TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 35, 10 February 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

BY INDUSTRIAL TRAMP. The timber trade in all its branches still keep.-, very brisk, and tlie demand ! for dwellingbouses both in the city and j suburbs far exceeds (he supply. Tivvthc Mount Eden and Mount Roskill districts the rents of six-roomed villas run from 18/ to 22/ per week. The sailmakers in all the lofts in the city are fully employed, and in many cases the men are working overtime. The painters report a slight slackness in their trade. This is owing chiefly to the various builders being unable to obtain timber to push ou the work they have in hand. Biickmakers are. fully employed, and still the cry is for more bricks, which are at the present time in demand exceeding the supply. "Some men have a funny idea of the objects or duties of a union,'" said Mr \V. Jones in the Arbitration Conn at Wellington last week. ''A man came to my office the other day and said he would join the union if I got him a job right off." Air Justice Chapman: "He would probably have been content with the wages without the job." At the meeting of the Trade and Labour Council it was stated that some, of the unions who had pat in their resignations to the Council had only been connected with the Council for the last twelve months, and that many of them had paid no capitation. The Auckland shipwrights are fully employed, and the Union have filed a statement with Mr Thomas, clerk of awards. lv connection with New Zealand's various protests against Chinese labour in the Transvaal, from letters to hand from the Rand mines 1 am informed at the present time there are thousands T>f Kaffir labourers"out of employment, the reason being that before the war this class of labour was being paid four and five shillings per day. now they are being offered 2/6 and 3/, for which they will not work. There are 100 mines on the Rand, the average dividends of which have been 150 per cent., yet we •are informed that the industry will not pay without Chinese labour. lt is reported that the advocates of the turbine for the new Cunarders have succeeded in establishing their ease. The firm of which the Hon. C. A. Parsons, the inventor of the marine steam turbine, is the head, has submitted detailed designs for engines up to no less than 00.000 horse-power; although such enormous energy is not necessary for the subsidised Cunarders. leviathans though they be. The plans show that proportionately much less space will be occupied by tiie turbine propelling machinery, and valuable economies in coal and engineering staff arc also effected. A bakers' strike in Paris at Christmas was the most ludicrous fiasco of the year. Organised as a protest against the Government's inaction in regard to the suppression of registry offices, it. seemed at first as if we were to see a bold stand against an admitted evil, but the introduction of "strangers" prepared to "blackleg" if the chance presented itself seems to have knocked all the ''pluck" out of ihe bakers. It, is now said that the number of men who actually left work was less than 200, which necessitated the mobilisation in the Gay City of no less than 14,000 police and guardsmen! The plumbing trade at the present time is fairly good, few men being out of employment. At the present time, however, there seems to be a difference of opinion between the employers and employees in this trade in reference to the new city by-laws, dealing witli plumbers and drainers. The time has now come when a better class of sanitary plumbing is required in the city, and the council is justified in demanding that the men undertaking this work shall be competent to carry it out. To accomplish this they request both men and masters by examination to prove their competency. This a majority of the employers object to, chiefly on the ground that, they have been in business as master plumbers such a long time. On the other hand, the journeymen say that they are prepared to pass such examination in the interests of the trade and the benefit of the city. There are at the present time 20 more jour- : neymett plumbers in the city than there are masters, and if the masters are exempt from passing their examinations I am of opinion that the journeymen now at the trade should receive the same privilege at the hands of our City Fathers. Still, in the interests of the city as a whole I hope that the council will see fhe by-laws carried out as originally framed. There is no doubt but that the labour laws of New Zealand are watched with great interest by statesmen in other parts of the Empire, and on all sides after they have been in New Zealand we hear the opinion expressed that they arc perfectly satisfied that these same labour laws which arc distorted by their opponents in the press of other countries are working well in the colony, and could be applied with advantage to the worker in any part of the world. At the present time Mr. Turner and other prominent Queenslanders are making full inquiries into the working of our labour laws. "Public Opinion" is responsible for the statement that the Grand Trunk railroad company has announced that all

