CARGO CONGRESS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1339, 17 January 1912, Page 5

CARGO CONGRESS.

FINALITY REACHED. BIG ADYANCE IN WAGES GIVEN, BOTH SIDES SATISFIED. i The oonferenco of watorsddo workers and shipowners, which has been fitting in [ Wellington since Wednesday last ended last, ovening in an agreoment covering till the ports which had wilt representatives. , These ports are: Wellington, Auckland, j Lyttelton, Dimcdin, Wcstport, Fatal, ( Nelson, and Timaru. Tho agreement nrj rived at involves a considerable increase in wages, and lulditio-nl annual . outlay will also l>o impossd on employers of watersido labour as a result of amended working conditions. At G o'cloo: last evening the conference was still sitting, but shortly afterwards many of the shipowners' lepreseni tatives, including Mr. C. Holdsworth (general manager of tho Union Company), who had acted as chairman, left tho room in which the conference wa.i sitting. It then beca-119 known that the employers had submitted final terras to he accepted or rejected by the representatives of the Federation of Labour anil of the various 1 waterside unions. Tlu Labour delegates held a further sitting of about half an hour and decided to accept the offered terms. The Basis of Agreoment. Mr. C. Holdsworth was interviewed later in the evening. Ho stated that the basis-of the agreement arrived at was an increase of twopence per hour, ordinary and overtime, for most classes of work, and an increase of threepence per hour, ordinary and overtime, in the case of some special classes of waterside labk oar. The increase of twopence per hour will apply to thd work of handling general cargo and coal, and in fact to the greater part of the work of cargo handling. The increase of threepence applies to the handling i-£ frown meat and to some i other work regarded as exceptionally ardut ous or unpleasant. The increases apply to all ports, whether "open" or "tidal." r The conditions of labour at the different , ports, Mr. Holdsworth stated, had been gone through in their entirety and revised, Many of the alterations involved conf siderable additional expenditure. Mr. Holdsworth laid special stress on the fact that, at iho opening of the conference (which was adjourned froni Dunedin, where only three ports were' represented), and again here in Wellington, where eight ports were represented, the shipowners proposed a reference to the ■ Arbitration Court, holding that that tribunal had been set up to deal with disputes of this character, and especially in 0 the interests of the employees. Iu bohi j cases (at Dunedin and in Wellington) this proposal was rejected by the Labour representatives. A further olfer was made by the shipowners, to submit the matter to thref} Conciliation Commissioners, sitting as one body, whose decision was to be final. This proposal iilso was rejected by tho Labour representatives. Tho federation proposals relating to restriction of hours by a stoppage from Saturday afternoon uutil the early hours of Monday morning w?re strenuously resisted by tho shipowners. They contended ! that shipping business could not be carried on under these restrictions, and that they would' be fatal to the industry. Eventually the matter was compromised ' on an understanding that varying rates of . overtime should be paid for all work done s between Saturday at noon and eight j o'clock on Monday morning. This was accepted by tho Labour men in lieu of- tho " restriction of working hours. 1 The agreement, Mr. Holdsworth stated, would bo signed by each local union, and also by the Federation of Labour and the shipowners. The maintenance of the agreement would depend purely upon the good i'aithiot' the parties* Cei>, tain ports, amoiVg'th'em 'Kapier find' Grey-' m6uth, were not covered by the understanding arrived at, but practically all " the New Zealand shipowners had been represented. The proceedings of the conference had been harmonious, and the way in which tho work had been carried t on augured well for the successful maintenance of the agreement. Undoubtedly a very good temper had been displayed. Tho work, Mr. Holdsworth remarked, had 1 been strenuous,/ at times it had lasted from nine o'clock in the morning until eleven o'clock at night. As many as " forty-eight people' had taken part in tho conference at some cf its meetings, t Mr. Holdsworth referred in a compli--2 mentary strain to the fashion in which Messrs. Semple and Webb—leading Labour delegates—had carried out their duties at tho conference, and remarked that the unions, as a whole, had been very efficiently represented. The Labour View of It. Three Labour delegates to tho conferonce (Messrs. P, C, Webb, president, an< B, Semple, organiser of the Federation'of t Labour, and Mr. G. Ci. Farland, secretary of the Wellington Wharf Labourers' Union) were interviewed in company. In regard to details of tile agreement, they a, stated that tho extra overtime pavnients for week-end work were intended to discourage work' at these periods. For work e done between midnight on Supdny and s 8 o.in. on Monday, double ordinary time i was to be paid. The agreement, it was ~ stated, would bo withheld from publiwif tion until a copy had been handed to the Wellington Wharf Labourers' Union at a meeting of that body. . Mr. Semple stated that the delegates :1 had had a prolonged and hard fight, but " that, at the same time, the best methods 'J .had been employed. The agreement ar- * rived at was the product of practical work, " The result vindicated 1 the conviction prc- ® viously held by the federation thot it was ' best to arrange conditions of employment, ■ round un open table, with the parties concerned. The Labour representatives stf.tod further that, not only had iiii agreoment been come to, but machinery clauses had been inserted, which would make it possible to deal, in a practical fashion, with any grievances that might arise in any port. Mr. Semple remarked that, with his co-delegates, lie was quite satisfied flint the shipping representatives had been > whole-hearted in their efforts to bring about a settlement. This attitude on the part of the shipowners was one of the features which , had made a settlement - possible. The employers had been very i anxious to retain connection with. the . Arbitration Court, but had' given way . under pressure. | The Labour delegates united in emphnsL ising tho national tendency of the new s agreement. Its most; valuable, aspect, they remarked, was that it did away with .-.ectional agreements and replaced them by something more in keeping with modern industrial conditions. The new Agreement would do uwny with a multiplicity of disputes cropping up every now and then. Also, said the Labour men, it. gave the'lie direct to the slanders of in- » dividuals who were fond of misrepresenting the-federation and of making fancy statements thai it was out to injure the industrial progress of the country. As a i fact, the federation wi'.s out to improve . the conditions of the wago-earning class, and they contended that tho methods adopted in. this rase wer.i the best and ! wisest that could bo adopted. , Present Rates of Pay. Amongst the rates of wages for water- , side work in Wellington which will be increased by twopence per hour (ordin- ! ary and overtime) under tho new agreei ment are the following':— Handling general cargo; ordinary, Is. 3d.; overtime, 2s. Coal: Carriers, ordinary 25., overtime !)s.; shovellers, ordinary Is. 6d„ ovortiano Get. Tho rates at present paid for handling frozen meat ore: Ordinary Is. 6d., overtime 2s. Gd. Under the new agreoment these will lie advanced respectively to Is. 9d. per hour and 2s. 9d. per hour. SOCIAL GATHERING. AIMS OF THK FEDERATION. Having spent a busy and laborious week, tho Labour delegates to tho Watersiders' Conference, which concluded yesterday, indulged Inst evening iu a littlo iclaxation. and held a social gathering in tho Hurlington Cafe. Apart from delegates to tho conference, there wero present many local members of tlu- Federation of Labour. Mr. J. Carr presided. Of a numter of toasts proposed during . the evening, the principal was -Tho New

