LABOUR IN 1914

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2346, 31 December 1914, Page 9

LABOUR IN 1914

SEVERE TESTS UNEMPLOYMENT SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT YEAR OF PEACE The Labour year has, all things considered, been satisfactory and prosperous. Trade and employment in the .first quarter of the year were adversely affected by the industrial : troubles of the previous year. Unskilled labourers and artisans in the building trade in the chief centres appeared to feel the pinch more than the workers in any other branch'of labour. Li the secondary centres there was/also; unemployment in the ranks of labourers and the building workers, but to a lesser extent. Very wet weather-in May and June greatly retarded all outdoor, work in all parts of the Dominion; but at the same time .trade appeared to be becoming more settled, and the. winter prospects, compared with. previous seasons were good. A keen demand had set in for competent miners, and many companies had employment' for more men then they could obtain. War broke out early in August, and for several weeks afterwards conditions were unsettled, mainly owing to disturbance in the money market. • Some contracts about, te be commenced were suspended, and some in.progress, were stopped. Towards October, however, things appeared to materially improvo, and as the summer advanced employment in all trades, except carpentry, became readily obtainable by all capable and willing workers throughout the Dominion. A-great measure of assistance was rendered to unemployed unskilled labourers by: the Government in authorising the emplpyment of gangs of men on public works. This move has found welcome employment for many a man. and has relieved and avoided considerable distress. Combined with the efforts of the larger municipalities ', it has undoubtedly assisted hundreds of men' Who would have been uuable to get private'employment.. The Country Weathered the Storm. There is no doubt that the country has, during thd'year, despite adverse an'd unprecedented circumstances, weathered the unemployment difficulty with' a great measure of success. One thing we must all be proud of is the fact that New Zealand has suffered less from unemployment during tho war period than any other British Dominion. And it is comforting to knowthat we can all look forward confidently to the fulfilment of the Prime Minister's prophecy that after the war New Zea-. land will recover and recuperate more quickly thpn any other land. AVell on in the year there occurrod an event'.which is often referred to as the, death : of the Red Federation, the body which was a disturbing factor at the time of the last groat strike. This demise is'said to have happened oh the occasion- of a conference which was called by the Union Secretaries' Association of Auckland, and held in Wellington. At that conference there was drawn ,up a now constitution to siipersedo that of the old Federation of Labour. This new organisation has not made much pro., gross so far, and is regarded by other sections' of 'Labour as' being 'dormant.' While changes have come over the scene for the Red Federation, business! seemes to be flourishing with the United Labour Party. The party is gathering strength, and its council is stronger now than ever it was. Steady work has beep.'.its plan through- the-year,-' "aifd among the things it fought for was'tho weekly day of.rest for hotel-workers: This was granted during the last'6ession of Parliament. The council expresses, the hope that in the near future, the six-days' week will be extended to those avocations not now receiving it. The cost of living problem .also occupied the serious attention of the council, and after considerable deliberation it decided to ask the Government" to'give effect to the recommendations ■ of tho Cost of Living Commission.

Conciliation and Arbitration. Owing to the outbreak of war, the Court of Arbitration has not been having a very busy .time in the latter 1 part 'of the year. New awards have not been considered during tho last four mouths or so, and the business of the .Court has been confined to the attaching, of parties,, the amending of existing awards, and dealing with compensation cases.. Thisi-.it is understood, will.mako the record of" business for the statistical year lighter than that for the previous twelve months, figures respecting which are just to hand.. From' these figures the following table is compiled:— . ' Cases. Industrial agreements ........... >42 . Awards ;..... 93 .' Awards refused . .8 Compensation cases 64 Awards'interpreted ... •• 20 > Awards amended, parties added, • etc. ..............v...... 48 The Conciliation Councils, also, have experienced a slackening off of business lately, ; " though before the war they were handling a considerable number of industrial disputes. Iu the last statistical year, which includes the early portion of 1914, the Councils dealt with 166 cases. Fifty-seven of those concerned the Wellington district, forty-five were Auckland district cases, and the southern district was concerned, with, sixty-four.. Wellington appears to have had the most success in .settling disputes, for of the 112 cases fully settled forty-five were Wellington cases, .and of the. twenty-eight partially settled disputes ten came before the Wellington Council. Only twenty-six of the 166 eases which went, before the Councils wero left completely unsettled, and referred wholly to tho Court of Arbitration. Trades Unionism. The exact strength of. the various industrial unions in New Zealand at the present time. is. not known, but the latest figures.available.are worth quoting, as they are considered to represent the position approximately. At the beginning of the year thore. were 134 employers' unions, embracing 4700 members, and 372 workers' unions, with an "aggregate membership ol 71,544. It is probable, however, that tins is an over-estimate of tho number of worker-unionists; many new unions were registered on account of tho big strike at tho end of 1913, and some hundreds • of men who joined the new bodies' wero counted twicb—counted in both. the. old and tho now unions. Tho transport unions continue' to bo tho strongest numerically; their member-, ship is in the vicinity of 20,000. There aro 11,000 men iii the building and wood-working unions, and over 5000 in the agricultural .unions. . The year marked a welcome revival —tho old-time Labour Day procession. It was fourteen years' since Wellington had seen one of these gatherings, and the ronewal of the idea caught on immensely. 'J'ho procession and ' 'oration's wore in every way successful. Ono thing for which tho year is remarkable is the prosecution of a number of the misleadors .of Labour for their connection'.with the big strike which occurred in' tho previous year. Several of these men wero punished, and so was a. number of people who took part in disturbances winch occurred at the time.- As to strikes, however, tho year has been,free from any turmoil comparable to the areat upi WU which snoilt the end of last xm.

■mail ptanged many a- msrlier's Ohxisitmas in gloom. During the year the Government improved the Workers' Dwellings Act in a direction which will considerably benefit people desirous of taking advantage of this legislation. Previously, a limit of £600 was fixed a 6 the maximum I value of 'house and.land which a worker could be assisted to acquire under this measure. The Government increased the limit to £750, and the extension is generally recognised as a very welcome improvement. The Act is being taken jdvantage of freely by workers, and this year Parliament voted £100,000' to be expended under the measure. The Government has already mapped out the expenditure of £98,000 of tho vote.