FLAXMILL WORKERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1425, 27 April 1912, Page 13

FLAXMILL WORKERS.

ACCOMMODATION QUESTION. MINISTER SYMPATHETIC. Living accommodation for flaxmill workers was the subject of the requests made by u deputation from the Manawatu Flaxmill Employees' Union, which waited upon the Minister for Labour (the Hon. G. Laurenson) yesterday ufternoon. Apologies wore inado for the unavoidable absence of Mr. J. Robertson, M.l\ Mr. It. 11. Dalhousie, president of the union, congratulated Mr. Laurenson on his elevation to the Ministry. Summarising the requests of the union in the matter of accommodation, ho asked that it should be compulsory upon employers to provide for not more than two men to sleep in one iooni, that wire-woven stretchers and mattresses should ,1,0 supplied; that a bathroom with shower, hot and uold water, should bo provided for every 20 men; that dining and sleeping rooms should be match-lined; timt there should bo a common sitting-room at-each mill, with sufficient fires to dry tho men's clothes, say, ono fire to 15 men, fuel and light to be provided by the employer; that the cook's sleeping accommodation should be separate from the pantry, kitchen, and storeroom; that the building should be a proper distance l'rom drains; that the rent charged by tho employer for accommodation and use of utensils should not exceed Is. per man per week; that a sufficient number of lavatories should be provided; that there should be anaiccommodation inspector in addition to the inspector of awards; and that first aid appliances should' bo provided at overy mill. The present conditions were insanitary, anu, in many cases, indecent. According to tlio report of the inspector, who lmd lately been sent round, the accommodation at a certain mill left nothing to bo desired. Yet at that mill there were 23 men sleeping in one room, thore were no lavatories or conveniences, thero were holes in the floors that a man could put his foot through, and a newspaper laid on a tablo was blown off by tlio draught coming through the walls. Even the requirements of tlio existing Act were not complied with at some of the mills. They also wanted to speak of tho system of contracts for labour only. The men had objected to this system, and had refused to sign any of tlio contracts except at one mill. Tho system cut them off from tho benefits of tho award, and also from tho benefits of the Workers' Compensation Act. They desired that an amendment should be added to the Arbitration Act to make this contract system impossible. Mr. Percy Robinson, secretary of the union, urged that tho provision of hot and cold baths at tho mills would not be expensive. At present they had no way of bathing, except in tlio river. Mr. M. liriggs described tlio accommodation whares as unliued and so poorly made that in rain tho weatherboards were as wet inside as outside. There were no fires to dry clothes, and a man might get wot through twice a day, and there was then nothing to do but go to bed. The whares were placed close to heaps of decaying vegetation, which gave olf a bud smell, and there was frequently a drain on the other side. Ho also complained of overcrowding in tho rooni3. The accommodation at the flaxmills was the worst he had ever experienced, The .Minister, in reply, said that the member for tlia district, Mr." Robertson, had more than once spoken to him on the subject of accommodation at flaxmills. lie thought the requests of the deputation very reasonable. Bathrooms, which were formerly regarded as luxuries, were now looked upon as necessaries, and pro* vided even in tho smallest houses. Tlio improvements they asked for in the buildings were reasonable, and should appeal as such to employers. Some time ago he visited a mill belonging to Messrs. Seifert Bros., and the accommodation seemed to him excellent, but he was given to understand that at some mills it was simply abominable. Men ought not to bo compiled to herd together .with objectionable characters, who were nil offence to them oven when sleeping in their beds or eating at table. Ho was obliged to the deputation for the vcrv moderate way in which they hud pul their c'im-. and lw would httvo tuucli pUusuio ia Layrnc it lieion Gabiaafe