THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1911. CONTINUITY OF EMPLOYMENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10481, 18 November 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1911. CONTINUITY OF EMPLOYMENT.

One of the mbsit pressing problems affecting the working classes in New Zealand- at the present time is that of con.tiniuity of eraployni--.it. This phase of the industrial question ca-opjSt up> intermittently when awards are sought in tlie Arbitration Court; but 110 serious attempt has Item made to deal with '.t in onlier a. practical or eommoiir-seaise miUih ner.. There icom be no doubt Int. that there is a disposition, a. mmg the workers of the present day to secure employment of a perm,anient character. It is questionable, however, whetihier the trend of Trades "Unionism is not in the ciire< lion < f rendering continuity Ln many trades impossible. llhe demand i.s made for 3irigjhe<r wiajgos' and 'shorter hours, so that the cost of pradiirtion .s Ancreaised. The employer -mui omly conduct his busu'mess so 'long as there is a demand for 'bis-output, and Iks receipts are proportionately er than his expenditure. If the increase in wages a.md the sihou'tening of lioairs places hiim in tllie position thaJt his outpait Ims to be sold at prohibitive prices to maike l)!oth ends meet, or that he has to spend large siums oif moniey 'in labour-saving machinery, it can olearly 1)0 seen that the employer is inijuriousOy . alfeoted. There .is aai eqwildbriiium in trade that camnot he disturbed without menace to the worked', as weffl as to the employer. If continuity'of employment is desired, it is tJie duty of Trades Unions to seek to remove

rather thian to impose restriction® upon trade, 'l'hiey should remember that automatic ntachnnery has the elicit <.f creating uue inpioy iinen t, and. idKit tJic.fi- miacJmiery will be called into requisition i.mmediiaitely tin? of labour become excessive. Aii'Ulhtr af-ntct ol file labour question \s Lack calls, for consideration is the i'ia.iiUiig of employunent to iixed avenue;;. Vhere may, for instance, be a. nuaiUr of bricklayers out oi employment, and a keen demand for plasterers'. 'ihe bricklayers may be 1 quite conijieteint to undertake plastering work, but the hard and fust Union rules will not permit bliem to j enter into competition with, t-lie registered plasterers. 'lib© same tilling applies in all other trades and occupations. liaeh branch of 'industry [is a clcing corporation in itself, and l if there be a surplusage of i'abour I in o.ne trade, its utilisation in. another is absolutely forbidden. Otne cannot help thinking that tlie r extraction's imposed by th:o labour untions are calculated to cripple industry and increase unemployment. The nvorluEr sl/oui'd be brought to realise that it is quite as much to his interlest, as it is to that of bis employer, that the iiulais-try in w.liicih lie is "empiloyed should bo miade to pay. The greater the productivity of thesoil or the factory, the cheaper will be the co&t of living arnd the more continuous the empJoymc-nt. It is)to be feared that tlii.s fact is not ciiffieiiently appreciated by the worker of to-day. If it were, tlr-ere would ho a greater amJSit-ioni for effiaiency, und a desire to regulate industrial uffadrs by rational instead of artificial means. :