THE LABOR MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 19792, 16 February 1928, Page 15

THE LABOR MOVEMENT

[By Vkteean.]

Brief contributions on chatters with reference to the Labor Movement are invited. THE EIGHT-HOUR, DAY. “ Whereas it is desirable for the general welfare of the community that the hours of daily.labor should be such that workmen may have a reasonable time at their own disposal for recreation, mental culture, and the performance ol social and civil duties; and whereas it would be conducive to this end to declare by law the proper duration ol a day’s labor.” The foregoing is a preamble of a Bill introduced into the Parliament of Queensland on June 26, 189(3, by Sir S. W. Griffiths, Premier. It expresses concisely the motives which inspire the advocates of an Eight Hours Bill. . The demand for shorter hours of labor has arisen among the working classes not so much from the conviction that long hours are injurious to health, though that »<ium is a fact, not so much from the theory that shorter hours meant higher wages, though that theory is in the main sound, but from the desire for additional opportunities for recreation and the enjoyment of life. It was the wider education and increased prosperity of the operatives and artisans of Great Britain which made . them demand some relief from the irksomeness of their daily labor. The real force which gave vitality to the eight hours movement was the spontaneous longing for a brighter and higher life. The eight hours movement has grown out of the struggle for the ten hours law, and then for the nine hours day. Some of us are old enough to remember when these struggles were taking place, arid, in fact, took part in them. The workers’ organisations and unions have at each recurring opportunity successfully struggled to reduce their hours of labor. Most workers now enjoy the eight hour day or the forty-four-hour week, and only the older ones know anything about the long hours that used to oe worked. Mr Thomas Sutherest, president of the Shop Hours Labor League in 1884, wrote a small book, in which he gave his experience in some of his investigations. In this ho says; “1 believe I am within the mark in stating that the majority of shop assistants in this country work from seventy-five to ninety hours in every week. Of that majority one-fourth work the full ninety hours per week, two fourths eighty hours, and the remaining fourth Seventy-live hours. ... 1 do not wish to make it appear that shopkeeping is an unpleasant occupation, but that which is healthy and agreeable for a reasonable time becomes irksome and injurious if continued for a Jong period.” Mr Sutherest quotes a number of letters received from shop assistants, both male and female, but i will only quote one ol them;—“Agues 8., aged seventeen, draper’s assistant; hours 8.80 a.in. to 9.80 p.m., Saturday to 12 S.m. No specified times for meals. Wo are to eat as quickly as possible, and then leave the table and go back to work. My feet and legs ache terribly towards the end of the day.” Durham and Northumberland, a mining area, which comprises only part of the mining area of Great Britain, but it shows what unionism has done for these districts, as a parliamentary return on hours of labor in 1890 shows that even there in different places the hours from bank to bunk varied from a triile over eight hours to nine and three-quarters, and it must be remembered that this was the district in which the miner boy Thos. Burt oecame president of the Miners’ Union and afterwards member of Parliament for Durham, and afterwards the Hon. Thos. Burt. He was the first working man sent to the House of Commons. While Mr Sydney Web, L.L.8., was preparing his book ‘ The Eight Hours Day ’ a parliamentary return of the hours of labor in various trades was issued, which showed the varying hours of summer and winter worked in 1890. The list is too long to give here, but some of them may be mentioned. Agricultural laborers iu summer, from 57 to 80 hours; bakers, from 50 to 80 hours; carpenters and joiners, from 49 to 61 hours; painters and decorators, 54 to 60 hours; tailoring, 50 to 72 hours; printing and bookbinding, 51 to 56 hours. It was on hearing some working men discussing the question as to whether trades unionism and agitation did any good that I thought of the advances that had beeu made by trade unionism and so-called agitators, and the position the working men would have still been in had it not been for those same agitators, The workers of the present hardly realise the work the old trade unionists have done'in the past, » * * * TROUBLE ON .WHARVES. SHIPOWNERS’ ALLEGATIONS DENIED. During the hearing ol the claims of the Waterside Workers’ Federation in the Federal Arbitration Court at Sydney, Judge Beoby said he had received an affidavit from the shipowners which stated that the vigilance officers of the federation were the cause of the trouble on the wharves. Mr J. H. Morris (for the federation) said that some of the allegations in the affidavit were not true. The vigilance officers considered it right to interfere where they found men 'were breaking a custom or tradition. They tried to do their best, and it was not to tljeir advantage to tell the men to cease work. Judge Beeby said that in the award he intended to make there would be no reference to any customs or traditions. He would frame the award in such a way that the vigilance officers would not be able to tell the men to stop work. The conditions would be fixed finally and definitely. Mr Morris replied that that was what the federation wanted. If the court could devise some method whereby there would be no loopholes for breaches of the award there would be very little trouble in future. * * * # FEDERAL BASIC WAGE. NEW RATES FOR VARIOUS STATES. Figures have been issued showing the new basic wage under the awards of the Federal Arbitration Court in the different States, which came into operation on February 1. These rates have been compiled on the index numbers supplied by the Federal Bureau of Statistics,' based on the retail prices of food, groceries, and rent for the quarter ended December 31, plus an additional 3s per week as allowed by the court in accordance with the equivalent of tho Harvester judgment. INCREASE OF 2s 6d IN N.S.W. In Melbourne the new rate is £4 9s 6d a week, a decrease of 6d a week from the previous quarter, or a daily rate of 14s sd, The variation in tho cost of living figures for Sydney represented an increase of 2s 6d a week, and the new rate will be accordingly £4 13s a week. There will also be an increase of Is a week, in Brisbane, where the adjusted wage will be £4 0s 6d a week. In Adelaide a decrease of Is a week will take effect, the rate being reduced to £4 7s. Increases of 6d a week in Perth, making the wage there £4 a week, and Is in Hobart, bringing the new rate to £4 4s a week, will also come into operation. The weighted average for the thirty towns of Australia gives a wage of £4 8s a week, or an increase of Is; while for the six capital cities the wage . is £4 os, showing an increase of la.

