THE PRESENT" WANT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 61

THE PRESENT" WANT.

GREAT SCARCITY OF LABOUR. LOCAL' MANUFACTURERS INTER-, VIEWED. This statements made by the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister of Labour: "People ere coming to" the Dominion of their own accord,, and are,' absorbed asi coon "as they arrive," "Jwas certainly # borne" out by numerous ; inquiries i- prosecjuted .among Dun--ediri.-manufacturers 1 on" Monday; but the p^rt.:~ is .'that "they do not -arrive often ■enough, or in 'anything like sufficient numbers to^-ineef'.the demand. The general condition' of -the manufacturing -trade* in Dunedin is remarkably" brisk, and increas.ing business and an inpouring of orders is creating a demand for labour, skilled and otherwise, for which, the local supply is inadequate. This condition of "affairs is especially • -marked .as regards tailoressee, Apprentices, and girl and other female labour in the manufacture ot" ; clothing. The Teasons for this are, " of, course, nu : merous, but -.first -and . foremost among them is education. Girls i/of. the, class- from which factory '.Hands were once , -drawn' m abundance are now top, well .educated to make clothes, v an<J of the Hewing , an.3- cutting,' rooms; ' take positions in'- offices, or become typists. ' The same- - reason" may be said -to apply, to mills. ' -' . OVERTIME. Naturally, when there is' a practically unlimited amount of work to be done and •only a very limited number of hands to do it, a difficulty arises, and to this there is but one solution — overtime. ' Many people would appear to have rather a'.bazy idea of what this overtime- means, and to b» prone to imagine that' -a. few extra hours' labour do no one "any harm, provided the employees receive extra pay. On the contrary, overtime does. harm to everyone. To the-._employer, because "he nas: to_ pay onethlrd more, in wages, to . say,- nothing, of gaa and other extras^ .Work-done in ovettime is 1 not nearly so well done as* in theordinary working, hours, co in^ a. degree tne- 'public must -suffer.". As 'to --the employee, _he or she,V haying already done eight 'hours,, begins "'the overtime-., half-hearted-and fatigued, and the - .lassitude engendered r by ,- working TaSfc, night' is- ap- - parent in tne nerveless and^ti?ed manner they often set about- their 'business* next day. Considering. all things, it would be unreasonable, to suppose that it could be otherwise. . - - , * - SOME LEADING. QUESTIONS. j Various leading- manufacturers' of iJunedin were interviewed by-representatives of the Times yesterday, ' and" the' following questions .were put and replied to f — (1)* What is the general of the manufacturing trade in Dtinedin? Is -it becoming increasingly difficult to obtain" tailoresses and apprentices to all branches of clothing manufacture ? ' (2) If so, what are the reasons' ? (3) Is trade -active ? - < (4) .1s it likely to. continue so? (5) How many tailoresses 'and other . hands Jgirls and apprentices) could you take on?' , . J - „ r ' (6) Could the povernment safely supply this class" of immigration? "(7).~ Would- you undertake to -give per-, manent employment to, .any "given number of girls on-their^arrival^here?; ' '8K How niany.? * '- TWO THOUSAND .^HANDS WANTED. _ The' management of one of the laxge clothing factories said * that it - was excessively difficult to J obtain tailoresses and other^ employees; and the difficulty was on the increase.;-" There could 'be no possible doubt as .to that. Since commencing operations in the second week in* January, in apite of strenuous ' advertising,' they had fo&en. unabla to get /any > class 'of labour whatever at the present time. *"Apprentices,' ,it appeared, were " no longer forthcoming. ~ Tjie reason, -they supposed, was the prosperity of the, country. Many girls were, no" longer' called upon to do that class of work for their living, and though there was a large growth of trade, fewer girls were going put'' to .work* in any direction. ■ Yes, trade was very .active; * -At present there were co* indications "of , "ftny. falling off." They could at present easily take, on about a hundred teiloressee and other hands. Over 2000 v would, be" required throughout the JDom'inipn. Undoubtedly the ' Government -would be .perfectly safe, ." if the present conditions continued, in providing- this class of "immigration. * The population of New Zealand was" by no .means large. If 500 taitoresses, or even commonsense, praotical;'_ adaptable people, -landed in Wellington to-morrow they would all- be 'snapped up' Ie Uy. If tha^s number landed in Dun-edin-there would be no' need "for, them to jgo v to" the North Island in search of employment. --■".-**■ To ..the questions: "Would you undertake' to give" permanent employment^ to lany ' given number of * girls on arrival iiere?"; and seHo"w.5 e Ho"w. many?" the management replied that*' that would depend entirely on ' existing- circumstances. .Th«y joould only" do .--so provided the^ conditions mere the earned as • thctee existing at the ibresent: . If, they -guaranteed permanent 'Employment to,- say, 4 loo~nands now, and 2her did not arrive "for* twelve months, jtfhere would be. a difficulty. Present, conviitions . mighs hay* _ changed in; the mSieriin. Tney _;also ;pointed out that in. »;hi» event their " present employees would *"aave to suffer, If 100 suitable hands landed mext week they would employ' them. The Gentlemen - interviewed also' stated that in fcrder to cope .with orders during the' last £«w« w years a "very considerable - cum had

