TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 17, 20 January 1916, Page 8

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP. ) , • UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. . This Evening, January 20.—Bookbinders; , Boilermakers; Newmarket Carpenters. Friday, January 21.—Bricklayers. Saturday, January 22.—Typographical. Monday, January 24. —Drivers; Painters; Hairdressers. - Tuesday, January 25.—Coachworkers. Wednesday, January 26.—General Labourers; Bootmakers. Thursday, January 27.—Enginedrivers; ; Tramways. THE CONSCRIPTION CONFERENCE, j On Tuesday next, January 25th, the conference convened by the executive of the United Federation of Labour, with the object of obtaining a consensus of opinion of the labour unions of the Dominion, opens in Wellington. A. fair number of the local unions have decided to be represented at the conference, either by delegates sent from Auckland or by proxies- in the shape of Wellington labourites who have signified their willingness to act, in order to obviato travelling expenses, which come very heavj- on Auckland unions. There are some unions that have decided not to be represented in any shape .or form, probably through the apathy of the members. The southern unions will be fairlywell represented, except, I understand, from Otago. The tone of the circular convening the conference has caused many unions of . weight to decline to have anything to do with the movement, for it is claimed that the circular, instead of conveying the invitation to attend the conference, and leaving the question to be fought out on the floor by debate and argument, prejudged the whole question, by advancing arguments against conscription. There is no question but that the bulk of the unions approached have declared against the question of conscription pure and simple. Man-v have declared their intention to resist the proposal unless it is accompanied by the conscription of wealth. They cannot forget that the National Government has not even approached the pockets of the wcalthv in the manner that conservative Britain has done, and that the wealthy squatters and exporters of the Dominion have been reaping quite a harvest by tbe increased . prices of meat, butter and wool exported, and the unions hesitate to agree to the compulsory handing, over of the bodies of the eligible young men as food for powder until the Government tackles the question of the wealth to be defended In a more Democratic manner. Last week I ran up against a prominent Auckland Reform M.P., and even he, although a firm supporter of the Government, declared his dissatisfaction with the failure to tax war profits. He said: ''This year we have exported less wool than for many years past, and yet the value of the wool exported amounts to a million and a-half pounds sterlinjr more than last year." He also said that there would have to be an early session of Parliament called, and predicted that there would be some plain speaking from members of both sides of the House. As to the conference, it is idle to speculate at this stage as to what the delegates will decide upon. It has been stated that, while opposing conscription as a principle, the greatest section of. labour would not carry its opposition.' to extremes ; and would probably accept compulsion if other means of obtaining recruits had been exhausted, but there arc also latent doubts as to what extent exemptions for necessary- civil duties will he granted, as yvcll as to yvhat extent the medical faculty will he unapproachable ; l>v the poyvcr of money* in certifying to . the unfitness of men.*who are of military age. but yvho suffer from "cold feet." If . next Tuesday's conference is fairly re- ' presentative of the New Zealand unions, ' then the decision arrived at will no doubt carry great yveight yvith Parliament when called to consider the matter; if otherwise, labour will be divided, for ' nearly every returned soldier, ns well as the relatives of those who have gone to the front, are conscript ion is ts° at ' heart.

