TRADES AND LABOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 29

TRADES AND LABOUR.

CARDIFF STRIKE SETTLED. PERTH, March 6. The strike at the Cardiff collieries is settled, the employers paying the increased wages asked. RESUME WORK. . SYDNEY, March 5. The men at the Heddon Greta- mine have resumed work. ENGINEERS' STRIKE. LONDON, March 5. The engineers' ballot, by a large majority, rejected -Mr Lloyd-George's proposed terms of settlement. Mr George N. Barnes, M.P., secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, is again conferring, with a view to an understanding. OBJECTION TO LIMITATION. LONDON, March 3. The Shipping Federation, the railway companies, and some gas companies, as well as several Chambers of Commerce and other large consumers of coal, are organising opposition to the Miners' Eighthours Bill, on the ground that the limitation proposed will increase the cost of coal. ENORMOUS LOSS IN WAGES. LONDON, March 4. The shipwrights' strike on th© northeast coast continues. The loss in wages so far amounts to £55,000. The loss in wages in connection with the engineers' strike on the north-east coast is £25,000 weekly. A STRIKE THREATENED. SYDNEY, March 9. The Waterside workers are taking a ballot on the question of handling transhipment cargo. This really involves a general strike. WELLINGTON TRAMWAY = „ EMPLOYEES. . (From Oub Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, March 3. The Wellington tramway employees have formulated demands for increased pay, etc., that will involve the. city in an additional expenditure of some thousands of pounds. The matter has been discussed with the union delegates at some length. Some councillors ! are desirous of settling the matter by mutual negotiation, but others are strongly of opinion that the demands aro such that they should go before the Arbitration Court. The conference between delegates of the shipowners of the Dominion and delegates from the Seamen's Union will be opened at 10.30 a.m. to-morrow at the Town Hall. The Minister of Marine (Hon. J. A. Millar) will be present, and the conference will be conducted in private. INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE. WELLINGTON, March 4. The conference of shipowners and . representatives of the Seamen's Union commenced to-day. The men demand an increase of 10s a month all round, also an increase of 6d an hour overtime. All the companies under the arbitration award are represented at the conference. The Hon. J.~A. Millar will attend the meeting to-morrow. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, March 9. I gather on reliable authority that th© replies received from branches of the Seamen'<s Ui*ion so far are largely in favour of the term^ offered by the shipping companies at the recent conference. Some, 2000 employees are concerned in the matter, and it is estimated that the proposed increase in wag« 3 will amount to £12.000 a year, of which the Union Company will have to pay fully £5500. i The main points of the agreement are approximately as follows:— I Tne men, both deck hands and firemen, ■ are to receive an increase of 10s a month, j Overtime for cargo work is to be at the rate of Is 3d per hour, but the overtime for ordiaary ship's work remains as it is at present— viz., Is an hour. Saturday afteTnoon off at terminal ports has beer conceded to firemen, except in exceptional cases. Since 1897 a special arrangement in regard to time off has been in vogue in the ferry service, and the Cook Strait and West Coast service. The men asked that this ar- , rangement be made general, and it has been mutually agreed to extend it to the coastal trade .on the East Coast between Dunedin and Auckland. On this run the vessels usually arrive at a port in the morning, and leave again the same evening. The new arrangement will enable the men to get time off to make up for the extra hours of duty they may be^ called on to work. There is every likelihood now that the whole question at issue will be settled without the intervention of th"c Arbitration Court.