TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 272, 16 November 1910, Page 8

TRADE & LABOUR NOTES.

(By "INDUSTRIAL TRAMP."); .[Secretaries of the various Unions ore requested to forward copies of their Union engagements to "Industrial Tramp," "Star" Office, and a- list of Union Meetings will be furnished at the head of this column for each week.J UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. This Evening, Nov. 16 — Waterside "Workers Thursday, Nov. 17 — Stonemasons Friday, Nov. 18 — Labourers; Bricklayers; Letterpress Machinists; Brewery Employees (special) Saturday, Nov. 19 — Flpunnlllers (special) Monday, Nov. 21 — Plasterers; Patnteis (special); Grocers' Picnic Committee Tuesday, Nov. 22 — Carpenters; Engineers Wednesday, Nov. 23 — Trades and Labour Council

' Federation 5s spreading napidly through the Dominion unions, and the latest organisation to realise the necessity of solidarity is the plasterers'. A conference, .to be attended by delegates from the four chief centres, ■will open in Wellington next Monday imorning, November 21st, and the business to be transacted will be the adoption of rules ■to provide for a Dominion federation of all unions in the trade, and also the consWeration of a uniform set of "working conditions, with a view of eventually gaining a Dominion award. Auckland plasterers' houre of labour number 47, Wellington 45, Canterbury and Otago 44 each. There is also a slight difference in the wage, the Auckland rate being £3 10/6 for a full week's work, Wellington £3 12/, and the other two districts £3 6/. The effect of ,bhe conference will therefore tend to an equalisation all round. The Auckland award expires on May Ist next, and Canterbury December 31st, 1911; while the other ibwo awards have already expired—if, indeed, a new one has not already been applied for.

There are two circulars from candi-' dates seeking the suffrages of the unions for the position of workers' representative on the Court of Arbitration, which election takes place in January next. They are Mr. J. A. MeCullough, the present representative, and Mr. R. Slater, the previous and first occupant of the position. Mr. Slater had the onerous duty of laying down the foundation of most of the awards now in existence, and is well qualified for the position, but it is not anticipated that the present occupant will have any trouble in being returned for another term, as not only has he done good service during his three years' term, but what is more to the point, he has secured the nomination of the last Trades and Labour Councils' Conference as a recommendation to the affiliated unions. Possession always gives a vested interest, and unless Mr. McOullOugh doc 3 something iwrong, like Manuel of Portugal and ether potentates, tlhere is a strong probability that he will retain his throne for another three years.

Scarcely a week passes but what several of our New Zealand workers take passage to Australia on their way to South Africa to try their fortunes in the new Oommonw-eaßh recently established by Boer and Briton in the dry Continent; and in many directions one hears of others who purpose leaving these shores at the earliest favourable opportunity, attracted by the glowing repouts of prospects on the other side of the Indian Ocean. "Distant fields are always green," and it is to be hoped •that these emigrants will not find out when too late that they have been misled by false reponts. Last week, a pathetic letter from a disenchanted 'tradesman, who was iured to South Africa by 'highly-coloured pictures of prosperity, was sent to mc, asking for a warning to be given to all workers in the Dominion who might be tempted to try their fortunes in the new Commonwealth, that "things are not always what they seem." The writer states: He is a native of East Kent, married, and a bricklayer by trade. All branches of trades are much depressed, and situations are very hard to obtain at any figure, and wages have been cut down to nearly a starvation figure. There is a preponderance of 'black labour a.t the Capo that squeezes the good workmen out of the market; also, there'is a large amount of cheap and nasty foreign labour, that itends to keep down the prices of good Jaibour. He adds: "South Africa is a dumping-ground for allcomers from all parts of the world. The cost of living is 30 per cent and house rerit 50 p<?r cent dearer than in Great Britain; money ds fearfully tight and competition is very keen. There has already been a la-rge exodus of whites to other parts of the world, particularly the Australian colonies, tired of living in a, fools' paradise. Shop toys and giris' wages range from £1 10/ to £2 per month." He pathetically concludes: "I hope you will insert this warning in your esteemed journal. lam doing temporary jobs to keep body and soul together. Old men stand a very poor chance of employment at the Cape." New Z«a/lander3 would do well to pause before venturing to take passage bo South Africa.

The Auckland Painters' Union members are holding a. special meeting on Monday evening next, to appoint a committee to draft an amended set of working conditions, to take the place of the award which expires on December 31st. The union also, not to be behind other trades, is making great preparations for holding their annual trade pien'ic at Motukorea on Saturday, December 10th. It is expected thai the employers' shops will all close down for the day, and a good programme of sports has been arranged. ■ The appeal by the Dominion executive of the Trades and Labour Councils to the unione on behalf of some recognition to Mr. E. Tregear, on his .retirement; from the position of Secretary for Labour at the end of the year, for his; efforts to ameliorate ,the -conditions of the workers, is meeting with very marked success. At their last meetings, the Hotel and Eestaurant Employees' Union and .the Auckland Brewers' Employees' Union voted each the sum of £o 5/ in aid of the projected presentation, and many other unions have also treated the appeal in an equally responsive numner. The Auckland Hotel and Restaurant Employees' Union held a very successful half-yearly meeting last Thursday evening; the officers of last term were prac-. tically re-elected'without opposition. Mr. G. Phillips is still president, and Messrs. T. Long and E. Keeami are secretary and assistant-secretary respectively. The membership has more than held its own, and at the end of next month it is anticipated that it will touch the thousand. The financial part of the half-year's work has also been very satisfactory. Notwithstanding a heavy outlay in working expenses, including representation before Conciliation Councils and Court, the union finishes with a credit balance of over £125.

The large ironworks establishment formerly owned by James Martin and Co., Gawler, and still Wearing the name of the old firm, ia the acene of a strike which

is to be fought to a finish. The trouble is with the boilermakers' assistants and blacksmiths' strikers, who have been paid lower rates of wages than are paid to general labourers everywhere, and who for months past have been trying in vain to obtain better conditions. The trouble really began in Adelaide, where in some shops similar conditions prevailed. For weeks past the -union secretary had been endeavouring to arrive at a settlement with the employers in Adelaide and Gawler. At first the men determined , to ask for 8/6 a day, and to insist on that sum being paid. The employers would not accede to the demand, and in order to av«rt a strike the workers decided to accept 8/ a day as the standard minimnm. Even this amount some of the ironfounders refused to grant, although they offered to pay it to some of the workers, and to grade the others downwards on a sliding scale. As no settlement could Tse arrived at, the Adelaide employees struck work on Monday morning, the 24th October. The blacksmiths also threw in their lot with the assistants, with the result that the terms asked for were granted, and the men returned to work on their own conditions, after a strike which lasted only about four hours.