TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 303, 19 December 1912, Page 8

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

This (Thursday) Evening—Stonemasons. Engine Drl-ers, Plumbers (speci-l), BaildIng Trades Picnic Ce—lmifte*. Friday, December 2e"l—Furrdture Trades (special). Bricklayers, Finnrbers' social. Monday, DTCeanbe— - 23—Painters, Hairdressers. Tuesday, December 24— Ponsonby Carpenters.

I have to acknowredge the receipt of the half-yearly balance-sheet of the Auckland Hoted and Restaurant Employees* Union, for the period c—ding October 31st, 1912. The statement shows the union to be in a prosperous condition both as regards finance and membership. 475 new members have been admitted during the six months. 192 nralfs and 283 females. Females' contributions are only half those of the male members, and yet the contributions for the term total £350. The past term has been an expensive one, notwithstanding which the union has a credit balance of £145. Travelling expenses figure as an important item in expenditure, viz., £152, which includes representation at the annual conference at Dunedin £91, and organising tours to Tauranga, Whangarei, Awanui, and Rotorua. The office staff consists of secretary, assistant secretary and clerk, as the business is considerable, all labour under the award being engaged through the union, thereby saving the members registry office fees. The union is to be congratulated on its prejsperous position, under the direction of Mr. T. Long as secretary, and Mr. B. Martin, assistant secretary.

At the last meeting of the Auckland Electrical Workers' Union, a presentation of an illuminated address was made to Mr. H. L. Horning, in recognition of his services in the formation of the union in 1908, and the securing of two awards since that date. The presentation was made in felicitous terms by Mr. L. Williamson, the oldest member of the union, and was suitably acknowlejdgejd by the recipient, who, on taking up the duties of paid secretary of the Auckland Painters' Union, has had to relinquish his position of an officer of the Electrical •Workers' Union. The address, which was of a chaste design, beautifully framed, bore the names of every member of the union.

An official list has been compiled by the Waihi Miners' Union of the names of those of its members who were not loyal to the union, but wemt to work under the auspices of tbe Ohinemuri Miners' Union before the strike was

officially declared off. The list shows that out of an aggregate membership of over 1.200, 43 went " over to the enemy," out of which 36 were unfinancial at the time of their secession. Since the declaring off of the strike, and up to December 12, 13 members of the old union have accepted work under the new agreement, and with the full acquiescence of the union. I do not propose to discuss the merits or demerits of the rival unions; thiß has been worn threadbare already, .but the figures herein quoted, which are from a reliable source, show a wonderful solidarity amongst the members, whatever their line of action has been in the past. I can only express 'the hope that in this Christmas season, old sores will be bealesi. and all bitterness dispersed, so that Waihi shall soon be, what it was in the past, one of the most industrious and prosperous centres in the Dominion. The fight was long and bitter, both sides did things that were not judicious or commendable, and both parties, for the welfare of the township, should now bury the hatchet.

I have to acknowledge the receipt of a comprehensive report of the comparatively recent Lithgow miners' and ironworkers' strike in New South Wales, which will interest many of the unions of Aucfcland who contributed their quota towards the maintenance of the strike. Although the strike was declared off on April 9th, 1912, the report and balancesheet has only jnst been circulated, and bears the date of September 12th- Tbe strike lasted from July 17th, 1911, to April 9th, 1912, and resulted in a complete viertory for the men. The total receipts amounted to £18,177 3/1, and the States contributing were:—New South Wales, £12,752; West Australia. £535; Victoria, £2,1t33; South Australia, £353; Tasmania, £37; Queensland, £689; New Zealand, £1.494; South African Miners' Union, £150. The British Steel Smelters' Association of London also contributed a donation of £100. Amongst the unions that contributed from Auckland are: The bootmakers, bakers, t»a«_rworkers, certified engine-drivers, cutters and presscrs, driveys, seamen, stonemasons, tramway employees, timber workers, and waterside workers. It will be remembered that Mr. Hoskins demanded an unconditional surrender on the part of the union, but, from a glance over the agreement, this was not given. Clause 1 states: ~*—iat all t_mel miners shall be reinstated at onese, including J. C-irns (union detegate) ; work to be shared amongst the men. 1 ' Clause 3: ''Every man employed at the blast furnace prior to the dispute, and who ceased work at the time of the dispute, to be re-employed in their old positions at one»." Clause 5: "Mr. Sparks to obtain work for all those taken on since the dispute, and they will be removed from the works without delay on completion of this agreement.'' d-u-e 6: "The following eight men (names given) to be removed from the works should they be considered objectionable by the union." Clause 7: in the future shall be obtained through the unions if men are available."

