FURNITURE WORKERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1535, 3 September 1912, Page 2

FURNITURE WORKERS.

THEIR GRIEVANCES

MR. JUSTICE SIM CRITICISED

STATEMENT BY MR, MORIARTY. THE PIiLME JIIXISTER INTERVIEWED. The Hon. TV. F. Jlassey, in his capacity as .Minister for Labour, was waited upon yesterday by a deputation from the Wellington Furniture Workers' Union, which came to demand redress of grievances. The. principal speaker, Air. D. Jloriarty, held the floor for over an Ijour, and had a good deal to say about the Judge, of the Arbitration Couri, and about the Labour Department. Tho deputation was introduced by .Air. G. Laurenson, M.P. Mr. ,7. Lomas (Secretary tor Labour) was iu attendance. Mr. Jloriarty congratulated the Trime Minister upon-attaining his goal after a long fight. It showed that perseverance sometimes told in the end". Ono Minister, ho considered, was incompetent, and should be sent along for an under-ruto worker s permit. Tlie Jlmister he referred to was the Minister for Customs. Mr. Mnssey interposed to remark that he did not mind a joke, but could not allow reflections on a Minister.

An Injurious Chemical. Mr. Moriarty: That was figuratively .'peaking. Now I will get down to facts. He went on to explain that trouble had arisen in connection with tho use of pyridine, which was employed in breaking down methylated spirit for furniture polish. Pyridine injuriously affected the health of the workers usihjj it, and tho union had demanded that its use should be prohibited. Mr. Morinrty stated that Mr. Fisher sent his officers round to furnituro shops to mnke inquiries into the matter, Subsequently, ns secretary of the New Zealand Furniture Federation, he received the following letter from Mr. W. B. Montgomery, Secretary for Customs, under date August 20, 1312:— Sir,—l am directed by the Minister for Customs to acknowledge receipt of yonr letter of the 12th inst., and to inform you in reply that your union should insist that methylated "finish" ' without pyridine is supplied by employers ' for ■ polishing. The Department of Customs has no power to mnke regulations to prevent manufacturers from using methylated spirit with pyridine. This is a matter which could only be dealt with by amend-' ment of the labour laws.

Mr. Mf.rinrty went on to state that the present regulations governing the use of methylated spirit were made by tho Hon. Geo. Fowlds when ho was Minister for Customs. lie contended that if the present Minister had not power to revoke the regulations, Mr. Fowlds could not have power to mako them, so that they must be null and void. Mr. Masfsy, havinsr looked at a copy of the regulations, produced, said that they had to be laid before Parliament in the ordinary way. Mr. Moriarty: He says ho has no power. I would like to know- what tho labour laws havo to do with the Customs. The use of pyridine had been authorised, under the existing regulations, in order to prevent . some- topers from drinking ■ tho methylated spirits. It was found, however,' that it injuriously affected tho eye* of thoso who had to use the spirits so treated. One or two furniture workers had been in the doctor's hands for several weeks suffering from partial blindness. Told to Strike.

•There was something more serious in ths letter. The Minister' told tho union that if it wanted to stop the .use of pyridine it could go out on strike. "I want to tell you now," said Mr. Moriarty, "that unless the regulation is cancelled, that is what the union is going to do. If'the regulation could not be dealt with in a constitutional way, tho union would take tho Minister's advict, and if the law were put in operation against it for striking, the Prime Minister would have to start with the Minister for Customs, for instigating the strike. Mr. Massey: I want to see a way out of the difficulty. Mr. Moriarty: Well; cancel the. regulation. He went on to suggest that a way out of the difficulty would be provided if one pound of shellac were -used to five gallons of methylated spirits, instead.of one pound of shellac to one gallon of spirits as at present. The alteration in quantities wonld provide a cheap and efficient substitute for the pyridine mixture. Mr. Moriarty repeated that unless something of this sort were done, tho union would "take tho Minister's advice and strike."

Mr. Massey (having read the letter): That is hardly n fair interpretation to place on tho Minister's letter. It is a letter from the head of the Customs Department. In all probability the Minister has never seen it.

Mr. Moriarty: It says so. It says: "I am directed by the Minister." The Minister is responsible for tho letter. Mr. Massey: I am quite willing to admit that I am going to look into this matter and I think that it can bo arranged without any difficulty at all. Mr. Moriarty asked when tho union, would get a reply. It regarded the matter as one of urgency. Mr. Massey: There will be no unnecessary delay. Mr. Moriarty: We can rest assured that if the thing is not done constitutionally it will be done tho other way. Conflicting Awards. Mr. Jloriarty went on to speak of furniture trade awards throughout the Dominion. He produced a filo of these documents, remarking that the whole of them had been given by one Judge , —Jud?e Sim. It had been said that if various Judges weft brought in to settle disputes there would b,i no uniformity in awards. As things stood now the one Judge seemed to change his micd as ho went from place to place, All the furniture trade awards were tho Tesult of agreements between tho parties. They had never had to "argue the point" before Judge Sim, and they were pleased at that. If. had always been found a matter of vital importance to both employers and employees that a man who engaged in working full time for one employer should not be allowed to work additional hours on his owji account or for another employer. A nrovision to prevent any such practice had been included in furniture trade awards for somo years past. Judge Pirn had seen fit to put it. into the Auckland award which was made on Anril 10. 1911, but making an award in Wellington on December 1, inn. lie struck out this provision, saying that the Court hnd no "jurisdiction to put it in. On .Tulv 3, making an award in Canterbury, the Jud"« struck out the provision, but he allowed it to stnnd in an Otago award made at Duncdm on July 10. Thus, at two places, he Vlowptl tlris provision to pa?s, nnd at two other places he found that he hnd no Jurisdiction to past it. J n Auckland, when he was there, Judge Sim included the lavinir of old carppt* and linoleums in the schedule of upholsterers' work. In 'Wellington he excluded such work from the lipnoMorcrs' schedule. Tn Christchurch and Dnnrdin he again gave tho work to upholsterers.