been paid out for ,overtime. Their employees had been working overtime for the last three months. ' . DEARTH OF MACHINISTS. Mr J. C. Seelye did not .find great difficulty in getting apprentices, but now-a-days it was a very hard matter to procure skilled labour and maohiniste. Owing to the shortage in machinists he was unable to employ as many tailoresses as he wished, and even if- he could employ them he did not believe they would be forthcoming. At present, however,- he employed" as many, as he had work for. The reasons for this scarcity were hard to get at, but girls seemed to be getting to prefer' offices to factories. Factory work, for some obscui*e reason, was regarded b^ many women as " infra dig," but this wai"a misconception, on their part. Trade was very active. It had been active for the last 12 months. His establishment had been working at high pressure all the time, besides working overtime three or four nights every week. As . far as he could see there was every probability of [ this state of affairs continuing. At_pre- • sent he could take on 20 machinists and 1 finishers; perhaps" more if overtime were done away with. Overtime was unsatisfactory to all "concerned. In his opinion the Government would be perfectly safe in providing this- class "of immigration, as the shortage /of " labour was not confined -to Dunedin*;' but was beings folt all over, New Zealand." He would.' guarantee permanent employment to aT-ceftaiti number of, hands " on -their; arrival here. *. By. permanent employment • Tie meant* 12 months., "He would have "to be" guided by' what the applicants were capable of doing, either in. cc wing -or machine 'work. -' 'As to the nunvber he woiild *be prepared to engage, , he* must be guided -by ciroumstahces. ' FEMALE AND BOY LABOUR. The manager .of a 'woollen factory compaiiy pointed' out " ihat the conditions governing such, an establishment differed somewhat from' those regulating clothing f actor iesP For instance, he had no occasion- to employ tailoresses. Trade ,was excellent. It >was becoming more diffioult every ' year" to" "obtain labour, ■ especially ' female and boy- labour. He 'could .not telr* whax the reason was, but it was nevertheless" a" I ' fact."" "There -was- ' every,- indication of a continuance in the~ thriving condition of 'trade. - The--firm was in a position £o take on a good number of hands. He, j could not say" exactly how many 1 . The i Government would be (juite safe in providing this class of immigration. Whether . the firm would undertake to give permament employment to any given number of girls, on their arrival at Dunedin would depend- on whether they were of the right class.> -■ This did not-- necessarily mean skilled!- If they were of the -right class ther& would be no difficulty about their - getting employment ' in Dunedin or elsewhere. - - EXPERIENCED WORKERS WANTED. " The greatest drawback, to the trade at the "present- time is- the, scarcity of" experienced tailoresses. 'A, . This was the emphatic pronouncement of the representatives of two -Dunedin -houses. -.who were found in 1 con- • clave- upon the ' very- subject. There was not the same' difficulty .in getting apprentices, but experienced " hands ' were very difficult to get. In -the case of one. of them; although he- had 'more "hands in the factory now^ thaii at any time previously, - the^ proportion of> thoroughly experienced girls waß"emaller. -Yet he never lost* girls save. through marriage or removal. With" ; the larger number of hands the output was i no higher, for the reason that the inexperi- • * enoett hands kept down the output from the machines. In the -case of the other,^ he~ was - put to the expense of ordering machines to ' keep up his output. The" learners got less work out of the machines; ..and consequently more machinery was necessary. >Yes, the tendency was towards f MORE IMPORTING of CLOTHING, because of the high cost of production looally, induced by the fact that in many cases -employers were paying inexperienced girls more than. -was actually earned by these. -.No. 1 agreed that ■> a lot of girls were reeeiving-iirages-which.it did not pay to give, but- the, employers were obliged to do it l-ather than leave their machinery idle. The shortasre of hands was^not'due to insufficient remuneration, as the top wages in accordance with the award were being paid. ' It was not, because of broken or slack time, said No. 2,, for during the pa6t 12 months he, had to work his bands overtime - for eight - months. Trade .was good, and the Government could safely import' experienced labour — both male and female. As %to how many hands they might be. able