THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 23383, 28 September 1939, Page 17

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

(Isy T'hade Unionist.)

DEATH Of’ MU 11. I!OSS

Thu sudden demise of Air 11. Ross, secretary of the Otago Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, takes from the ranks of the local trade union movement an ofliecr who was bold in great respect, and esteem by us nil.

Mr lloss did not come into the official ranks of the movement until late in life, lie appears to have just worked at his calling as a carpenter for many years in Dunedin unostentatiously for several builders, who spoke with the highest regard of his workmanship. Upon the request of several members of his union, he allowed himself to be nominated for the position of secretary about five years ago, and upon his election he showed marked ability for the office, as the union, according to reports. lias not looked back and has made remarkable progress. Air lloss also soon took part in Labour activities outside of his own union, principally on the local council of the Federation of Labour, of which he was an executive member. He was one of the most promising of trade union officials appointed since pre-de-pression days, and his death, when ho appeared to have many years ahead of him for useful service, is a sad disappointment to those who knew and worked with him, ■ His funeral last Sunday, when his remains were laid to rest at Anderson’s Bay, was followed by a large number of friends and trade unionists. Mr Ken. Bennett has been appointed secretary pro tern., pending a full meeting of the union to appoint Air Ross's successor. • 1 • * * POLICY OF NEW ZEALAND UNIONS. ■ Since the advent of the Labour Government more autonomy has been given to trades unions registered under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, through amendments at various times. Included are more facilities for the registration of New Zealand unions in similar industries. The sequel has been the registration of several. New Zealand unions that were previously linked up only in federations. Tho remaining unions which have not yet Hulked up into a New Zealand union, as provided by the constitution of the Federation of Labour, are in various instances being subject to considerable propaganda in favour of the New Zealand. Union proposal, and I am reliably informed that the new movement is being actively opposed by several unions outside Wellington, where most of the pressure; is coming from. This is an-issue that has yet to be seriously debated in the councils of the industrial movement. At the 1937 Industrial Conference, held at Wellington, where the present New Zealand Federation of Labour was born, the clause in the constitution supporting the organisation of New Zealand unions was not opposed from any quarters. The principal objection now is the pooling of all finance and the control of all union affairs from Wellington. When ,it is pointed out that the, majority govern, this argument is met with the reply that the northern unions have the preponderance of voting power. The issue is now becominjg a live one amongst the local trade unions, and it -will be interesting to watch events for the next few months. * * * # WANTS T.U. RATES FOR CONVICTS. The Governor of Parkhurst Prison, Commander E. P. Foster, put forward some hovel ideas for dealing with convicts recently in addressing the Howard League for Penal Reform at its Oxford summer'school. Men first sent to penal servitude should go to a training prison, he suggested, where they could learn to work machines for the production of clothing and boots for the Government. If they went back for another sentence they should then go to a factory prison and be paid at trade union rates on condition that they became members of a trade union. On release from a sentence each prisoner should be given a fullystamped .insurance card to enable him to get unemployment benefit. “ Some people think by doing that you are paying 'a man to* keep out of prison. But when you consider the cost of keeping a man in prison and when you consider what you can keep him out of prison for in this way, I think you will come to tho conclusion that it is money well spent.” . •«; « • BOYCOTT OF GERMAN GOODS. As far back as 1933 the American Federation of LabourUaunched a strict boycott of German goods, in connection with the boycott organised by the International Federation of Trade Unions, and tho American unions have done fine service in this field. Hitler’s annexation of Czccho-Slovakia has brought indignation in the United States to boiling point, and a still more stringent boycott is now to be organised. The president of the A.F. and L. (Mr W. Green) has made a rousing appeal to tho American people to intensify the boycott of Nazi Germany. Officers and members, of tho federation are applying the boycott in a very extended and effective way. Green, described the destruction of Czecho-Slovakia as “ the greatest national tragedy of modern times,” and one which “ has aroused to a high pitch the indignation of all people throughout the civilised world who love liberty, freedom, and democracy, and who, in their daily lives, practise the principles of tolerance, justice, and fair dealing.” ■» * « * INDUSTRY “GOES GUERRILLA.” Undaunted by the _ havoc of the Japanese bombers, China is building herself up a new industry so rapidly that she is already planning to invade Japan’s export markets. Such is the achievement within the last 12 months of the Chinese industrial co-operative movement, the “ guerrilla industry ” of the war against Japan. The movement sprang up last year, after the successive falls of Shanghai, Nanking, and Hankow had robbed free China of almost her entire industrial equipment. It had not robbed her of her workers, though, for they, with their skill and training, have streamed west in millions before the Japanese advances. To a few enthusiasts came the idea of using these refugees to rebuild China’s industry on a system of small industrial co-operatives. Each unit would employ about 100 men, the normal size of a Chinese village. and its temporary equipment could be easily dismantled and removed to a safer place should a new Japanese advance threaten. Last spring 80 such industrial cooperatives had been organised. To-day no fewer than 1,500 are operating, dotted up and down the country.

