TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 190, 10 August 1904, Page 10

TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

! (By Industrial Trarna) !

are stilt busy*. The furniture trn.de is fairl w active. The building trade in the city is still ■shtoii. Trad* g«narnlly i« brightaning up a Iftor T"k« Atlamic Coast 'Marine Firemen's UHion runs a boarding-house in New Tork f<-r mewborn only, and is doing good V " furekhea by the N.S.Y\. Labour l.'omntißsioner's inr.ee show that lo I*o men were provided ".vith suitable work since .Inly of last year to the end of May tins yeur. 'Hie first of ihc series of concerts proni"',ei ny the 'Tailorfssse.-i' I'tron in aid m the proposed (nn.l for the rr novation o! the J Julo.-CHSCfi' llnli took pla.ee last aijpht. and wai an undoubted success. (.hiring the pact, ball year seven unions rsprrjif n< .ng 1110 menil-n-ts have .uiibatfd with the Weilington Trades and Labour Council, tiringing the number of aftil.niei unions up to twenty, with a membr-vship of „.">()(). In '.he printing of the House Painters' iww.r'i the printer commit ted an error by leaving out eoine of the holidays, viz.: Anni\er:..iry Uav,, Easter Monday and Labour Day. 'J his will necessiuic tho r( in .', Tir of the award. Tlji Aralupu nulls are working fullha.'i.icd this week. 'The managei- finds tin.i ttie half-nine running is likely to Ich-.I to the Ins., of mis best workmen, {several have alroady fount work sn oilier t« 11 w. Tis-wing tii» pon«iWlity of a large number ef fishermen, arroiig o'.hsu-*, conjing to town Xi s«« tho Brifinh v. Auckland football nsarcb. the Auckland Fishermen's Cuio-,1 has arranged a big meeting frrr the 3fHn Attgu.t. for both member* arnf, nonmembers of the union, to finally cmnsiiler the questioti of selling fish by weight to the (baler. Tlie steamer Brisbane loaded fifteen fine kauri logs at. Aratapu last week. These logs, if put through the mill, would have provided all hands with ncaj-ly two days' work, and distributed aboufc ISO in wages. Our workmen have a fair claim against the export of logs, especially whon mills are be;ng stopped end men thrown out. of employment through lack of logs. Th« New South Wales Arbitration Court granted the appjcatirrri asking for the industrial agreement between the Hoot Trade Union and Employers' Association lo be made a con-muni m!c for the whole State. All boot marrufacturers in N>»\v sonth Wales will no/ie have to pay the same wages, and sweating in that trade wall be abolished. Tha Arbitration Court has given iv answer to the questiojfl as to what an employer is to do if a boy in service at the date of the award refuses to be bound as an apprentice, deciding that it is not ono which the Court could underfenks to answer. An employer in this position should take legal advice as f» his obligations. Tlie Cum workers' Union met on Monday last, nnd decided to affiliate with the Traiiefl and Labour Council. The following delegates were appointed: J. Culhfine, R. Taylor, J. McArthur, J. dimming, ft also received the new award formally. This award is considered wry satisfactory. A hearty vote of thanks and a bonus were voted to Mr. A. Rosser for conducting the case at the Arbitration Court.

"The tailors' log." remarked Mr S. Brown, a member of the Arbitration Court, "is more tortuous than the paths of li»w." "More so," replied the Crown ProsecutoT. who was eng-aged f>s counsel In the case before the Court, ''nm! certainly not- as interesting:." Learned counsel for the opposite side added that he did not object to interpreting law, but he shouid not like to interpret the tailors' log. Mr Scott, secretary of the Otago 7vmploye.rs' Association, in enclosing \ copy ot the Otago Master Tailors' aiinu.il re P",t to the Victorian Employers' Aifcorfcitiou, says, among other things, "tbere is no «uch thing as finality in the Arbitration Court awards. The incoming year promises to be one of unrest and anxiety, and of friction betrwuen employers and employed, and an up-iMtting of those conditions that Bhißiild wrist between master and servant."

