TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 167, 15 July 1915, Page 8

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

———————— , (By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.) UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. This Evening, July 15 — Letterpress ] Machinists. Friday, July 10—Bricklayers. i Monday. July 10— Plasterers. Butchers, ] Furniture Trades, Cutters and Pressors.- i Tuendii}-, July 2o—'Plumbers, I'onnouby , Carpenter)*, Tramways, District C'ouucil , L'.t'.L. Shirt workers. Wednesday, July 21—Bootmakers' Exccu- < tive. ANNUAL LABOUR CONGRESS. The open congress of unions, called . by the United Federation of Labour, and attended by delegates from unions affiliated and non-alliliatod to that or ganisation, opened in Wellington on . Tuesday of last week, and lasted all week. Its business consisted of the consideration of remits from the. unionists of the Dominion as a whole, and its decisions in many instances worn forwarded to a later congress of the affiliated unions, with a recommendation that they he given effect to liy the Executive of the United Federation of Labour. Thait congress is in session this week, so that none of the delegate* have yet arrived homo. From those delegates tluit participated in the open congress I gather that the attendance was a representative one, embracing all schools of thought in the New Zealand Labour movement, and that its proceedings have been marked by much greater unanimity than any similar gathering of recent years. The Hon. .'. T. Paul, who attended the open congress as an Otago delegate, and who, I am informed, is President of the U.F.L. Congress now in session, writes in his Labour Notes in the "Otago Daily Times." last Saturday. as follows:—"It is unlike the famous Unity Congress of 10Ki as two similar things could possibly be. There is a total absence of internal strife and bitterness, and in their place is shown an | anxiety to do the right thing for organised labour and the community. Especially is it necessary that organised Labour should display this spirit at this time. A crop of new difficulties will arise out of the war. and there are the remnants of the strike aftermath. In face of this situation, therefore. Labour requires its undivided energy. All part.* | of the country an- fairly represented. I and the same may be said of the various industries. There are fewer representatives of Wellington unions than of any other province, and this may bbc accounted for by the fact that sectional strife has been most bitter in the capital city. It will not be surprising, however, if the tone of the present gathering has some effect on 'the situation in the direction of consolidating local forces. As most of the business still remains to be done, J must reserve final comment for a later date." TREXTHAM TROUBLES. Last week 1 mentioned that a local union secretary had received a wire from one of his members to go down to Treniham to look after bis welfare, as he. was very ill. Mr. Tom Long, at the request of his union, went down to investigate matters, and has returned impressed with the conviction that things were quite as had as reported. He has made a report to his executive, and it has decided to ask the Press to make it public. The mud at the camp was appalling, and along with other labour men. also visitors, it had to be scraped oft" their clothing on leaving the camp. The executive has decided to support the Mayor's proposition in favour of Auck land a* a site for one of the camps, owing to the more genial climate, and the volcanic nature of the One-tree Hill grounds. 11l fact, it has been decided to discourage any more members of the union volunteering for the front unless an Auckland camp is decided on. This is a serious matter for the Motel and Restaurant Employees' Union, as over 300 members have so far volunteered for the Dardanelles. In the meantime. Trentham has been practically forsaken, and some day. instead of "Japhet in Search of a Father" being a standard book, it will be "A Government in Search of a Camp." for when the homeless troops got to the new selection at Rangiotu on Saturday, it was under water, so perforce, the troop train was sent back to Palmerston North. The Defence Department has completely proved its; inability to rope with the situation, and j if a pvuer.il election took place next week, there is no doubt that the Masrov Government would be overthrown. Relatives of soldiers who have suffered hy the treatment meted out to their loved ones are loud in their denunciation of an Administration that has so woefully failed to cop" with the situation. SUFFERERS I<i" THE WAR. We, in the Dominion, have n very faint conception of the extent to which the people in the Old Land have suffered by the war. As soon as the Willochra arrives in our midst, with her load of maimed and wounded, we shall have some slight idea as to how far "war is hell." On Saturday last the Corinthic arrived at Wellington from England. A pathetic little party on board consisted of n mother and four little children, the eldest being five years, and the youngest five months' old. The husband and father was killed at the battle of Ncuve Chapelle. and never saw his youngest child. In the same battle the widow had three cousins killed. Realising that | she had no relations at Home who could i assist her. as her mother had left two years previously for New Zealand, she determined to try her luck in a new j country. On arrival at Wellington she found that her mother was also in trouble, as her four brothersAad left for the Dardanelles with the Dominion Expeditionary Forces, and two of them | have, been wounded. This is only one of many similar cases. EDUCATIONAL. The Ponsonby branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners is making a much-needed move in the direction of making its meetings interesting and educational to its members, by the institution of peripdical lectures. A circular has been issued to its members as follows.-—"The small attendance at our branch meetings and the j lack of interest displayed by the major-1 ity of our members in the affairs of the branch has long been a source of regret to the officers thereof. They realise that' the meetings are rather dull and unentertaining, and are anxidus to induce the members to attend meetings and take part in election of officers, vote on necessary occasions, and to voice suggestions for reform, etc. For this purpose it has been decided to arrange for the delivery of occasional lectures in connection with our ordinary branch meet- I ings. The first of these will be delivered ' on Tuesday, July 20. when Mr. Urquhart, I a college master, will lecture on "Fields, Factories, and Workshops" as dealt with j

