TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 234, 30 September 1908, Page 8

TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

■ ■ w (Secretaries of the various "Unions are requested to forward copies of their Union engagements to "Industrial Tramp," "Star" Office, and a .list ot Union Meetings will be furnished at the head of thla column for each week.) UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. This Evening. Sept. 30 — Trades and Labour Council. Thursday. Oct. 1 — Labour Day Committee, Farriers: Curriers. Friday, Oft. 2 — Labourers; "Fellmongers. Saturday, Oct. 3 — Bakers. Sunday. Oi-t. 4 — Cooks and Stewards. Monday. (Jet. o — Grocers: Carters: Bootbinders; Brickworkers (Avondale); Tailors. Tuesday. Oct. G — Plumbers: Tailoresses. Wednesday, Oct. 7 — Waterside Workers. The Arbitration Court opens' in" lAuckland on October Sth. The Parliamentarians aTe *• getting through their work in Wellington. Having pot the Arbitration Act off their hands in the lower House, they, are preparing to tackle the " Workers'" Compensation Act,*' which it is expected will be reported from the Labour Bills Gbmmittee to-day. In the new Act, it is in- I tended to specify what compensation will he available for certain injuries. Thus a specified sum will be paid for the loss of ; an arm. eye. leg or finger, without leaving it to the Court to discover what compensation will have to be paid. The Labour. Bills Committee have been taking evidence for some time past, both for and against the different clauses in the bill. In the present Act. clause 14 allows " contracting out under scheme approved by Board of Conciliation." and it is proposed to delete. this from the new Act This is in consequence of resolutions passed l in the annual Trades and Labour conferences, as well as ppositiou being manifested by several unions. Amongst other unions the Birkenhead Sugarworkers' Union, three years ago, passed a resolution asking the Government to delete the clause from the present Act, as the men did not get equal "benefits under the Company's sick and accident scheme, as against the provisions of the Act. It must not be lost sight of that a private sick and accident fund is a contributory scheme, that is. the worker has to contribute a certain sum per week to provide the benefits, whereas the Workers' Compensation is provided free of cost to the recipient, and covers the employer's liability. The Labour Representation Committee —composed of equal representation from the Political League and the Auckland Trades and Labour Council, after mature consideration, have chosen their candidates to run in the interests ot Labour, at tbe forthcoming general election. It is intended to contest but two seats, and the candidates are: Mr. J. X. Harle, for Auckland East: and Mr. Arthur Rosser for Ancklnndi Central. Mr. Harle is not quite so well known as Mr. Rosser, but he has everything in to make his way into the "knowledge of the electors. He is a man of many parts, having been an evangelist and a temperance lecturer: he is a very effective platform speaker, and a memher of the Society of Friends. He is a labourer by occupation, and represents his union as a delegate to the Trades and Labour Council. The Labour Day Committee are making progress with preparations for the Monster Demonstration on October 14th. "Wanned by the failure of last year's function, the committee have wisely this year determined to revert to the Domain as a place par excellence for holding Labour's Carnival. The work has been subdivided', and will be carried out by the Procession, Sports, Children's and Refreshment Committees, and nothing is wanted to make the demonstration as big a success as any of its predecessors, but a fine day. Amongst the many attractions this year is a big baby show, and the judges in these events are men of courage, and! not afraid of their decisions being cavilled at. The officers of the Australian Workers' "Union are just now taking a ballot of the members on the question of whether* a levy shall be strnck in support of a daily labour for the Commonwealth. .The proposed levy is for two years, and the amount is, for shearers and cooks, £ 1 per year; for labourers, 10/ per year. The money is to be a gift for the purpose of establishing in Sydney a daily newspaper, in place of the weekly " Worker" published for years past. It is hoped that this daily, if will be the precursor of -a series of Labour dailies throughout the Commonwealth. There •will be no profits returnable to the subscribers as dividtends. As in the case of "The Worker," all profits that may be made will he used for the improvement of the paper, and to assist the cause of Unionism. To establish the paper as an evening daily, it is estimated that 1£90,000 -will be required. As an instance of how a union can change its mind on a given subject, under altered conditions, it may be mentioned thai on September 7th the members of the Birkenhead Sugar Workers' Union, at. a meeting held during wo'rkin" •hours, were called upon to decide whe° ther a request should be made to the .Government to include the Contracting <ral Clause in the new Workers' Com" pensation for Accidents Act. Mr. Kinuaird, depnty manager, was in the chair, and the resolution in favour of the clause was moved by the manager, Mr. E. V. "Miller. Mr. W. W. Philson. general manager, and Mr. Speedy, chief •engineer of the Company, strongly supported it, and on a show of hands' being taken the vote was declared to be un° aninious in favour of "the inclusion of •the clause. Last Friday, in obedience to a suggestion that a ballot be taken on the matter, the voting was slightly different, being 209 for the motion, and 56 against. There is something In the ballot after all. There is keen interest ■being manifested in the question, and the result is keenly watched. The linen industry in Ireland gives employment to about 70,000 people. Auckland tramcars carry something over 22.000.000 passengers annually! Last year 372.515.754 passengers were carried by the London' County Council tramcars. There is a big future before flic Auckland service. There are almost 6.000 women employed in and about the coal mines in the North of England, but none of the number work below the surface. At the last meeting of the Curriers' Union a resolntirm in favour of NoLicense was carried. The number of workpeople employed in the boot trade in the United Kingdom to whom wages were raid on pay day in the week ended May 23, 190 S. was 64.286, and tho aggregate amount of wages paid was £62.752.—"80ard of Trnde Labour Gazette." The formation of the International Steel Trust is now approaching completion, and in a few weeks the scheme wil' i.c carried into execution. The combination, which has its headquarters in London, lias had applications from virtually every steel manufacturing centre in the world, and the additional tKapital, it is reported, amounts to 150 auHisn-sterling.