TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 252, 23 October 1919, Page 8

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMT\> rJCTOX MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. Phis Kvenlng, October 23—Boilermakers. stonemason*. Liftmen. ami Cleaners.' Uond.-iy. October -'7—Labour Day Holiday Poesday. October 2S- Easineers. " |' Lhursday. October 30—Knglnedrivers. I! — |j LOCAL ACTIVITIES. L There is very little to report this! 1 yeek on the doings of the unions. The : '. .'ourt of Arbitration is still in session. ; ] ■lit expects to finish its Auckland busi- < less this week, which will leave a clean ' i ■heet till its next visit in February ; iext. Trade is very good indeed, and :herc are no applicants for employment, i Hiis i-. especially so in the building :rade?.. In the carpenters and joiners', monthly report for October. I notice the i Auckland secretary reports: "We still ] iiave plenty of work for all members in : :his district- in fact, more men couhl be i employed than are here. At the time', 3i* writing we have inquiries at the iffiee for both carpenters and joiners. ; md no one unemployed that we know j »f. The law of supply and demand I which we hear so much :il>out in con- ' lection with the high price of the ■ lecessuries of life, is now operating i -lightly in our favour, so far as wages ire concerned, because the supply of men s not equal to the demand for them. Fhere is competition amongst the employers to get the men there are here. uid that competition takes the form of offers of wajes above award rates, and af course, in most cases the highest i bidders get the men." This i.-> equally j true of the other sections of the buildng trades. The painting trade is exceptionally busy, and instead of a list of men wanting employment, as was usual a little while back, one is now I shown a list of employers wanting j men. This is accounted for in, several ways. One reason given, is the large amount of work being done in overtaking work that has been held in abeyance during the war. on account of the high price of lead and oil. It was expected that when the war was over prices would fall, but that hope has not! materialised, in fact there is little prospect of prices falling for some time to come. The delayed renovation of property has had to be undertaken at once, and added to this is the fact that such a lot of houses have changed hands lately, that new owners have been keen to rehabilitate the properties they have bought, while in other cases a fresh coat of paint has materially assisted the sales. CLASSICAL QUOTATIONS. A classical quotation will very often illustrate a statement and save a lot of explanation: but it sometimes happens that such a quotation leaves a great Uncertainty as to its meaning. An instance of this happened at the hearing of an application by the Amalgamated Society of Engineers for the Court to reconsider its decision on the overtime clause in its award, wherein the Court had decided that the war bonus did not apply to overtime, but only to ordinary time' worked. This decision affected not only the applicant union but also the moulders and boilermakers' unions as well. It will be remembered that as the result of thi6 - interpretation these unions had refused to work any overtime at all, and work had been delayed in consequence. In his reply his Honor said that the decision had been given on the award itself, and the proper course for the union was to ask that the award be amended. Th e decision ac to the meaning of the terme could not be reviewed It was not possible "to appeal from Phillip drunk to Phillip sober." It may ben mentioned that the three unions" concerned use the same office in the Trades Hall, and some of the Trades Hall officials experienced an uneasy feeling as to the exact meaning of the closing phra«=e. That uneasiness gave place to a of relief and amusement, when on looking up the classics the explanation was found:—"Provocarem ad Phillipum, sed Bobrmm" (I will appeal to Phillip, but to Phillip sober.) An appeal of a foreign woman against a judgment of Phillip of Macedon (382-336 8.C.), who had condemned her when intoxicated. The appeal was allowed, and the King, when sober again, reversed his sentence. Hence our saying '"to appeal from Phillip drunk to Phillip sober." IjABOUR DAY CELEBRATION. Next Monday is Labour's high holiday, and being th e first Labour Day after the close of the war, special efforts have been made by the Auckland unions to make this year's celebration worthy of the occasion. While the nation was engaged in such a tremendous struggle for existence, it could not be expected that the five celebrations that were held during that trying period, would be wholehearted. Scarcely a home in Auckland but what had been saddened and sobered by more or less active participation in th e war, and many felt that they could ,not participate in displaye and festivities while their loved ones were in danger.! That period is now but a hideouv memory. Time has a healing touch, andj it is expected that this year's celebration! will approach more nearly the pre-war celebrations, judging by the interest al-| ready displayed. The day starts with i the "usual procession leaving the foot of j Queen Street at 10 o'clock, the route being through Queen Street. We!-, lesley Street West, Hoteon andj Pitt" Streets. Karangahape Road, and over the Grafton Bridge to the Domain Cricket Ground. The entries for the procession are good. At the Cricket Ground a big programme of sports will commence at noon, and the i entries are reported to be the best since the beginning of the war. A monster baby show is te be held while the sport* are* proceeding, for which entries will be taken up to the time of judging. An extensive dancing competition is to be held on the ground, and I am informed that the entries for the Scotch dances constitute a record. The prizee for the procession and sport amount in value to about £350, and the admission ticket to the Cricket Ground entitles the holder to a chance in an art union. All now depends on the clerk of the weather, and given a fine day on Monday, a big surplus shoulr? be* available to go to the liquidation of the debt on the Auckland Trades Hall.