The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28. WHARF LABOUR PROBLEMS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 November 1913, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28. WHARF LABOUR PROBLEMS.

Tui:; Chronicle is not sufficiently vainglorious to take credit to itsell' for the fact that the various Harbour Boards of JN'ew Zealand are now moving , in the matter oJ' reducing , the casual-la hour demand on the Certainly this journal was the hrst to revive the two-year-old discussion that was held in Wellington concerning this matter; but the fact remains that during the last few weeks other and rnore-iuilueutial newspapers have aided the same movement, and the main cause for congratulation lies in the fact that the authorities^ a re moving' lo improve (lie conditions governing- wharf labour and its employment. Last week an important conference of Harbour Board Chairmen was held in Wellington. The decisions come to were not made public, but one result of them is seen in a circular issued from the Prime "Minister's Office, which outlines proposals for making \\w conditions of employment on wharves less intermittent than is now the case. The circular sliould form a. basis for an improvement of the conditions that have made possibJe (hi; latest troubles. To our way of thinking, the best means for remedying' the discontent amongst wharf labourers is to offer such conditions of employment that the proportion of unemployment in _ each weelc will be reduced. H is the poorly paid man who becomes I in; discontented man: and obviously iho man who gets work for only one half his time will fail to draw ;i living wage. A/nd a disuonled man is a stirrer-up of strife. Therefore the fanner is as keenly interested in having the condi* lions of wharf labour improved as any town dweller is. 'I 1 he circular issued by the Hon. Mr Massey suggests : That in each of the major ports there be formed a standing commit tee or commission of nine members representing the following interests: - Harbour Hoard 1, ocean-going vessels 1, inter-colonial vessels I, coastal vessels 1, coal-workers 1, E ail way Department 1, Avatorside labourers 2, and. a chairman representing the Government (Stipenditary Magistrate) 1 ; total 9. The commission should determine the total amount of casual labour required from month to month during the season of the year, and employ the number of bauds at a minimum weekly wage: waterside labour to be engaged from the commission, and no outside casual labour to be engaged by any person' until the panel is exhausted. The commission should intjuire into and adjudicate on all • eomplainis against labourers and by labourers, and should have ample powers to keep lists purged of uu(lesirables. The Commissioner should be the employer, and pay the men, recovering , the payments from the persons to whom the labour is supplied, together with an additional percentage to cover costs of management and to .provide for the payment of the guaranteed minimum wage if not earned. To provide for national provident funds and accidents. One of the objections (the memorandum continued) that lias been raised to the introduction of sucb a scheme is that the Wellington employers are committed to the, new Waterside Workers' ITniou for three years on the existing conditions of working and wages. This objection is of small moment so long , as the number of men in the union is less than the minimum number of workers required

in any portion of the year. The great object to be gained by the proposed commission would be to employ the men to tTie best advantage with the least loss of time, thereby ensuring a better and more satisfied class of worker. Provision could be made for the employers to be insured against accident either by or through the Commissioner, and for granting to the men the benefits of the "National Provident scheme." ON STIUKEB. Some notable comments on the prevailing strike were made in. the House of Kepresentatives by Mr Veitch, Labour member for Waugaiiui, on Wednesday night. The strike policy, lie knew as an experienced unionist, to be futile. It had been tried in I.SJJO and found useless. He suggested thai the fact of the large business men having control of the employers' side of the strike was militating against a settlement, for the. reason that it was to their benefit (hat the strike should continue long enough to so embarrass the small business men that they would not be able to trade on their own finances, but would have to come under the wing of the big men. Tt was nonsense to say that the fault was all on one side. He believed the Federation of Labour had made a huge blunder in adopting a strike policy, but he was not prepared to admit thai the employers were angels. How long was Parliament going to allow the unequal battle to continue? He believed that anarchy should be stamped out, but the workers who used the argument of the brick-bat were not the only anarchists or the worst, anarchists. The worst and most dangerous anarchists were those who belonged lo the great commercial organisations, which had more power in Xew Zealand than in any other country in the world, and they used it to the detriment of the whole community. In the course of the same debate, Mr Pearce ■mentioned Mr Yeitch's assertion that the Government had not tak-

en action in Hi is strike because they \vv\v, afraid of losing votes, lie would ask the member for Waiiganui, who was reputed io be in favour of the Arbitration laws, why thai honourable member did not come forward at the beginning of Hie trouble and say so? If Ik had, his words might have had good effect. ft seemed to him ihat (he member for Wangamr was afraid of losing voles. H( referred to the hypocritical statemen Is made by the Labour mei about being friends of the sm.il farmer. Of course the small far nier knew how the Labour mei were with him. The small far mer knew that the Labour leader had called out all the city w.m's ers and left the farmers' ])rotluci nil ting in the (rucks and .'»a th l wharves.