in a book written by Prince Kropotkin." It is intended to start the lecture at 8.30 p.m. after the branch business has been disposed of during the previous hour. This is a step in the right direction that might be followed by other unions. THE BECEXT AWARD?. Much interest has been evinced in the recent budget of awarde made, by the Arbitration Court. On the whole they have been well received by the workers most closely interested. That is not to say of course, that everybody is satisfied, but the. majority with whom 1 have discussed the recent derisions dec-la re that the, Court is now giving more weight to the evidence adduced. And that in itself is a distinct gain. The most interesting decision of the Court ia undoubtedly that which Telates to the " tipping system in vogue on our steamships. In practice "tipping" is obnoxious to all concerned. Every worker desire to be rid of a method of payment .which is closely akin to charity. So far as ; the average passenger is concerned the | "tip" bears no relationship to tile «>cr- i vice rendered by the recipient. It is j simply a custom which in practice h:is | rplipved the shipping companies from j fairly remunerating thrir workers. The j Court makes it very clear in a memo- j randirm that its attempt (at the request j of the union) to abolish -tipping" Iβ j largely experimental, and that if "tew-; ards accept tips they commit a breach of the award, and will pave the way towards brcakinjr down the expprimrnt. In connection with the abolition of "tipping" it is interesting to noticp that a bi'll. agitated for by commercial travellers' organisations, has been introduced in the Wisconsin Senate. Thp receiving of a tip. according to the bill, is a misdemeanour, but. the giving of a tip is a felony. I'nder the State law, thesr degrees of crime are both punishable by gaol or prison sentences. A law was passed several years aco imposing n £"> fine for tipning, but thp law was never enforced.—Hon. .7. T. Paul in the Otago " Diily Times " Labour Xotes. SHOPS AXD OFFICE? ACT. 'I he Drapers' Union'are endeavouring to get an amendment put through thi.-* session, by the aid of Mr. A. H, Hindmarsh, of the Shops and OfTieeo Act. so that all shops will close on ordinary nights at 5.:50 p.m., at S p.m. on the late I night, and 12 noon on Saturdays; also, i th.it assistant* *ha!l not forfeit the right of their half-holiday because it so happened that n public holiday happens along during the week. With regard to .VMO dosing, it is pointed oui, that this has been done voluntarily -.it Auckland for the last two years. Regarding the haJlf-holiday, the provision asked for obj tains in Australia, and also in the Old Country.—" Wellington Post." EARLY CLOSING OF HOTEL?. A quiet and determined effort is being made in Wellington to work up and oblain public sympathy for the closing of hotels at 0 p.m. on five days of the week, and 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The movement will be worked on the lines of the recent election in South Australia, and the principal movers in the meantime are holding their hands waiting for an opportunity to express themselves. It is expected to get the weight of Labour behind the movement. Data of a valuable nature has been obtained from prominent Labour men who took part in the South Australian campaign.—'Post.'' Notice lias been gazetted that the registrations of the following unions have been cancelled under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Acts: — Thp Hikurangi Coal-miner-' Union. Hiknmngi; the Waro Employees in Coal-mines (other than Eufiiiio-wrightsi. Deputies, Underground Firemen, and Undcrviewers). Union. Hikurangi. '■ In a preface to the newly-registered rules of the Wellington Waterside I Workers' Union the attention of members it* particularly directed to the rule which refers to accidents. "Generally I speaking, notice of accident sent to the employer is not really important, for an accident is usually a notorious occurrence of which the employer necessarily has actual notice. Of late years, however, the meaning of the word accident has been the subject of important judicial definition, and it is now unquestionable tliHt a persoA may meet with an acei- . dent without being aware of it until and unless some deleterious result j thereof becomes manifest. A very I slight abrasion or pinprick may cause j blood-poisoning and the loss of a limb, lor even death itself. In such a ense the I plea of want of notice by an employer in a compensation case would be serious, and hence members should be careful to note every injury, however trifling it may api .ear at the time, and acquaint the secretary of the same."