THE LABOR DEPARTMENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2146, 31 July 1907, Page 2

THE LABOR DEPARTMENT.

ANNUAL REPORT. THE RECENT STRIKES. (Special to Times.) WELLINGTON, July 30. The Laboi- Department’s 'report was presell led to Parliament to-day. The report states that there has been an increase in the number ol factories, there being., 907 more, employing 4907 more, workers than last year. In skilled trades, especially ' the building trades, times were busy, but in Wellington and Dunctlin the engineering trade was sladk, while in smaller towns such as Napier and New Plymouth it was brisk. Not enough hands could be got for the clothing trade in Dunedin and Napier and there was a shortage oi tailors everywhere. The woollen mills were unequal, the trade being busy in Wellington but slack at times in "Dunedin. Boot manufacturing was brisk compared with the business of ten years’ ago, and at Djinedin and Wellington there was an occasional shortage of certain classes of hands. About the only trade lagging behind the general prosperity was the saddlery and harness trade, due to the extension of tramway systems and the introduction ol motor cars and cycles. Flax milling was prosperous, but in some parts of the North Island, especially round Dannevirke, denudation of forests caused the timber industry to languish. Unskilled labor has had a period of special activity, due to the extension of tramways, building, drainage works at Timaru, recreation grounds at Wellington, the Exhibition at Christchurch, and the Main Trunk line. All surplus labor was thus absorbed. and there was a shortage of farm laborers. Last year the Department assisted 7383 men to employment, of whom 4673 were for Government employ and 2718 to private employ. This makes a total of 52,477 men assisted since 1891. SHOPS AND SHOP ASSISTANTS. The report contains a table shewing that there were 29,141 shop assistants employed, whose wages for the year amounted to £1,482,373. The total number of shops was 10,727. Taking the four chief centres. Christchurch Had 1279 shops. Wellington 1186, Dunedin 1159, and Auckland 1146. ARBITRATION ACT.

In December, 1906, there were 109 employers, unions, with 3337 -members (an increase of four unions and 61 members compared with the previous year) and 274 workers’ unions with 34,978 members (an increase oi 13 unions and 5109 members). There were 406 cases of offences under the Act, of which 359 were won by the Labor Department and 38 dismissed, the other nine being withdrawn. The expenses incurred by the Boards of Conciliation and Court of Arbitration on the vote of the Labor Department were : - Conciliation Boards £BIB, Arbitration Court £3706 ; total, £4525. Tho report refers to two strikes during tho year —tho Auckland Tram Company’s employes and the slaughtermen’s strike—both of which are briefly outlined with the comment that the latter has brought out tho question of punishing men by imprisonment if fines inflicted on them by the Court are left unpaid and even laughed at.

FACTORIES. Tho report of tho Chief Inspector of Factories, Mr. J. Maekay. states that the tendency of factories is undoubtedly towards improvement. The proposed amendment of the Act will contain provisions making the section relating to the employment of women and young persons extend to the Chinese, the unrestricted hours worked by Chinese in industries in which women and young persons are employed, particularly the laundry trade, being neither fair or just. The necessity for an amendment of the Shops and Offices Act in regard to unfair competition by grocers and Chinese storekeepers against tobacconists through the fonnor’s shops being open while the latter’s are compulsorily closed is pointed out, as well as the necessity for a clause to provide for assistants in hotels and restaurants being allowed a half-holiday on the statutory closing day from 2 p.m., instead of from 1 p.m. as at present. The result of careful enquiries showed that the tendency, to employ children of tender 'years in the dairying industry is decreasing but sufficient evidence was found, to‘ justify, restrictive legislation. ,