to take on, they were not I prepared to state publicly.. I The overseer of a clothing firm doing- a { large business involving the employment j of a, great many hands had- noted that the difficulty of obtaining hands was increasing daily. Why, he could not say, unless it was due to THE DECLINING BIRTH RATE. His factory had been busy for the past five or six-years — indeed, it was seven years since he had put off any hands because of slackness. His staff was always fully em-, ployed, and the maximum of overtime was worked. He had, been reduced to acecpting girls without any knowledge of. thetrade. As a matter of fact, he had been seriously considering what' lines amongst those which were at present manufactured in his factory it would be best to. import, the shortage of labour making . it almost impossible to keep up with the demand without importing. The Government should certainly make an endeavour to secure " suitable „ labour from the Old Country. - He could place over 20 hands " at' once. ■ The v shortage of female labour is not by any means -confined to the clothing trade. The Ib^t manufacturers are feelin&r it as keenly, and it is rumoured that the Government may be asked to asist in seouringfemale operatives from, the Home Country. The manager of a local. boot factory when approached pointed out that -the output depended upon female labour, because if there were -not sufficient operatives" the men had to lose time, which- waa not desirable from any point of view. Because of the shortage of gitl labour his firm could not make ufte ' of the new -tariff cc it wanted to. Then, i if they had a full Bunply of female labour, male operatives would be attracted from tihe Home Country, -and the trade ' in the Dominion would be placed in" a much better tfosjfcipn'. - Ifc' would W perfectly safe fop the Government to bring out" female boot 'jiandß from the Old Country, but oate would , have to be exercised ia the selecting^ ..The j girls -working In th« boot industry in New 1 Zealand wer*

A SUPERIOR CLASS OF GTRL -to the average boot factory girl in the Old Country. The desire to get into , offices acounted to~ some extent, he thought, for the shortage of factory labour, possibly be-« cause the former work was regarded as " more genteel " " You advertise for a typist and you will get many applications, but not many will come forward in response to an advertisement for boot machinist." Poor wages could not be the fault in the boot line, he- was of opinion. Ui>der_ the new award a girl started at 7s per week, and her salary improved yearly to tfie following amounts : — 12s~, 16s, 21s, 235, 255. Trade was very good. They, had to keep off making new lines because tihey could scarcely cope with orders for old lines. He could do with about 25 extra ' girls. - -^ ■ - j GOVERNMENT TO BE APPROACHED, j In connection with the clothing x - trade, Messrs Morris and Spaul have been appointed by the Dunedin branch of the New Zealand Clothing- Manufacturers' Association to approach the Government with a view to arrangements being- made to import skilled -labour— both male and female — from the Home Country for the clothing factories. The matter will be brought before the. Hon. J. A. Millar whilst 'he is in Dunedin. THE POSITION IN AUCKLAND. ' SCARCITY OF SKILLED LABOUR-. ' ■ AUCKLAND, January 20.- "• -Referring to the- labour problem, Mr Shanaghan, Inspector ' 'of ' Factories; ,5, 5 and manager ' "of the Government "Labour Bureau." ' this morning informed^, "a Press representative that the statements of the Minister of Labour ' at U Christchurchv certainly "" had reference jto " Auckland, and that ,throughout the'- past -year there ~hach been' a great scarcity of boy and-girl labour. These con-, ditions 1 prevail elsewhere, - and, - as Mr Shanaghan points out, the Minister probably bases his " remarks on the monthly reports which reacK 4 him from cthe various centres. In- Auckland throughout the year there has' been a scarcity of. skilled 'labour In many branches, , while there 'have been only remote instances where men have been' out of^work.^" The shortage* of boys -and girls', more particularly ijie latter,-" hasbeen a general cause of complaint with factory managers for many' months past. "You will- notice," said Mr Shanaghan, "that nearly every monthly report "last year made reference to the scarcity of .boy; prirl, and female labour. For instance, in the September report it "is slated that ' factory managers bewail their inability to ' secure female machinists. 'Another report -states^ that one, firm, in the "hope x)f\inducing^girl labour, opened up an auxiliary f actory^ at . Ponsonbjr: ■ same . condition of affairs has existed^ all' the year,- and as I Christmas" came on the position- bebame more acute. The -- Government _ Labour -Bureau has had _ no , complaints, of an in-, sufficiency of, farm hands, and 'the .supply has '■ been > well in keeping with the demand. . Unskilled labour is not a super- J I fruity, and the Auckland branch has, durr ! ing the last few days, been endeavouring i to xeoruit able-bodied men for jaavvying- at I Tau'marunui."