LABOUR MATTERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 876, 23 July 1910, Page 9

LABOUR MATTERS.

THE DEPARTMENT'S REPORT. EMPLOYMENT CARDS. A NEW SCHEME. According to the animal report of the Labour Department 8506 persons—29B7: married and 5519 single—applied to the Government bureaux' for employ; incut last. year. Their dependents totalled 10,164, and 5059 were sent to private work and 3447 to Government work. During the past. IS years tho Government had in this way helped 77,679 persons. The . latest developments in connection ivith tho conduct of labour exchanges in other countries are being closely watched in order to apply them here if feasible. It would, however, bo both difficult and. inadvisable for Jveiv Zealand to extend the scope of its employment in some of the directions adopted by Europe and America. Advertising in this regard was discouraging last winter, for it was evident that employers were not disposed to spend any money on worke which could stand over. Employment Cards. A new scheme for the providing of employment cards to men assisted by. the Department is to bo inaugurated. It is ' proposed to provide each appli. Milt with a card (which he can keep ■ m his possession), showing his name, ago, calling, name of last employer, ■ and also providing columns (somewhat on the lines of a seaman's certificate-of. discharge book), in which an employer, by the use of letters, could indicate the character and conduct of a man whilst ' in his-,employ. This system would be: specially suitable, and should be first ' tried, in connection with man sent to Government co-operative works. • It has been found that some men made a practice of going from oue Government job to anothui. ~ . The number of factories registered last year .was 12,302.. as against 12,040 in lyflH,' and the number of persons en- ' gaged in factories last year was 77,806, as- compared with 7S.S4S in. 19GG. la , some cases the position was due to men and women wlio had been tnrowa ', out of work setting up small businesses for. themselves which would not come under the Factories Act, or, turning to other occupations. At the same time, the scarcity of young'people'entering .industrial life caused further vacancies in the ranks oi the workers in large factories. . Progress of Manufactures. The total amount of wages paid in " I manufacture last year was £5,890,941,' an increase on the previous year of £180,715, a rise of 3.2 per cent. This i compares poorly with'the previous year, ill which the advance was £391".207, and at the rate of 7.3 per cert. When, . however, it is taken into consideration that for some time the building trades suffered severe depression, and that tho [ shipbuilding, iron, and metal trades ' have had a very dull time indeed, the , fact that the amount of wages' paid [during last year in rnainif actures. ; was ■• the highest yet noted inspires c'oiifidenco, especially with the better prospects before us at. present. ~ .. ' she Overtime worked by men and youths over sixteen years of' age is again not being shown this year, owing to the representations' of some of the . ■ leading unions to the effect that the publication of the hours of ' overtime created a false impression. The total, number of hours' of overtime worked by women and youths under sixteen years of age was 278,562 hours. These figures ... are published as it is considered that the loss of time sustained., by these ~ workers during slack periods is to-a- •■ considerable extent compensated by the overtime" worked during busy times. In. the New Zealand., factories- 735.. accidents were. reported during the year—viz., 7 fatal, S9 serious,' 232 - moderate, and 407 slight. This is a low percentage of accident, being at the rate of one accident among every ' 105 workers, and' one fatal accident among 11,115 workers. ■.•'.' Scaffolding and Shop Assistants. I The Scaffolding. Inspection Act flaa m its working thoroughly justified its. legislative existence, since tho diminu- ! tion of accidents and the greater security felt by workmen engaged in the dangerous occupations of the buildI ing trades are very apparent to those acquainted with industrial conditions. Auckland city (£271,628). pays; the largest wages-bill to shop-assistants; Wellington city next with £238,680; then Christehurch city, £215,561; then , Duncdizi city, £197,856. If- the cities I with their, surrounding industrial districts are compared, we find-that the . order of precedence is as follows:— Wellington, £528,343; Auckland, £441,298; Otago and Southland,.' : £344,362; Canterbury, £320,091. This ,' probably arises through the presence of-, considerable-sized ' towns (Wanganui, ; i Napier, Palmerston, Masterton, , etc.) in tho Wellington industrial district; Dunedin also has a large surrounding district in Otago and Southland. The workers' unions have gained by ■ 17 unions, although the number. x 'of • 308 as enumerated is less than the 325* 6f last year. This arises through tho • branches of the Associated Society of • Kailivay Servants now being 'merged ■ . into one union. Tho roll of membership of industrial unions of workers was increased by 5172, ami shows during tho : last five years an - increase of over. 24,000 persons. There was a decrease jof two employers' unions and of 216 ' members. ..-'.,- Arbitration Act. '■■ The business under the. Industrial Conciliation and Ai bit-ration "Act, 190S, i during the year ending March 31, 1910, is summarised as, follows:—lndustrial agreements, 14; awards, S9; enforcements of awards (conducted .by the Department), 35; enforcements, of ; . awards (conducted by unions), 7; interpretations of awards, 41; other de-- ■' cisions (amending-awards, adding par- . tics, etc.), 75; appeals from decisions of Stipendiary Magistrates, 4; application for awards refused, 4; cases under the Workers' Compuiwatiuii Act, Si". Tho Department took 536 cases bafore tho Magistrate's Court for , breaches of awards', against.ss2 last year,' Of the eases taken this year, 456 were given in the Department's favour, 75 were dismissed,' and 5 withdrawn. " Twenty- .'. five cases were conducted by union ' officials, IS convictions were, obtained, and 7 eases dismissed. In the Departmental'cases, i'O'ys IDs. fill, penalties. wore imposed, and in cases conduct-, i by unions £41 12s. as penalties. Of the . 35 cases taken to the Arbitration Court by -tho Department, "21 ' wore won and 14- dismissed. Tho fines ' inflicted amounted to £27. Tho unions prosecuted in 7 cases, there being G convictions and" 1 dismissal. The fines amounted to'£s 10s. . - . Under the Shearers' and Agricultural L-boiirers' Accommodation Act, no fewer than 475 stations 'were visited. • Tn 857 cases the accommodation was . reported as satisfactory, while in' tho remainder —IIS —improvements will have to be effected. The improvement generally' in the accommodation provided for shearers during the last five ' . years is very striking. Under the Workers' . Compensation ' ,- Act, there wore 3S cases brought- before ■ . the Court, one less than last year. The. ' Act- continues to give considerable protection and relief from anxiety to tho '. whole body of manual workers.