The Wellington Award. In obtaining the Wellington award flio naTtifs hnd'to «t at.VMliiijjton. TTnsrines, PnliWori. -\or'li. Winsonni, nm! njiiih (it WelJinotwi. At each plflfi. th<> union tlpmnnris wow tut down a little. If-thorc liA'l bron n f»>w morfe pliws (« <jo lo fliev fffluld hav* got no avrnvd nt nil. Thoy camp to nn nsrceincnt nnH iiro-cntcd it lo .Tud;ip Sim contertPd into nn ownrtl. VyhiW thii flffnrd c.11111? out it was found that ?ome very ?pvious alterations linO. been miulo. Mr. tlion rpforwd lo i\n notasidii on 110 waiipd npfin >fi\ Tanii'iiKin Ulicn Minister tor l.abour). 'I'mDominion- and nllior iMipers lip said, lind aro.uied Mr. I.i\iiron«ui\ nn Hint oiw-iuii nf -ayiriK tint only o I'ool or 11 <|tiibl>]iii.; I'iwvcr would rule ?.s .liulve Sim bad d'"iv. Jtidee 5~.r 111 was wAH\\«~ for him (Mr. Mtiriaitv). ff 110 could nnt ijot Mr. lanmifon ho \v.i.t coin? to ipt thf «poaUor. When he tolrl the .Tuil*n thit if ho intended to carry out hi? rulin» in resard to 9'rocmpnt? it should he anplied to picturp frnmfi'.<. th<> Jud'c, "lik<! ft twor year-old child." ssid to him •■ "Hun ■■"id aik the Hiniiter. for Labour." Mri

Monarly <. : ,id t|,.,t when he .-aid thai no oxpeckd a reply from the President of the Arbitration Court, the Judge repeated: "Hun and ask the Minister for Labour." "J liave come," continued Mr. Moriarty. "to ask you, sir, to-day." Judge Sim was in ;i pretty awkward fix. He hail brought out a memorandum tu the Canterbury furniture trade award which would show exactly tho type of man he was-, lie (Mr. Moriarty) did not uphold the federation of Labour. He was right against them and thun tactics—always had been, and always would be right to the end. But those in power .should either remove this man or

Mr. Massey: You must not speak disrespectfully of b Judge of the Supreme Court. Mr. Moriarty: I have great 'respect for Mr. Justice Sim: as much respect a.s The Dominion has for Sir Jojeph Ward or Mr. Laureuson, Mr. Massey: In speaking to me. as Prime Minister it is not right that you should ask mo to "remove this man."

Mr. Moriarly, reverting to the Canterbury award, said that Judge Sim had agreed to an application liy the employers to exclude picture-framers frrn the scope of the award. 'I'lie employers in Clirislchuroli had agreed to the inclusion in upholsterer's work of the laying of old carpets and linoleums. The Judge, in his memorandum, said that the ('fleet of the latter provision would lx> to deprive all employers bound by the awnrd of this class of work. The work would go instead to small employers who employed m> labour. Mr. Moriarty contended that in effect the Judge line] said to the employers: "You are absolute fools to agree to "this. If you had not agreed to do this 1 would have given you boy labour or done anything.for yon."

Mr. Massey: Is it not possible that the conditions at Christchurch were different from the conditions at DunedinP Mr. Moriarty: No, sir, the conditions nt Dunedin were a 18-hour week and Is. 3d. an hour. Agents and Assessors. He went on to refer to a demand by the Employers' Association that secretaries of unions should not be allowed to act as assessors. Mr. Mnssey: That was not of recent date, was it? . '

llr. Moriarty said that the demand had been raised; ho understood, ut h meeting during the previous month. Tho 'Wellington furniture award had been very costly mainly because of a dispute about the employment ■of agents. He (II r. Moriarty) had gone down to Diincdin to act as assessor for the workers. An award was obtained providing for Ji hours' work per week, and wages of Is. -I'd. an hour. Ho received the thanks of tho employers for going down. His expenses as an assessor for tho Dnneciiu trip totalled £6 Us. Five other assessors drew a guinea each, so th.it the award cost ,£ll 14s. in assessors' fees. For going to Christchurch as an assessor, he drew £1 10s. This would show that the cry raised about big payments to assessors amounted to nothing (it all. If men and bosses were left, to deal with disputes, settlements Would l>o arrived at every time. Mr. Moriarty urged that it would be unfair to prevent secretaries of unions, whohad been workers jit' their trades, from acting as .assessors. For one thing union secretaries ■were victimised. He knew that bo would