the women employees in its office are to be discharged for the following reasons: "First, because they have the chocolate' cream and earam-1 habit. Secondly, because, when not addressing themselves to delicatessen, they are nibbling solid food. Thirdly, they talk too much, and talk in such a way as to hurt the corporation. Fourthly the average woman employee is thoughtless of the future except to kill time until she finds a husband." Recently, says "The Business World." there has been a widespread interest aroused by the action of a number of western American railroads which have concertedly acted to eliminate the class of employes which indulged in drinking gambling and cigarette smoking. Foi many years the railroads have expressed themselves against iiabits which might —sooner or later invariably did—endanger life and property; but the matter has now crystallised into a business rule. Ms significance, taken in connection with like expressions from the world of business as a whole, makes us realise that herein lies a solution to the social problem involved. A few plain v ords written on a pay-envelope is an appeal more powerful than the eloquence of a temperance lecture! The journeymen shipwrights have prepared a statement, the provisions of which include thut 47 hours shall constitute ;; week's work, the recognised hours of work to be front 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on every week day except Saturday, one ! uiir te be allowed on each such day for dint er; on Saturday the hours of work sh ill be from 7~30 a.m. to 12 noon. The minimum rate of wages oil all classe of new work shall be at the rate of 10/ per flay. The minimum Irate of wages on any repairs done on any class of vessel shall be paid for at. the rate of ]__,' par day. All overtime I between the hours of 5 p.m. and midnight siuill be paid for at the rate of time and a-half; ami from ]2 o'clock midnight to 0 a.m.. double time; and from 0 a.m. to 7.30 a.m., time and ahalf. Saturday afternoon shall he paid for at the rate of time and a-qtiarter. No ship, yacht, or boat work to be paid by piece work, nor shall any employer let his work labour only. No limita- | tion to be put upon the apprentices. I Apprentices may be apprenticed to I learn a particular branch or brandies of the trade.

The annual conference of the Political Labour League of New South Wales vv s held in Sydney on the __oth nil. One clause of the report of the executive of the league was as follows;—" Your Executive desire to urge upon Leagues and affiliate! unions Iho necessity for actively agitating for the immediate amendment of the Arbitration Act to provide for the exclusion of lawyers, unless with the consent of the parties, the appointment of inspectors to see that awards aire enforced, and to provide for the right of appeal to the Court against the decision of the Registrar, and for the more speedy hearing of cases by the Court."

According to the rules of the Wellington Wharf Labourers' Union, questions pertaining to parly politics cannot be discussed at the meetings. In his report presented to the union the other night Mr D. M'Laren (secretary) referred to the rule as follows: "When we observe the manner in which both political parties are opposing the interest of labour, may it not strike us that the time has arrived wiicn we

must reconsider our position? I find that some of our so-called labour laws are being used directly against, the workers' interests, and I urge that,the union inquire into the policy being pursued by the labour bodies of Australia with the view of altering our own line or action if it be shown that we are on the wrong course.''

By the aid of electricity 4000 men in the Carnegie works. U.S.A, are able to turn out as much stec! as 15,000 men employed in Krupp's German ironworks. The Yanks show all creation how to harness the forces of nature.

During Abraham Lincoln's term of office as President of America the printers of St. Louis went out on strike. General Rosecrans commanding the troops of that place, detailed a lot of regulars to take the place of the strikers. When the. immortal Abe heard of it he sent the following message: "Order those

soldiers back to duty in the ranks. The servants of the Federal Government shall not interfere with the legitimate demands of labour so long as I am President. —A Lincoln."'

M. Felifien Challaye. Professor of Philosophy at the Popular University of Evreux, who visited New Zealand some months ago, delivered a lecture at the University on "The Paradise of Workmen: New Zealand," on his return. The lecturer was most eulogistic in his references to Ihis colony, which, he said, was distinguished from all others by this twofold characteristic: Poverty has entirely disappeared, and each man can, by working, earn .1 good living. "The experience of Xew Zealand," lie concluded, "teaches tbe working-class the necessity for union and for political action; if we have the republican spirit we shall long for the day on which the workmen of France will follow the example of the workmen of New ZealandIn learning how to unite to make their condition and that of their comrades fair and just they will bring the highest and strongest force to tne service of the Ideal."

The report of the British Board of 'Trade upon the proceedings taken under the Conciliation Act of 189G is not, perhaps, epoch-making, but it shows that a good deal of useful work has been done in a quiet way (says an English exchange). Altogether, since the Act came into force, 154 ca..cs have '.con brought under the official cognisance of the Board. Of these 09 were settled by the "Board or its agents, and 14 others by the parties theßiselvcs; while in the remainder no action was taken by the Board or no settlement was reached. The figures are certainly not large, but it takes time for the country to discover that a new method of settling trade disputes, or anything else, has been established by Act of Parliament. The most interesting moral to be drawn from the report is fhe necessary limitation of Government action in trade disputes. People who clamour for compulsory arbitration do not icnow what it is they are asking for. It is impossible by any machinery to compel matters to employ, or men to work, if they do not want to" The writer goes on to say. "The case of New Zealand affords no real exception to this general rule. That little colony has been enjoying a spell of great prosperity, and while that spell continues employers will submit to the dictates of the Arbitration Courts rather than give up business. The men also will submit, because nearly all the rulings are in their favour; but as soon as the wave of prosperity begins to decline, the New Zealand Arbitration Law will cease to work, because it will be overridden by a still more powerful law— the law of supply and demand."