TRADES AND LABOUR CONFERENCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8392, 5 April 1907, Page 6

TRADES AND LABOUR CONFERENCE.

By Telegraph—Press Association. DUNEDIN, April 4. At the Trades and Labour Conference, this morning, Mr McLaren (Wellington) moved, "that it be not within the power of any Conciliation Board or Arbitration Court, when making an award or industrial agreement, to prescribe in such award or industrial agreement the hours of labour fur any class of workers in any industry in excess of the hours prescribed by Act of Parliament lor workers in an industry; neither shall "the Board or Court have power to make any provisions in their awards and industrial agreements which will deprive workers coming under the scope of those awards and agreements of any holidays or other privileges which are granted to those workers by Act of Parliament." The motion was carried. It was resolved that it was desirable that all decisions of the Arbitration Court shall be given within three months of the filing of a case; also that, in cases of application for the enforcement of awards, industrial agreements, or other order of the Court, it shall not be necessary for an industrial union or association to comply with the provisions ol sections 105 and 106 so far as a ballot is concerned. With a view to preventing the evasion of the carpenters' award, which is said to be going on in Wellington, it was unanimously resolved that in any trade or calling where an industrial agreement or award is in force the term"worker" shall include any person who shall undertake to do any work without supplying at least 75 per cent, of the material required for such work or undertaking. The following resolutions, embodying suggested alteri ations in the Arbitration Act, were agreed to without discussion :—lt shall be illegal for any employer or ' manager to summon his employers before him and request them to sign any document forcing an individual opinion respecting the conditions under which they are employed when there is a union in existence in connection with the industry in which they are employed; that section 22 be amended to read that any [council or other body representing not less than two industrial unions of ! either employers or workers may be represented as an industrial association. It was resolved that the Arbitration Act be amended to prevent pluralisation of votes for Conciliation Board elections.