INDUSTRIAL CONSCRIPTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 202, 15 May 1918, Page 8

INDUSTRIAL CONSCRIPTION

A conference of Wellington trades unions, convened to discuss the industrial conscription proposal of the Government, was held lit the .L races rlali on Monday evening. Thirty unions ivere represented, about torty delegates, being present. Mr. J. Bead presided. After an exhaustive discussion, the following motions were carried: "That this meeting of trade union representatives emphatically protests against the introduction into this country of industrial conscription, and requests that tho clause in the Finance Bill with reference to the question be not enforced." "That this meeting of delegates. urge the convention of a Dominion Conference to discuss industrial conscription, that the committee be appointed to act in conjunction with an Auckland committee to impress upon the Federation of Labour the urgency of the proposed conference! and to assist the federation in convening it. This conference requests unions sending delegates to definitely instruct them to state the attitude their unions are prepared to tako towards both industrial and military conscription." It was agreed that if possible the National Conference should be held at the end of May. The following committee was set up to corry out the instructions of the meeting:—Messrs. C. Grayndler (A.P.U.), Yt. T. Young (seamen), J. Bead enginedrivers), ,T. Hutchison (tramway men), A. Cooper (bootmakers), and E. Canham (waterside workers). It was further resolved to recommend that the representation of the conference should be on the basis tf one union, ono delegate, and that the voting should be bv card bearing the last published Parliamentary returns of the unions membership. Some discussion took place on the vote cast by Mr. A. H. Hindmarsh, M.P., in favour of industrial conscription, and it was resolved that the L.K.C. was the proper body to deal with this n ; atter.