TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 186, 6 August 1914, Page 8

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRA34P.) UNION MEETINGS FOB THE WEEK. Friday, August 7— Sailmakers, Shipwrights (Kxecutive). Monday, August: 10—Gnmworkers, Painters, Brewery Employees, Drivers (Executive). I Tuesday, August 11—Central Carpenters, Saddlers, S.D.P. Wednesday, August 12—Gas Companies' Employees. Thursday, August 13 —Dairy Employees, Labour Day Commltttee. Union matters arc a secondary consideration at present, with the war fever that exists in the breasts of all classes of the community. As a party Labour is opposed to war, at any rate, a war of aggression, .but I do not think there aie many who would object to acting on the defensive; in fact, one of the planks of Labour in any part of the world, is the formation of a citizen army, which shall not be used in time of industrial trouble. Even in the British Cabinet I notice that the Rt. Hon. John Burns, has resigned his position as President of the Board of Trade, because he could not support the policy of British interference on tbe Continent. Some speculation has been indulged in as to the attitude of the German Socialist Party on the present struggle, but there is no doubt that the action of Germany in proclaiming martial law at the outset has prevented) any protest being made known as to the mind of this powerful section in the Reichstag on the question. We are informed, however, that over one million Socialist workers in Italy have announced their intention to strike if Italy takea an active part in the struggle. Canada has offered tbe services of :'O,OOO men as an expeditionary force, and the offer has been accepted by the Imperial Government. Australia has offered a force of 20,000, and the New Zealand Government "propose"' to 'equip a force of 7,000 volunteers for service here or abroad. There are ample precedents' for the Government, in the offer of the contingents by tbe late Mr. R. J. Scddon during the Boer War; and also the offer and equipment of the dreadnought. "Xew Zealand" by tbe then Prime Minister*, Sir Joseph Ward ; but I am of tho opinion that the despatch of an expeditionary force by the present Government would meet with* opposition, by not only the Parliamentary members of the New Zealand Labour party, but also from the rank and file throughout the Dominion. The' unions this week liave been circularised to enlist - their sympathies in aid of the Maitland miners, and their strike against the continued imposition of the afternoon shift from 3 p.m. till 11 p.m. Mr. .1. J. Hudson, the authorised delegate appointed by the Maitland Collieries Employees' federation, arrived in •Wellington by the Maunganui yesterday week from Sydney, to solicit assistance for his fellow-workers. He states that there are 42 collieries in the Newcastle district, and eight of these have been compelled, until recently, to work the double shift. This is from 7 a.m. till 3 p.m., and from 3 p.m. till 11 p.m. Yot a number of years the workers have been endeavouring to abolish the second shifi) without success. They made an effort to effect a settlement" by a conference, with the proprietors by a voluntary conciliation court, and finally, by means of a Wages Board, but up to the present they have been unsuccessful. When the claim was placed before the Wages Board the proprietors questioned the jurisdiction of the Board to hear the claim, notwithstanding the fact that they had told the miners on numerous occasions to place their claim before that tribunal. Tin 1 judge pointed out that lie had no jurisdiction, hence it was necessary to niter the claim to one of payment for the working of tlie shift. After tl considerable amount of evidence had been heard the award was issued. It did not provide for extra payment, but a provision was made that if those proprietors who voluntarily conceded the one-shift principle to the men desired at any future time to work the second shift they would be compelled to pay 23 per cent increase on .the existing rates. Tlie award was unsatisfactory to the men, in so far that in court the judge had declared that it was not within the jurisdiction to abolish the afternoon shift, and, secondly, on account of the claim having been altered to one of remuneration in the shift, at the request of the Court. In the face of this, no increase was granted for the working of the shift; thus it would be seen that the men tried every constitutional means over a period of years to-right this grievance, and had failed. After, a deputation interviewed the Minister for Mines, who told them there was notliing to compel the employers to abolish the shift and nothing to compel the employees to work it. The result was that the Maitland miners refused to work* the second shift, this being the only weapon left them. The reasons given shortly for the strike are:—l. Injury to the health of the miners concerned. All the South Maitland doctors gave evidence before the Wages Board that the working of a second shift was injurious to health. 2. Deprivation of citizens' rights and social pleasures to men on second shift. 3. Drudgery in the home for the housewife, she being practically at work from 6 a.m. till after midnight, where father and sons, or husband or brothers, were working on separate shifts. 4. Tlie trade of Newcastle can be supplied in one shift, and also the present output maintained with slight improvements in the facilities for working the one shift. As a proof of this the case of the Caledonian collieries at Lessnoclc is cited. The output from these mines was about 2,000 tons for sixteen hours' work, whereas, after voluntarily abolishing the second shift, the output the following fortnight for eight hours' hauling, bank to bauk, was 2,400 tons of coal, and that output has been maintained up to the present. For the last nine weeks over 3,000 men have been idle on the field, and if financial aid is forthcoming it is believed there iB everything in favour of the men winning their contention. Mr. Hudson intends" to visit every union in New with tho view of obtaining their practical assistance. He will first visit the West Coast, and then lie will make a complete tour of the South Island, after which he will visit the North. In the £100,060 contract entered into by the Theosophical Society with the London Building Industries Federation of Workers for the building of the Society's new headquarters, in Bloomsbury, London, the trustees agree:— (1) To employ trade unionists only on the building work, from foremen downwards. (2) To do all masonry, plumbing, | brickwork, and' plastering by direct labour. (3) That henceforth all materials used ,in the work shall be obtained from "fair" firms, approved as such by the representatives of the L.BXF. (4) That any sub-contracting necessary shall be done through "fair" firms apjproved by the L.BJJ-'. as ouch.

The London Building Industries Federation agree with the trustees:— (1) To supply the number of workers required for the different branches of the building work.

(2) To supply good craftsmen, and to be responsible for the efficient carrying out of the work, more especially that done by direct labour.

(3) To raise no objection to the fixing or use of joinery and stonework ordered or prepaf*d before the signing of the agreement.

(4).. To confer with the trustees or their representatives before calling out the men on strike in case of dispute.

Although the contract had already been signed by the parties, the men objected to the presence of a foreman scaffolder who had already been employed as a watchman. An official of the federation said that work could not be begun until all the overseers' positions, fr. m the general foreman to that of the foreman labourer, were satisfactorily filled.

The federation officials had some difficulty in obtaining trade union foremen. Nearly all the foremen were non-union-ists, and while a large number were disengaged, it was hard to find any who would join the union and so earn the right to superintend the new work.

There was keen competition among the trade unionists for the superior positions, but to promote one from the ranks "at one fell swoop" might arouse jealousies, it was argued.

After a conference with the trustees Mr. Kinneburg, vice-chairman of the federation, the foreman scaffolder to whom the men objected was removed, and a general foreman appointed to carry on the work, he to be responsible for selecting workmen and sub-foremen.

Mr. Charles Inch, of the United Builders' Labourers' Union, stated that no new principle was involved in the agreement with the Theosophical Society.

"It is an interesting document," he said, "but the principle of employing labour direct is old. For some years the Metropolitan Asylums Board had a similar arrangement. The Theosophical Society finds all the plant and material, while labour is supplied direct by our unions."