HOLIDAY RUSH.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1629, 21 December 1912, Page 8

HOLIDAY RUSH.

SHOP ASSISTANTS'HOURS. THE LATE NIGHTS. PROTEST, FROM; DRAPERS' UNION, A DISAGREEMENT.: . ' The contrary action of two executive officers of-the Assistants' Union . i was commented upon with some directness j* by tho Minister for Labour, the Hon. W. j F- Massey, while lie was receiving a depu- ! tation yesterday morning. The. members of the deputation were Messrs. M. J. i. Reardon, J. W. Blatherwick, A. W. Crosi kerry, and E. -Kennedy; Mr. J. Lomas, i' ' Secretary for . Labour, was also-.. present on behalf"of his Department. Mr. Reaidon <began to state his case. | "We are here," he said, "to protest against what we regard as an invasion of tho workers' rights——'.' Mr. Massey: -We are here!— Who ore ; fcero? Mr. Reordon; I am president of tho Wellington Trades Council., Mr. Croskerry is secretary of the Drapers' Assistants' Union, and we are here on behalf of that union. • ■ Mr. Massey: Very -well. Ifs just as i well to know exactly- where wo are. But J has this matter been considered by the iTrades Council ? Mr. Reordon: No, but we have had the ; matter before tho officers of the .Trades Council, and they are all in agreement i about it. Wo are here to protest against what we regard as an invasion of the ' rights of the workers in' the drapery trade, : Vn that the law lays it down that certain tours, are to be worked under the Shops and Offices Act. We regard the proposal, which, wo understand, is being'made by the Labour. Department, to allow the. employers to work, their .employees, until XI o'clock on-Saturday night, and also again '■ -until .11 o'clock' on Tuesday, Christmas Ere, as''being not in accordance with the provisions of.the Act. ; . ~: How the' Agreement was Made, 1 Mr. Massey: This proposal is not made by the Labour Department, and, so far • as I understand it, it is that if they work ; an additional two hours on one night, it comes off oh another night-New Year's - Eve. - Mr. Eeardois Where is their power •under tho Act to do that? Mr. Massey: 1./ don't want; to.argue the ' . . matter with you. As a matter of fact' | I was in Auckland , when it was fixed up. (A deputation came to Mr. Lomas, consist- ; - ing of -two rf- the employers and the president, of-the Employees" Union, and suggested that they should work' two additional hours, to-morrow evening and Tuesday evening," and'take two hour; off •<" the next Tuesday evening. He wired" to' me explaining the position to me, and I wired back, giving my consent. I under- ; stand that this has'-happened "before, j . . and further I want you to remember that, this agreement was- entered into at the request of tho president of the Employees' ' . .Union. Mr. Ecardon: Our version of it is that, i the president who there by invitation, ; ' . . and he was not informed that objection was being raised by the union. In any r " case, tho secretary was the proper officer to do. this sort of thing. - , Mr. Massey: .I don't agree with-.that. I have been 'president of several societies, ; and I consiifer that , the president ,is an executive officer. It. seems to me you ■ peoplo are taking up a very extraordinary position. Either ho is your president or ; ie is not. If he is your president, and von don't agree with what he does, then rthink .it is. time you had another presi- !". dent. * '■ Mr. 1 Reardon: How is it that the Labour Department, that is always dealing with 1 tlje secretary in these matters, has in .this instance ignored , the secretary and gone : to' the president? Mr. Lomas explained what' had oc--1 curred. He had been.rung up by a master draper,'who asked that a deputation from, the drapers should be heaTd.. Ho' ; Teplied that "he could not hear a deputa- . tion unless ,the other side was present, and the deputation came, bringing along with them' the president of the union. He added'that he had made similar conces-' sions under : cxactly tho 'same circum- ;' stances, many tiimes before.

One Party, Wants-to go Back, i Mr. Massey: The position seems to be that the "Department ,have agreed - to something which they understood is for the convenient of both parties. Now one of .the parties, wants to go back on. the arrangement Mr. .Rcardon: If they can show'aiiy. thing. from the union officially' agreeing, with this proposal, then I shall admit that, I have no -right to be- here. ! Mr. Lomns, in reply to a question, said the secretary of the union had protested to hiiu against the proposal before the application was actually made. ; Mr. Reardon: Then this is the next'question: Did the Labour Department tell the president that a protest had been m ado •by the secretary ? > Mr. .Lomas: So, I didn't think it was necessary. Mr. Croskerry said ho had been ' approached by several members of the union to .protest against the two long nights being taken consecutively, and ho had_seen Mr. Lomas and made his. protest. When the .application was made tho president was simply asked if he would .agree on behalf of the' union to the proposal, provided the Prime Minister gave the necessary authority. The. president was not told that the; secretary had. previously made, a vigorous protest against it. _ The president, gave his consent quite blindly. Ho (the secretary).had called an executive meeting on Thursday iiifjht, and every member of the executive, including' the president was in favour of making a protest against the concession beins granted. The president had told the meeting that if he had been informed that tho secretary had protested, ho would never have agreed. • Who Failed In His Duty? ■ Mr. Lomas: It was no duty of mine to tell the president. I .presumed that he knew all about it. . Mr. Massey: Ifs a great pity these people can't agree amongst themselves. This .business makes na difference to the Dr>partmcnt or to me, but when both parties come along and say it is.a matter of convenience that two" hours. should be ! taken off one night and put; on; to another, and the Department 1 sees no objection, and I saw no objection when Mr. Lomas wired to me. ■ ' Mr. Lomas: He is simply blaming mo for not doing the very, thing he failed to do himself. Sir. Massey: This is no new thing, I understand? Mr. Lomas: No, I have made similar concessions many times before. .Mr. Massey promised to give his decision to Mr. lomas, who would communicate it to tho union. . : - The Arranfjement Confirmed. Tho Prime Minister informed a Dominion reporter later in the day that the arrangement: come to between the drapers and the Labour Department would not be varied. This means that there will bo a late night to night, and a late night on Tuesday.

There will be a special Christmas service at the New Theatro to-morrow even.iri£ under the auspices of tho Central Mission. The Rev. E. 0. Blamires's subject will be "linmanuel. God with us." The attention of readers is directed to the special announcement elsewhere made by ' tho old-established firm' of George Winder, which offers special bargains for Christmas in all departments.