COOKS AND WAITERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1248, 3 October 1911, Page 5

COOKS AND WAITERS.

. g . STRENGTHENING THE UNION. The ordinary monthly mooting of tho local Cooks' and Waiters' Union was held in the Trades' Hall' last night, and resulted in some interesting decisions bein°[ arrived at. There was an attendance of 31 members, exclusive of the president and secretary. Included in th.e inward correspondence was a letter from the Trades Council asking .for the union's financial support for the Lithgow Ironworks' striko tund. It was decided that, in view of the heavy expenditure in connection with country organisation work, the request bo held over in the meantime. The secretary reported at length on the' result of his tour for the purpose of coun- - try organising. The report stated that in the eijrht or nine weeks since tho inception of the movement, branch unions had been established at Hastings, Napier, Wanganui, and Palmerston North, with a present membership of 300, and a prospective membership of GOO as soon as the swards obtained were in effective opera- ! tion. The Hastings-Napier award took I ~ effect from September 18, and in Wanganui and Palmerston North, from to-day onwards, the labour condition's of hotel workers would be governed by Arbitration Court Award regulations. Supplementing the report, the secretary claimed that tho conditions of hotel workers in the towns mentioned had been vastly improved, with nn average increase of'from 20 to 30 per cent, in the rates of pay, and that a record had been established, seeing that until the recent start had been made there was neither union nor award in the districts now affected. Tho financial report showed that during tho five months just ended, 153 new members had been admitted to tho union, find it it anticipated that desDite tho extra expenditure incurred in country organising, tho half-year will close with a balance of rcceiDta over expenditure. It was agreed that a conference of representatives of the branches and the ma.''n union be held in Wellington about October 80, when financial and other matters . pertaining to the working of the country tranches should bo discussed.