JUDGE’S WARNING. The miners and mine owners of North Wales received a warning from Judge R. 0. Roberts at Wrexham County Court about the dangers of mutual antagonism. Unsuccessful efforts had been made ' His Honor’s retiring room to secure an agreement between the parties in an action brought by two colliers against the proprietors of Borsham Colliery for £l4 2s 9d, alleged to be arrears of wages on a disputed tonnage rate, Contingent _ claims by other miners at Bersham involve about £3OO, and at a previous court the judge had suggested that the matter was one ire for arbitration. When the court resumed after the abortive consultation Mr Cyril Jones announced that he had consulted the plaintiffs and other men who would be affected by the result, and they were prepared to accept a reduction of the extra tonnage claimed from 4d to 2d. This would reduce the total claims to about £l5O. Mr Norman Bird, for the company, replied that this offer arose out rf a prnate interview, and he thought it was improper to make it. “ This,” he added, “is-a demonstration in public which I think ought not to be made. is leading to that very thing wlvch your Honor wanted to avoid—friction.” It would be necessary in any event to consult tho company before the offer could be considered. After further argument the nidge remarked that as long as they had tins feeling they would never come to any good. Mines were being closed, and hundreds, if not thousands, would be out of work. “ I can see it coming,” proceeded His Honor. “As independent chairman of the District Wages Board I have had four meetings this vear to arbitrate under the Minimum Wage Act, and unless something is done the coal-mining industry of North Wales will be closed.” * * * ♦ FOUR COAL MINERS KILLED. Late on Wednesday night. December 21, Haig Pit, Whitehaven, which was inspected by the Prince of Wales in June last, was the scene of an explosion involving tho loss of four lives. Fire followed the explosion, and the richest coal sector in the pit had to be sealed up by the fire brigade. The nearest employees to • the scat of the explosion were Tom Bray, a deputy, and eight young shift hands, who were 200yds away. In an interview Bray said a loud report was followed by a great gush of air and dust, which swept them for several yards, and partially gassed them. On recovering he wrapped his muffler round his mouth, and endeavored to reach Knox, but was twice driven back by the fumes, though at that time ho could not see any fire. He then turned his attention to getting out the youths, one of whom, Turnbull, was practically unconscious. Ho was still at this work when the rescue parties arrived, and got him safely out. Bray added that in his opinion the explosion will always remain a mystery, for no shot firing was proceeding. It was fortunate the explosion occurred when it did, he concluded, for iu another fifteen minutes all the night shift men would have been in this area, and the possibility is that few would have escaped. Haig Pit was the scene of an explosion in September, 1922, when thirtynine lives were lost. In a brief official statement, the colliery company state that the cause of the explosion is unknown, and that the work of sealing up the area was reluctantly undertaken after there was no possibility of Horrocks being alive.