Australian Industrial Problems.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 November 1921, Page 4

Australian Industrial Problems.

A FUTILE EXPERIMENT. SYDNEY’, November 16. At the behest of the caucus, the New South Wales Labour Government has decided to introduce legislation to maintain the basic wage in this State at £.( os weekly for at least a year, as against the Board of Trade’s reduction of as in accordance with the decreased cost of living. This defiance of the Board of Trade, which, under legislative authority, lias fixed the minimum wage for several years, has been more or less forced upon the Government by the determination of many adherents to resist to the utmost possible limit any reduction in tho wage rate, and although the movement has lost prestige with the workers on account of its failure to check fflie increasing unemployment, it daro not resort to so drastic a remedial measure as giving effect to tlie Board of Trade declaration, or to rescinding the 4J-hour week measure several weeks have elapsed sinc t . the declaration of the Board of Trade, and although the Government has taken no st<>ps to have it gazetted, the Industrial Court has held tlwt the Courts need nob wait for that formality, and has reduced the rates of pay in a number of awards in the ratio of the Board of Trade declaration. Thus tlie Government was faced with tlie perplexing necessity of deciding between the legal decision of tho proper authority and the insistent demands of its own supporters, who pay slight deference to economic conditions. A section of the mucus desired to have the Board of Trade abolished altogether, but this was negatived owing tn t-lie fact that the conference of the Premiers of all the States last week decided in favour i [ leaving the fixing of the basic wage and hours of work to the Federal authorities. Th,. defects of the existing system under which each State acts for itself in these matters is so manifest that there appears to tn’ a good prospect of this being carried out. In Queensland the reflex effect upon the State’s trade of establishing conditions out of harmony with those of the other States was recently pointed out by Air Justice AleNaughton, in refusing an application for sh.trter hours and in New South Males th" same thing is considered to he an important factor ill the inareasing unemployment. Taking an ironworkers’ assistance. for example, with the shorter hours and higher wages prevailing in New South AVales. there is a difference of 12s !>d per week in favour of Victoria, v hit'll means that a great deal of Sydney's trade now g«es to the Southern State. An experiment tried in Sydney of solving the unemployment prohh tn by a conference of representatives of employers and unions proved a complete failure. Tlie unions appointed men of extreme views to represent tlv-m. and then onlv < ontribut inn to th" ((inference m- to oppose I lie, proposals put forward by the employers, and to propound a Socialistic scheme for the rc-i-i ms I nu t ion of society.