Trades and the Workers

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 292, 1 March 1928, Page 13

Trades and the Workers

____________ By

“ARBITER”

UNION MEETING DATES Thursday, March 1 (to-night) .. Boilermakers'. Thursdav, March 1 (to-night) .. Tramwaj M orker... pal-tv Thursday, March 1 (to-night) .. TV omens Branch Labour Part.. Monday, March 5 - • Drivers. Mo°ndlf/’ ALirch 1 5 5 7.7 .7 .7 Conference of Engineers commen Tuesday, March 6V;7. 7. -•* '• * Associated Engineers. T . v. • • SESSFc.**-*

The Big Fight! Pre-election canvassing among the workers at the various industrial concerns is being undertaken on behalf of the Labour Party by Mr. H. G. R. Mason, who has spent the greater part of the past week in visiting the brick and pottery works in the district, impressing upon the men the necessity for giving their support to the campaign fund. He has covered most of the works on the city side, and has been to the Devonport gasworks. Oh Monday he will visit the glassworkers at Penrose. * * * Conciliation Cases No definite dates have been arranged for the heating of disputes before the Conciliation Council in the Auckland district. The Audkiahd Merchant Service Guild has something to bring forward, and the Auckland Gas Company’s clerical staff aiso has a dispute which has to be aired before the commissioner, Mr. T\ Hally. March 6 is the tentative date mentioned in connection with the latter. In Wellington next week the council will hear the Dominion carpenters’ dispute, and on March 14 the stage and theatrical workers wili bring forward their claims for better conditions. Perpetual Unrest In view of the frantic efforts that are being made in New Zealand to amend the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, it is of more than passing interest to record the utterances of Chief Judge Dethridge in Australia last week: “I do not think we shall ever get rid of unrest in industry,” he Said. “People who expect to get rid Of this unrest dre blind puppies in the affairs of this world. Difficulty is bound to arise when you have two tribunals acting in the same field of operations. Industrial legislation in Australia is a ridiculous thing, in that respect, and consequently difficulties must arise. I cannot remedy that ridiculous state of affairs, and the people will not remedy it, so we must make the be§t of a bad job.” Our Timber Industry Hopes are entertained by those engaged in the timber trade that the scheme Which the Prime Minister has in mind for the encouragement of the use of New Zealand timber will afford practical relief to the workers and to the industry itself. Mr. Phelan, secretary of the Timber Workers’ Union, estimates that only about 25 per cent, of his men are in constant work, but he figures that if the duties on imported timbers were tightened up iiiost of thC meri Would be back in the trade within three months. It is anticipated that if the Prime Minisiter’s suggestion brings with it a system of universal by-laws governing the use of classified timbers in building houses, many of the complaints against the New Zealand woods will be removed* * * * Five-Bay Week Asked The tWo chief demands that the carpenters Will make before the Conciliation Council at Wellington next week will be f ot a weekly wage in place of the present hourly rate, and a five-day Week in place of the present five and a-half day week. A minimum wage of £6 is being Sought, which is about £1 a Week more than the men get noW When full time is worked for the week. The employers’ counterproposals follow largely the lines of the existing award, with the addition of a proposal for shift work. Six re- • presentatives from all parts of New Zealand will represent the men, Mr. T. Bloodworth taking up the Auckland end of the dispute* The award expired in December of last year, and prior to that two years had edapsed since the carpenters brought theiir conditions forward for revision, it might be assumed, therefore, that one or two things might with advantage be adjusted. * * * Engineering Trades The conferences of Monday and Tuesday should produce in Auckland a big gathering of the engineering and allied trades workers. It seems to be a good idea to have the conferences of the engineers and the ironmasters held almost simultaneously, because the closeness with which their interests are associated make it possible for a joint discussion to open Vast possibilities for fruitful results. Tine dinner which will be held after the conferences will be a combined affair, and it is expected that much of Common interest to the trades will b 6 found to discuss ih a round table way at the social function. It is of more than passing interest to recall that the Engineers* Union Was formed at Auckland in 1864, at a meeting hel« in the old Aurora Hotel. The original membership was 15, and this grew till it now approximates 1,200. The organisation has been extended to embrace 15 branches, all of which will be represented at the conference on Monday. Women In Industry The conditions of women workers in the iron, steel, and other metal industries in England were investigated recently by a specially appointed commission, which was asked to decide whether there was any reason,, apart from the effect of the work upon the health of the Women, Why they should not be employed in such industries* The committee recommended that no girl aged less than 16 years should be permitted in any citcumstances to enter the metal trade, and that a certificate of health and fitness for the Work by a medical officer of'- the Department of Labour be made obligatory for every woman beginning work in the metal trades. Ih certain processes periodical re-examination should be established. Hours should be reduced to 44 without a deduction of pay, or any interference with the ten minutes’ respite in the morning and afternoon. Moreover, as the absence of the girls from work did not interfere with the carrying on of other operations in the shops, it Was recommended that the reduction of hours should take place by abolishing Saturday morning Work, thereby enabling the girls—Who always had Some domestic responsibility—to obtain the full benefit of the reduced hours. So far as the women at present employed were concerned, from the health aspect no harmful effects had been traced to the use of cutting fluid in the machines, nor to the Use of whale oil in the coremaking.

Arbitration uouri Several Auckand disputes are awaiting the pleasure of the Arbitration Court, but from indications received from the South it is expected that the cotirt will not reach Auckland before the end of March or the beginning of April. Sittings have been . arranged in Wellington for March 15, and as these will occupy some time, the judge and his assessors will not reach here for a few weeks after that date. * * * Brickworkers’ Conditions Some of the brickworkers’ awards in different districts in the Dominion will expire shortly, and the employers will be asked for fesh terms of employment. Draft proposals are being formulated to affect the three centres, Auckand, "Wellington, and Christchurch. A Dominion award is not possible because Dunedin has already signed up for a district agreement. Industrial Conference The 25 representatives of Labour who were appointed by a recent conference in Wellington to watch Labour’s interests in the preliminary negotiations for the amendment of the I.C. and A. Act, will meet on March 20 in Wellington. The big conference, in which representatives of the Government, the farmer, the employer, and the worker, will be interested, is to be held on Match 27 at Wellington. •=