Trades and the Workers

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 398, 5 July 1928, Page 11

Trades and the Workers

By “ARBITER"

UNION MEETINGS DUE

Thursday, July 5 (To-night) Thursday, July 5 (To-night) Monday, July 9 Monday, July 9 .. •• .. .. .. •• Tuesday, July 10 .. Tuesday. July 10 Tram Wednesday, July 11 Wednesday, July 11 Wednesday, July 11 .. . . .. Wednesday, July 11 Mr. J. Sutherland, secretary of the General Labourers’ Union, is in Napier representing the case of the Hawke’s Bay General Labourers. He will be in Auckland to-morrow. Mr. R. F. Barter, secretary of the Amalgamated Engineers’ Union, is back from Christchurch, where he appeared at the Federation Conference. He addressed the Ironmasters while in the south, suggesting improvements for the betterment of the men’s conditions, and incidentally for the trade. A secret ballot is being taken among the Amalgamated Engineers throughout the Dominion upon the question of joining up with the Alliance of Labour. Papers are being sent out now, and are returnable before the end of the current month. Postage is paid, and there is no excuse for the men not recording their opinion on the question. * * *i Milk Oh! The milk roundsmen’s section of the dairy workers will go for a new award shortly. Their case will be watched with interest, particularly in the light of their application for a six-day week in place of the seven-day week under which they work at present. Wellington roundsmen, operating under a municipal milk system, work a six day week. The present award of the Auckland milkmen expires on August 16. Question of Fairness In country districts the workers are having an exceptionally bad time, and until local bodies realise the seriousness of their position and take full advantage of the Government relief conditions, and engage men in local reproductive development work, the workers will continue to have a bad time. Yet this is what is happening: An Auckland firm wanted a job done in Taumarunui a w*eek or so ago. It required the services of about 50 men, and instead of getting the men on the spot—there are capable men in plenty there—the firm sent 50 men from the city. Naturally enough the men in Taumarunui took exception to this. Their point is that the local requirements should be served with local effort; and after all, that seems fair enough. * * * . Payment of Dues In some trade unions in Auckland, members have been educated to a healthy sense of their obligation to pay their union fees promptly and regularly—under penalty of added dues. The old system under which the secretary goes the rounds of his men and collects weekly is well out of date, and besides placing an added burden upon the secretary himself, creates the wrong idea in the minds of the men. When he sees the union collector approaching the unwilling unionist is inclined to dodge him, and frequently puts him off till the morrow. On the other hand the up-to-date union makes the men come to the office and pay quarterly, and if his dues are settled before a given date, a rebate of something like 3s 3d is allowed. This is the incentive to prompt payment—the alternative is unfinancial membership, with its consequences. Why should the union secretary have to chase the men for their payments? He has sufficient to do in keeping their case before the bosses and making ends meet on the subscriptions. * » * Is It Any Wonder?

Til© social conditions of the workers in Auckland simply screech for remedy. Even the most optimistic industrialists are becoming downhearted as they see tile barometer of hardship mounting steadily higher, and the despair of the out-of-work family man becoming more intense daily. The authorities do not appear to realise that there is a limit to the perseverance of the unemployed worker, for this is what happens at the office of the Government Unemployment Registration Bureau: Eight men were dismissed from an Auckland factory at the end of last week. They were advised by their union secretary to leave no stone unturned to secure another job, and to register. They approached the bureau at 9 a.m. on Monday, and at 2 p.m.— five hours later —they were still in the queue hopeful of having- their names placed on the book. Is it any wonder that the State finds it difficult to secure a complete record of Auckland’s out of work ?

Plumbers. Women’s Branch, Labour Party. Painters. Butchers. Storemen. waymen (morning and evening). Carpenters. L.R.C. Gas Employees. Labourers. Awards Extended The Motor Machanics’ case, which was heard at Christchurch, recently, has been sent on to the Arbitration Court, and will be heard at Wellington about July 16. As the Boilermakers’ award does not expire till November 5, the General Engineers’ awards have been extended till that date, when the question of uniform Dominion agreements will be considered by the trade. Mr. R. F. Barter, of Auckland, will take the case of the Dominion mechanics in Wellington. Glass-Making Progresses About 180 men will be given work on July 16, when the Auckland glassworks will re-open. The output of the works will be increased because of the installation of an additional tank for another colour in glass to be produced. The glassmaking industry in the Dominion is receiving a fillip, for the new works at Ashburton are to open very shortly. It is understood that a large number of Czecko-Slavs and Germans are being imported to tend the machines in this new productive unit at Ashburton, and although there are a few New Zealanders fitted for the job, steps are being taken by trade unionists here to have the foreigners brought under constitutional awards and placed on equitable conditions. * * * “The Malingerer’’ Much has been said in Auckland, and incidentally in Parliament, recently about cases of hard-up tenants being ejected by bailiffs. There are many such, and the conditions revealed in an examination of our poorer areas does not increase the general faith in the control of our landlord system. But the authorities are wise to investigate every case with meticulous care and ensure that the malingerer does not get away with his little sly dodges. The Patriotic Association has not been known to reject a genuine case of absolute hardship, and the organisation is a fair indication of how things are going. The family which “swings the lead” is a social menace. “Arbiter” remembers a case in Auckland in which a man was ejected from his house. The landlord relegated the wife to the washhouse, and the husband wily bird —went to stay with a friend who possessed a spare bed with a down mattress! * * * Was It Propaganda? A strange story is told in Australia of a man giving the name of Marlin who signed on a vessel at New York as an able seaman, without a knowledge of his duties. From the beginning of the voyage, he continually attempted to cause trouble on the boat, and dictated conditions, which the crew should have. In the course of conversation, he is said to have stated that his name was Libstock, and that he was the son of a wealthy Russian. He said that he was prepared to spend money for the betterment of sailors' conditions, and that he had formed a club in New. York, and was going to Australia with the same object in view. On arrival in Queensland, he became ill. He was discharged in hospital, thereby gaining a passport into the labour circles. He was seen by members of the crew in another Queensland port, and before the vessel had left that State in November, 1927, three sailors and a fireman had been imprisoned for refusing duty. When the steamer passed through Fremantle for Europe a week or so later, only two of the original crew were aboard. So far no substantiation of the story has been produced. * * # Subsidy On Homes Investigation into housing conditions at I-lome show that slum conditions are worse now than they were in 1918. Experts consider a continuation of the policy of slum clearance, of reconditioning old and building new houses at rents of from 10s upwards would, even if carried on indefinitely, do hardly anything to improve slum conditions. If we really meant the labourer to be able to bring up a family of three children in healthy conditions we must alter the present policy and provide new houses at rents within his means. This meant that the policy of subsidising houses for the poorer workers must be continued, and it was suggested that the most effective and cheapest way would be to vary the subsidy with the size of the family.