TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 222, 18 September 1919, Page 11

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.) 1

UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. i This Evening, Sept. IS —Coopers. Friday, t'ept. lt> —Beamsmen. Monday. Sept. ~ —Painters, Shipwrights' I Special. Tuesday. Sept. 23—Plumbers* Quarterly, Carpenters. Wednesday. Sept. 24—Bootmakers, Winterside Workers. TThursday, Sept. 2o—Enginedrivers, Boilermakers. Stonemasons. The Fishcurers' dispute has been fixed by -he Conciliation Commissioner to be heard on Tuesday. September 30th. In it- claims the union asks for the ex-! teii-ion of the operation of the award, from twenty-five to a fifty miles radius:; this will include the Thames and Helens-j vffle. I During tiie last few month's proposals' lave been afoot for an amalgamation ot the Auckland branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners with the Auckland Ship and Boatbuilders' Union, and a special meet-! ins of the Shipwrights' Union is to he held on Monday evening to consider the terms for amalgamation- j

THE SHOP ASSI-TA-TTS. Last week I announced the formation oi an industrial union for workers in the hardware establishments, under the name of the Auckland Hardware Assistants' Union. I notice in the report of the proceedings of the Arbitration Court in Christchureh that an application for a combined award for combined shop assistants, has been argued hefore the Court. Th? union claimed w__es as follows:—'First year of service, £1 per week: second year, males £1 7/6, females £1 5/: third year. ma'es £l 17/6. females £1 12/6: fourth year, males £2 15/, females £2 2/6: fifth year, males £3 10/, females £2 10/-.] thereafter, males £4 10/, females £3j 5.'. The hours' clause proposed that.j for seniors the day's work should| ,->ea=e at 5.30 p.m. on five days of thej wrek. and at 5 p.m. for juniors, with a half-holiday from noon on the day of the recogni-ed half-holiday. A fortttiirht's holiday on full pay in each year r,->~ also asked for. Mr. E. D. Martin, on behalf of the union, said that hitherto the award had applied only to assistants in the dr_pery trade, but it was desirable that there should 'be only one award operating to cover all shop assistants employed by a firm. After arguing on the need for an increased wage, and advancing the argnment that the sovereign from its face vali'a in 1514 had depreciated until to-day its purchasing power was only equal to 13/2, a reduction of thirty-three and a third per cent., Mr. Martin said:—Another question was that of the hours of employment, in which Christchureh was behind most of the other towns in \S"ew Zealand. In other places 5.30 closing was in operation. Most of the retail trades favoured it. His Honor: We cannot close the shops. We can only fix the hours of employment.

At the elo«e of the hearing:. h:s Honor said that they had to fix the minimum rate for the lawest class oi ■workers in the smallest establishment. He questioned whether it would not be p. good thing to limit the award to soft goods assistants. If the union could come io an agreement with the hardware and footwear sections, well and good, hut otherwise, it would be better for the union to eliminate them in the meantime, and embody them in a new award. -Judgment was reserved. In forming themselves into a separate virion, the Auckland Hardware Assistants would appear to he proceeding on lines that will meet with the approval of the Court. A HAHD-TSTOBKED COURT. Some of the local unions have been loud in their complaints of the delay in receiving the Court of Arbitration decision"; in their respective awards or applications. From the following paragraph taken from the columns of the Christchureh "'Sin," it would appear that the reason for these lonu delays 5e that the members of the Court are overworked. The paragraph states: —■ the sittinss of the Arbitration Court in Christchureh, his Honor Mr. •Tustice Stringer drew the attention of the parties to the fact that the Court was overburdened with work, and that there must necessarily be some little delay in the issuing and publication of awards and orders of the Court. Innuiries show that the work of the <""ourt has been practically doubled by the legislation of last session, which gives parties to awards or industrial agreements the right to apply at any time durin_ the currency of an award or industrial agreement to have the reopened as regards wages or h"ur<=- Full advantage has been taken of this legislation by unions generally, and practically every award in New Zealand has come np for review by the Court since the commencement of the; year. The staff of the Court consists of i one—the Registrar (Mr. J. H. Salmond) | —and this officer has been working literally every night since this legislation came into force." I am glad to be able to make this public, but what the unions in Ar.cklp.nd cannot understand is, why, if this overwork exists, the judge, along with his associate Ofr. Salmond) should have extra work thrust upon them in the shape of Criminal Sessions in various centres from time to time.

BEX TILLETT OX DIRECT ACTION. There were quite a number of scenes, more or less violent in character, at the annual conference of the British Labour party at Southport, and on June 25 there were some r.ngry exchanges when the question of "direct action" to gain political ends, was debated. The division was taken amid scenes of wildest confusion, and of great tension, and on a card vote the extremists won, the numbers being: For the resolution, 1,893,000; against the resolution, 036,000. The outstanding feature of the debate, which included speeches by Robert Smillie, James Sexton (Liverpool Dockers), Philip Snowden, W. Brice, M.P., J. R. Clynes, M.P., md TT. Adamson (leader of the Labour party in the House of Commons), was the powerful speech delivered by Ben Tillett, M.P., in favour of moderation. In an impassioned appeal he contended that this political conference had no right to ask the industrial side to take up the industrial economic weapon without ever,- member and branch of the trade union organisation being committed on thct issue. Such a decision must be taken with a full sense of responsibility. Referring to the resolution, he was not gcincr to accept any camouflage to cover th<> minister intentions of the revolutionaries. The great trade unions could not take the responsibility for a strike without exhausting every avenue of reason Brd every possible argument to secure their ends before they took the responsi-

Wity of starting civil war. There had never been a. revolution yet that had accomplished corresponding good that had not come from the workers themI selves. "Whenever you have gone blindly into revolution," he said, amid a tornado lof interruptions, "led by the professional | politicians, the middle classes had gouged j out the eyes of the Samsons, and when i the debt had to be paid it was the middle '.classes and the professional politicians j who benefited, and the workers who i suffered. If a blind sacrifice lias to be •made^—and I don't say that it won't i have to be made—l would ask for a reaI sonable attitude to be assumed. But if .the revolutionary attitude is to be adopted it must be properly organised. J I don't want to speak disrespectfully of • anyone, but those who have been "the most blatant for bloodshed have been the first to skulk away when the soldier : and the sailor have had to turn out. (Cheers.l We are not going to allow ] the Samsons of the trade union movej ment to be massacred. The men in the I Labour movement must be consulted be- : fore any action is taken." (Loud cries of dissent.) "Yes, shout mc down," answered the speaker defiantly; "that is the sort of fighters you are. But remember this: the trade union movement I will not allow you to abuse them." (Upi roar and applause.) =