At the beginning of this month the Auckland bookbinders, rulers and paper cutters' dispute was settled before the Conciliation Commissioner, when a rise of 2/6 all round was agreed on. This has met with an objection from the Canterbury bookbinders. who have amalgamated with the Letterp.-esa iiaclunists' Federation. A dispute afthe Canterbury men came before the Cornmiasioner, Mr. Triggs, on December loth, and the union representatives were surprised to learn from Mr. r-ryor that a settlement had been arrived at in Auckland, which nraetic-lly prejudiced their hope of getting a minimum of £3 5/, M granted ii? the uiachnu-te- award. The dispute was adjourned for one month, at the request of the Federation, to consider their position and get an answer from the Auckland union.

The award for the clerical division ' officers, applied for by the New South Wales Tramway Employees' Union and the Amalgamated Railway and Tra-mway Service Association, has among the main provisions of the award the following:—Hours: Officers, CJ per v»e»ek <lay; time-keepers, &}: traffic clerks, 7-4, with a halfday on Saturday. Wages: Juniors under 17 years, £45 per annum, up to £110 under 21, and £130 at 21; ; adults, spec—l class, nuninrrrm £460, ' maximum £5(30; class 1. £410 to £450; I 2, £360 to £400; 3, £310 to £350; 4, ',£270 to £300; 5, £210 to £255; and

6, £130, to £200. In Brisbane the clerks have no union, and they have low wag— as a consequence. It is now estimated that raflwaymen of Great Britain have gained at least £1,500,000 a year in wages hy the concessions granted under the amended conciliation scheme which was adopted after last year's strike. In many cases the men have secured reductions of hours, and the concession altogether will cost the companies nearly £2,000,000.

When the officials of the transport strikers in London declared the strike off, a mass meeting was called, and 30,000 men assembled in Southwark Park. "Will you go back to work tomorrow*" said the union secretary, and asked them to hold up their hands. In all that immense gathering of haggard and fooeiless mem, not a single hand was held up!

At the international miners' conference, held at Amsterdam on July 8, a resolution was carried unanimously, declaring that "all land, mines, and railways should be nationalised, in the interests of the various countries." The resolution was moved by a British delegate.

The "Daily Herald." London's Labour paper, thinks the defeat of the Labour candidate at the Crewe by-election was one more example of Mr. Ramsay Macdonald's "disastrous leadership." "When the only hope of the Labour party is vigour and fierce attack,"' it says, "Mr. Mucdonald han> clogged its movements by a continuous policy of compromise and nervous hesitation."

Wben the New York Milk Trust was formed, fifteen thousand men were thrown out of employment, and the price of milk was raised 25 per cent. The Beef Trust paid a dividend of 38 per cent in the same year on an enormous capital, two-thuds of which was watered stock. Unemployment and the high cost of living are, of counse, very sad things, but they are the result of the unalterable law of supply and demand. At least that is what the 1 rust-controlled Press says. Last month a novel strike took place m Xew York. The use of bad language by the foremen and male workers was responsible for 400 members of the Dressmakers' Union going out on strike, and others joined them, in their protest against superfluous adjectives. Equal pay for equal work is one of the Labour planks, and must carry with it other forms of equality, language being one. If the women won't lower the standard of their language, the men must raise theirs. I never knew a contest yet between the sexes but the man had to bow to the inevitable, and give in to the lady. But in this instance one wonders where the men were that they did not make a protest against these foulmouthed foremen or workmen. Where were the fathers, -brothers, and other girls' brothers that they did not settle the matter for the girls without the necessity for a strike? What would the working men of Dunedin do under similar circumstances, I wonder.—"Pubiicita," in Dunedin "Star."

Apparently the Adelaide Ironmoulders'\ 1 Society regard diligence as a crime, for 1! they have expelled a member (one of t the ironmoulders employed by A. Simp- < son and Son) for the offence of earning ' too much money. Some months ago the , firm offered a stove moulder a bonus of < Od, ip addition to his weekly wages of : £3, for all washing copper castings he 1 I'-hou'd make in excess of 50. The man , a-ecepted the offer, and, a— a -beginning < made between 00 and 70 castings a week, ' but the executive of the Moulders' Union had previously decided that 38 1 was a fair wepk's work, and in August . the secretary (Mr. Spafford) wrote, asking the man to reduce his output to 00, and. incidentally, of course, to bring down his earnings to £3 3/9. The moulder, a loyal unionist, vainly endeavoured to persuade the executive to alter their decision, and last week he was e_cpeiled from the union. j "Take the leading strikes in their order, and you will nnd tha. t, without a single exception, the organised workers have been defeated, and thousands upon thousands of them have lost their jobs, and many of them have become 'scabs' Is there not something wrong with a unionism in which the workers are nearly always worsted?"— Eugene V. Debs ("Industrial Unionism"), 1905. "We want a better distribution of wealth," said Mr. Will Thome, in his presidential address to the 500 delegates assembled at the Trade Union Congress in England last month. "To-day the amount received by the workers is much less in proportion to the total wealth production than it ever was. When the first congress met in Manchester, in ] 1869, the annual wealth production was 800 millions, and the workers got half of it. Now it is about 2,000 millions, and the workers get about SOO millions. There cannot be any satisfactory solution of the wage system so long as a small class in the community owns the mea—s of producing wealth."