and 1738:single;women."