Moet Labour member?; (says a London contemporary) wear slouch or har-l ful* hats, though Borne of th»m compromise the claims of Parliamentary dignity with what is expected from thetn by their working-men constituent. Mr Henry Itrna Ihurst, for in•stnneo, keeps a c ilk hnl in :<. cupboard. He wears it in the lohhy nnd in the I CTviinbei but he stows it. away before going oi-t into the streets. There he w«n a felt hat. j At the end of last year there were j 10r, industrial unions of employers reg i istrred under the Industrial Conciliation and .Arbitration Act, the total membership bring 3080. The employers' union with the largest membership is the Canter!.ury Sheepownerrt', the number of members being 26G. There are twentysix employers' union* in Canterbury, the total mrmbe«hip being 11(54; in the Wellington district there are 24 employers' uni<->n.«. with a membership of 507. There were MR woTkors' unions under the Act, the total membership being 27.640. The union with the largest membership is the Waihi Amalgamated Miners' and Workerr' Union, with TSo members. In Canterbury there arc 58 unions, with a total membership of 5070. the union having the greatest number of members being th» Shearers' Union, with 740. Mr Arnold. M.H.R., in the course of an erfdrp-s the ot'ior nigh' in W«Uing ton. before tho Tailors' Union, on the "Labour Problem in New Zealand.'' contrasted the position of the worker of to day with the conditions prevailing I en yc.-irtt apo. Wanes were now fi\ed by Jaw. hours of labour were scheduled, nnd holiday* were specified. The reason of the changes he considered was that the Wcrkfrs of thr colony had the brains and the capacity to work as others had. The fit-'h: now tv.ir not one of physical strength, but n mental conflict before F"«rd> and Court. The labour problem of the future, he said, was deeper than -TtTthinj; that had prmed, and its unravelling required the best brains tho People were able to send to Parliament. An investigation which has just been n-'-de into the Hour.- of barmaids nnd waitresses h, Iho Entrli.-h Metn.oolis, o^LT h,ch . hris been verified in almost -S is the worst record of l bavc cv « ™»«1. Fancy a w.S■ _. £ ng on dut y 122 * [ ™"™ in and then hew In «• place "iCT-?" 1 ' are treated! sit dow£ a alT?b aU °, wed U * m although

—_ there is no Sunday work, they a. obliged to go out at 10 o'clock in t?i morning, remain out till midnight, and ! wait in the street till the manager xefniTn-,. In a third instance, wa nre ] told that "'barmaids are not expected to i sit, down." Mr Wilson Fox's report, to the La/bour Department of the British Board of Trade dealing with strikes and lockouts during last yeaj is most gratifying. n»eins that the aggregate number of day* lost was less than in aryy year for which fjgjrres have been reeordod. Taken roughly, the cornpa/rison as between 1901 show 3 a reduction of lays 10-st to the extent of /almost 50 ;ier cent.. whOe the figures far 1002 are j fully 33 per cent, more than th" n»riM under review. That Boardn of Conciisiion a-nd Arbitration are doing much viiluabie work is proved by the fact ! :nat no le<ss than 7SB easels have been! sueeessfully settled by such means. ! These figures aire nign'iy significant; 1903 was undoitbtedly what, might be eharaeterised as an er/iployers' year., I'aking all the disputes of the year ; without regard .as to thrir cause, the! prnportion of who w-ere en-. tirelv successful was less than nn"-| third. Of almost 50,000 workpeople , . disputing With their employers as tc i I wages, only eight per cent, gained the j day, while seventy-one per cent, entirc--Ily failed and fiwent.y per e-ent. had to | ' iome to a compromise. It is satis •' factors, however, that on questions o. j i'r.'ulfi Unionism, hours of labour, a!:--; working arrangements generally, th. , .(.r'.ers had by far the boat of the a.g.; : ,vent. I