Zealand Federation of Labour," proposed by the chairman, fliid oouplcd with tlm names of Messrs. P. C. Webb (president), 11. Semple (organiser), and J. Glover. Mi. Webb doclared, in tho course of a vigorous oration, that the ultimate aim of Iho federation \ras tho total abolition of tho system which necessitated such au agreoment as they had been drawing up during tho past week. The day of cratt unionism was past. It must give place to truo industrial organisation. Just ae Ihev recognised that the organising of littlo trades separately lwlonged to a dead age, they recognised also that the Arbitration Act belonged to a doad age. 11l (lie pa«t, Mr. Wobb declared, miners and watersido workers had been looked upon as being the very scum of society. Today they htood strong and united, anil all the powers of modern capitalism could not separ.ilo them again. They wero organised now with a determination to secure the whole product of their labour. lir the latter part of his address the president of the federal ion foreshadowed a union between jthr> waterside workers and miners of Keiv Zealand anil those of Australia, and ultimately a union with their brethren in older countries, The members of the federation preached Socialism in season and out of seaspu, mid, for his part, when lie could not preach Socialism inside the Federation of -Labour he would preach it outside. Mr. Pemplo dealt principally with recent political developments. He ridiculed tho attitude of the existing Labour party in this country, and was against any alliance either with Mr. Massey's party or with that; of Sir Joseph Ward. The only Labour party that would be'of any use to the wage-earners of this country was one which would gro-v and develop from tho basis of industrial organisation. In the absence of this party no reward—for the wage-earners—could be got in the politicol world. After detailing the part taken by the Federation of Labour in the late poll-' tical campaign, Mr. Semple prophesied that at next election the Grey seat, that of Waiiii, and possibly others, would be carried by-federation candidates. Mr. Glover and others also spoke of tin 1 aims and hopes of the federation.