never get a job at his trade again in New Zealand. Employers had told hini so. Ho know too much for them. In his opinion no ngeut should be allowed to appear at the Conciliation Councils without tho consent of all parties to the dispute. Employers "Primed Up." Mr. Moriarty went on to refer to conditions governing the employment of furniture trade apprentices. He assorted that when the new award came into force, 'giving increased wages to apprentices, oue or two employers, who had been "primed up" by Labour Department officials, refused to pay their apprentices under the now scale. He thought that Mr. Lomas would verify this. Mr. Lomas: I don't know anything at all about that. ■

Mr. Massey: Do you think he is correct ? Mr. Lomas: No. Mr. Moriarty said that he could give names and everything. The union, he continued, .had relied on a provision in the Arbitration Act that an award or ;industrial agreement should prevail over any contract. A case was taken against an employer, and the case was djsrnieml by Dr. Macarthur, who was. bound by two decisions of Judge Sim. The latter had ruled that' the clause only applied when an award was made , for the first time in.an industry. ■ : Other requests put forward by Mr.. Moriarty were that insurance under tho Workers' Compensation Act should be made compulsory on employers, and that insurance companies should l;e deborfed from compounding with injured workers foT.amounts less than they were legally entitled to. Constitution of the Court. It had been suggested, Mr. Moriarty remarked, that the, Judge of each district should preside over the Arbitration Court. This was- not a good suggestion. It would increase the prospects of amicable agrecriient if tho. parties concerned did not know who would preside at the hearing of their case. If matters were left to mfn, masters, and tho Conciliation Commissioners, settlements would bo arrived at in 19 cases out of 20. His experience suggested, Mr. Moriarty continued, that there was not so mtich need for new Labour laws as for the administration of Labour laws by the Labour Department It was tho administration that was at f.ault; the Lnbour Department was not doing what it ought to do. The salaries paid to inspectors and other officers <f the Department were too small to attract good men. They knew that attempts had been made to bribe inspectors of tho Department. Mr. Lonifls would bear him out in this. Mr. Massey: I hope not. An Emphatic Denial. Mr. Lomas: I never said euch a thing in my'life. -Mr. Moriarty: You told me that vou were' ottered a case of jam one time and a ham another time.'

. Mr - mas = J " ever siid such a tVn" in my life. Mr. Lomas mad? w detailed statement as to his experience vitit ono employer, but asked that it should iot be published,

Mt. Moriarty said that Mr. Loraas's ir-omory must bo at fault, but that* ]>e would not argue the point. Mr. Moriarty said that some of !'ie inspectors oi the Department were inoan able,of carrying out their duties One inspector was practically an invalid or.d should he retired.

Mr. Moriarty next referred to the action of the Labour Department in sometimes refusing to prosecute rases against employers at, the request of union secretaries. He vconsidered that such should be referred to the Crown law officers. If they ruled ag-ainst proceeding with a case, the union Soncerned could prosecute if it liked, at. its own risk. Under the present conditions, unions sometimes successfully prosecuted cases which the Labour Department had refused to take up. I Picture Framing. Mr. S. Gordon, who was tho only other speaker, asked that - picture framers should be brought, under tho furniture trades award. He stated that regular picture-framers were in a most unfortunate position. They were unable to obtain a separate award, and had been excluded from the furniture trade's award. The result was that large employer*, who pursued picture-framing ns u side-line employed boys at about 10s. a wfek, to do the work. When there was no piciurefraining to do, the boys were employed in running messages or in other 'work, bmall employers like himself could not afford to employ boys'on these conditions, mid could not afford to employ men.

Prime Minister in Reply, Mr. Masjey said thnt lie wn s rlbil to have heard the deputation. He. had picked up n certnin amount of informs--tion on subjects which he did not profess to be particularly well acquainted with nnd wluoh were of importance to an indnsti, }- that.\va.s certainly deserving' of every Mitournsoincht. 'WWihe nhentiou of a Minister was called to n grievmice, it was his duly to remedy il if he could. lie thought that Ilio depulation had a grievance in conneMiwi with l!io chemical whiH. wns \ised lor furnifure polisliiiiß. lie would gn into the matl»r with Mr. Visher, nnd si% what could be dnne. Hi- would hove preferred that Mr. Jloriarty ?hould not have suggested anything in the way of .1 threat. Mr. Moriartv! Oil, no. I will take it hack. He added Hint he was prepared tc leave the matter to Mr. Massev Mr. Masscy mid that Mr..Morii)rt.r was nol alwftT* tn bo taken <erioiisly.' He had made out a .very good cats 'without

.lii.y throats. 'Nip nthrr pnijiK r«if-«l Were fephnji'ii], iiinl ho would not lie expected to give them an immediate reply. He would look into them, and endeavour to do what was right in regard l;> every one of them. Mr. I.aurenson thanked the Prime Minister for receiving the deputation.