A LIVING WAGE. In the New South Wales Industrial I Court, sitting at Sydney 'recently, Mr. Justice Heydon (president of the NewSouth Wales Arbitration Court) made a further pronouncement on the question of the living wage, and laid down the minimum as 8/9 per day, or £2 12/6. per week. His Honor said: "Mr. Justice Edmunds and I have been considering the very difficult question of the minimum wage. The general Uncertainty created by tbe progressive effects of the war and by.the great fluctuations in prices tends to awaken industrial unrest; and though, as matters stand, at present, and with the materials available, yve can make no full and final declaration, we have thought that it might be well if we were to make some interim pronouncement as a guide to the Wages Boards during vacation. "After a good deal of discussion we have determined to express our view that, at present, the yvage for ordinary labourers should be 1/1J per hour, S/9 per day, or £2 12/6 per week. "Other workers cannot claim as a right that their wages are to rise above the labourer's yvage in the same proportions as before; that is a matter which the boards must consider. "A 6 to the.great variations shown by Mr. Knibte' tables in the purchasing power of the sovereign, they arc in themselves too violent, their causes are too obscure, and their future course too uncertain to enable us to rely upon them at this time even if the war and the course of events should not make it necessary in some cases to abandon their use. However, beyond what we • have said above we cannot go; the prospect is too dark and difficult to permit us Itq attempt any Conclusive determination." The last occasion on -which Mr. Justice Heydon dealt with the living -wage question was on November 22. He then referred to a judgment of February, 1914, which he -had expressed the view that ou the whole the labourer's -wage in Sydney "should go up' and down with the Commonwealth Statistician's tables ton the changes in the purchasing power of the sovereign." On this basis, it would appear, "the living wage which stood at the end of 1913 at £2 8/, and at the end of 1914 at £2 9/, was at the end of the third quarter of 1915 no less than £3 3/." With reluctance he had come to the conclusion that the sentence as to wages rising and falling with the ivahfe of the sovereign should not stand. AN ENGLISH WAR BONUS. The demand for a flat' rate of 5/- per week war bonus has been agreed to by all railway companies in England and Scotlaad. The Locomotiwe Union refnsed to hare it graded at 3/- for lower paid' ar.H "./- for h'-Vr ?<•,,} i-tt-.-iI-.i-o-s. T""c

National Union of Railwaymen and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen undertook that during the pendency of this agreement they woold not present to the-railway companies any fresh demands for increased bonus or wages, or general alterations in conditions of service, and that they would , not give countenance or support cither to a demand on the part of any of their members to reopen the, settlement made' or to any strike that might be entered upon in furtherance of such demand. STATE SOCIALISM. We arc often told that the State cannot run any industry and.make it pay. Not long ago the Employers' Federation of New Zealand told us through their president that all State enterprises Started in West Australia and elsewhere had been failures, instancing particularly the State sawmills of West' Australia.' There has recently come to hand an account which shows that in- j stead of a loss there has been a very handsome profit made by the sawmills in West Australia. These State sawmills have only been in existence for some two or three years, and in spite of the enormously depressing effects of the war they have come out this year with a net profit of £8,528. Last year, it may be mentioned, they showed a loss of £2,400. This had to be made good, so that the year's transactions actually returned a profit of £11,000., AN IMPORTANT POINT. The question whether the Arbitration Court is legally within its rights in granting compulsory unionism will shortly be decided by a full bench of judges. Preference to unionists as ordinarily enacted in awards is not in dispute —the right of the Arbitration Court to embody preference in awards was settled in the very early days of the Arbitration Act. But in recent years several bodies of employers and yvorkers agreed to embody a clause in their agreements making it mandatory on all engaged in the industry to join the union. The agreements have in due process become awards of the Court. A case has been stated for the judges' consideration, and it is anticipated that a decision will not be long delayed.—Hon. J. T. Paul's Labour Notes. NOTES. Brisbane carpenters and joiners have secured an award for the metropolitan area giving them a minimum wage of 1/7* an hour for a 44-hour week. Secondclass machinists are to receive 1/6 -an hour, and third-class machinists 1/4*. Overtime is at' the rate of time and a-half. Textile workers in Victoria have, demanded an increase of 25 per cent upon all adult workers' wages and 20 per cent upon lower-paid female workers' wages. In 1914 there were 89,369 employees on the various State-owned railways in the Commonwealth, being an increase of ■ 48,348, or over 100 ; per cent, in the decade. Twenty-five thousand American wageearners (says ''St. Louis Labour") suffered accidents at work in 1914, which [ resulted in death, according to statistics . made public by the Department of , Labour. The number of injuries involving a disability of more than four weeks was given as about 700,000.