And they are increasing so rapidly that a year hence free China expects to bo completely independent of the manufactured goods she formerly imported from Japan. * • * * NAZIS WORRIED BY LABOUR UNREST. Unrest among German workers is compelling the Nazis to make them concessions in the hope of allaying trouble (says a recent report of the International Federation of Trades Unions). Cheap railway tickets for wives to visit their husbands working on fortifications are one of them. On all German armament and fortification jobs there is a shortage} of labour, and. the workers are talcing advantage of this to enforce some improvement in their lot.

The consequences of the labour shortage are all the more serious because output was already falling owing to the long hours of employment and the poor quality of food supplied to the workers.

Now, however, it has been ordered that fortifications men are to receive two complete meals daily from the field kitchens, instead of only a plate of soup, which was formerly the rule. Food prices have been reduced and tbe workers are given leave to go homo every two or three weeks. The federation’s report refers especially to the great shortage of labour for tbe mines and to the efforts of the authorities to increase output. In tho hope of getting more out of the miners, the Nazis have made special arrangements for them to be sold bacon and lard at low prices. The LF.T.U. points out, however,

that as the cost of this is being met by tho German Labour Front, the miners themselves are really paying for it through their own contributions. The knowledge that the miners were receiving cheap lard and bacon led to a demand from armament workers that they also should be similarly ‘supplied, but in this they were not successful. The authorities are trying to alleviate the labour shortage by workshops for old and partially disabled workers where the pace of the work is kent within their reduced capacity. Pensioners, including teachers and ex-officials, are being brought into these workshops. * * « < DO YOU WANT TO BUY A TRAM?

In view of the recent controversy in Dunedin on the issue of buses v. trams, the following excerpt from an English paper should he of interest;— ,

If you happen to want a traincar, have a word with Cardiff City Transport, Department, which has 40-odd for sale —and cheap, 100. Cheap, that is, compared with tho price you would have to pay if you bought a brand new one. The corporation has 36 single-deck type and six double-deck type for sale. The single-deckers, new not nfany vears ago, cost £2,100 apiece, the others nearly £2,500. To-day you may be able to pick one up for £IOO or less. These second-hand trams have, in fact, been known to fetch only £ls and £3O.

Tho trams are being disposed of to make room tor trolley-buses, which will he operated next year. “ They could be converted into splendid summer-houses or seaside cabins,” says a corporation official.

“ But it is so awkward and expensive to carry them away that they arc generally sold as scrap, though they may bo almost new.” * *, • • LABOUR ELECTS NEW LEADER IN NEW SOUTH WALES. Labour politics underwent a change in the New South Wales Labour Party recently when the State caucus met, Mr J. T. Lang being displaced from the leadership by Mr W. J. M‘Kell, a barrister, though once a boilermaker. In the eliminating ballot Mr M'Kell secured 13 votes, Mr Lang 12, and Mr Heffron 7. The latter’s_ preferences went to Mr M'Kell, making the final figures: Mr M'Kell 20, Mr.. Lang 12. Mr M'Kell is a comparatively young man, being 47 years of age. He became a Labour member for the Redfern constituency alter the conscription is-

sue during the Great War. ■ Two other leaders of the New South Wales Labour Party, the late John. Storey and the late Mr J. M'Gowan, were also boilermakers at one stage of their careers. Mr Lang held the New South Wales Labour Party leadership for about 17 years, and this was the first time for about 13 years that caucus met to elec# a leader. The election of the leader of the Parliamentary Party by its own caucus arose out of a decision of a previous unity conference held last month in Sydney, called of all affiliated! bodies by the Federal Labour Party, which is the governing body in Labour matters political of the whole Commonwealth. Previous to this decision Labour conferences elected the parliamentary leader*