The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1891.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3785, 14 April 1891, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1891.

A COPY of the rules of a certain Middle Island branch of the New Zealand Shearers and General r Laborers' Union has been placed at our disposal. From it we learn that its objects are first to protect the ' rights of labourers, second to secure a \ fair rate of remuneration for all work done, and third to secure equitable agreements between era- \ ployers and employees. When we read , that the primary purpose of the i Union was to secure the "rights" of its members we endeavored to ascer. tain from the pamphlet containing the rules, some indication of what were really the rights claimed by sheaiers and others, but to our surprise not a f single right is spicified from first to last. We can only assume that a I member is left to discover for himself what his rights may or may not be, for ' the regulations by which he is bound do not afford him any assistance. It would perhaps prevent members of , labour unions from taking up false positions if the rights which they are united to defend were clearly specified When they are altogether vague and indefinite we may assume that the leaders and promoters of these unions have not sufficient capacity to express the needs of those who co-operate with them. We observe that the arrangements for collecting revenue from members are fairly good excepting a power given to managers of a union to make unlimited levies. This is a most unbusinesslike provision, for a man when he joins a union, by the power given to its officers to make unlimited levies, is liable to have all he possesses forfeited to the cause. A man who joins i union which has the power to draw upon his resources without limit is no doubt a fool, but he is something more than this because it is dishonest towards his wife and family to give to an outside body a lien on his small resources. No business man in the community will sign an unlimited bond, but tens of thousands of working men appear to do so, and we must confess that they can hardly be complimented upon their intelligence. A thousand years ago slaves in England had iron collars welded round their necks to indicate their servile conditions, but now-a-days the unions appear to be forging under their rules a worse fetter than those which was worn in days of old. Attached to the book of rules to which we have referred is a log of prices. From this we learn that farm labourers are to be paid from Gs 6d to 7s per day, tow,n labourers 7s to 7s 6d per day, storemen 8s per day, shearers 16s 8d per 100 for station sheep, and 20s for farm lots, bush labourers 8s per day, boy labour not less than 12s a week and found. Prices are full, still employers would probably be willing • to pay them for first class men, but J

how about the second and third class men, of whom there are more in the Colony than of the former ? This is a difficulty which the union makes no pretence of solving, and yet it is one that must be faced in dealing with the labour question. No doubt in time labour unions will be able to work under rules which will stand criticism. They will have to build on j better foundation than that indicated in the book before us betore they can become permanently strong and useful. Virtually a man when he joins a union signs a blank promissory note to its managers which they fill up at their discretion. The men who ara to be commiserated are not the employers, but the employes who bite at a naked hook of this kind.