HOTEL WORKERS' UNION

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2249, 8 September 1914, Page 8

HOTEL WORKERS' UNION

EXECUTIVE MEETINC. LABOUR'S POLITICAL PARTIES. The monthly meeting of tiie executive of the Wellington District Hotel, . Club,, and, Restaurant Workers' Union was Jield in the Trades Hall last night. A summary of tho business of tho union, covering the four months past, was submitted by tho secretary. Tho statements showed that in.tho period the membership of the union had been increased by the admission of 218 new members. Of that number 125 wore men and 93 were women workers in the trade. Contributions by Wellington members during tlfe four months' totalled £163 16s. This, together with surplus moneys forwarded by their branches at the end of the quarter, give a total of £214 4s. Bd. received from the period. May 1, 1014, to ■ August 31. After mooting unusual expenses on account of award applications in country districts, the union shows a good profit on the transactions over tho period reported on. - _In reference to "tho union's applications for fresh awards in the Napier, Wauganui, Palmorston North, and outside country districts, the assessors appointed reported that there was every -prospect of a friendly FCttlement out-, side the Court of Arbitration in all the cases. In that event it' would' mean the extension of tho six days' working week to all the horelkcepers in the Wellington industrial provincial district. The assessors, in their report, stated that in all the proceedings the country hotclkecpers had shown a- disposition to meet their workers fairly in discussing the terms of the proposed agreements. The Defence authorities wrote, thanking tho union for its offer to supply cooks for the camps, and for the assistance already given by tho. union iu that direction A letter was received from the Minister of Labour (tho Hon. W. F. Massey), promising consideration of , tho matter of bringing private hotels hioro fully within tho provisions of tho Shops and Offices Act, in the. event of the business of tho session proceeding satisfactorily. ; Letters were read from Australian kindred unions reporting that they were malcing successful efforts to secure legislative restriction of registry office charges.

AN INTERESTING POSITION. The secretary of the local Democratic Tarty, Mr. P. Fraser, wrote asking- the union's support of that party, and 'its candidates. This letter was considered in conjunction with,tho report of: the union's delegates on the Trades and Labour Council, ami disclosed an interesting position. The letter from the Social iiemoeratic Party stated that the recently-formed Federation of Labour had accepted tho Social Democratic Party, its its political expression, and bad. urged the workers to support that .political party. Tho union's delegates,; on tho council, however, reported that the provisional president of, the Federation of Labour had attended the council, and had stated that Glauso 17 of the constitution of the federation was not an integral part of the constitution, that it did not bind unions joining the federation to support the Social Democratic Party, and that a candidate -nominated -by the Social' Democratic Party would not have even a moral right to claim' tho political support of a union r merely because it was affiliated with the- Federation of Labour. After a short discussion the- executive decided io .refuso the request of the jisttcr'from the Social Democratic Party and.--'to recommend members of -the union to give their political support to Labour Party candidates who had long and consistently advocated the maintenance of the arbitration system and the constitution and maintenance of tho system of compulsory military training, and at a timo when many memberii of the Social "Democratic Party were vigorously attacking both those principles. In dealing with the reports of the delegates on .the Trades Council, the meeting decided to instruct delegates to oppose any-proposal for affiliation with the Federation of Labour ion .one ground': "That the constitution of.that body, as plainly stated in Clause 17, definitely bound affiliated unions to support the Social Democratic Party, but mainly because, in tho «u>imoiii of the meeting, it would.be against the best interests of Labour for tho council to do so."

PALMERSTON COMMITTEE. (By Telegraph— Special Correspondent.) Palmerston, September 7. At the quarterly meeting of the Licensing Committee to-day, the police reported that all the hotels were satisfactory. •