TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 123, 25 May 1923, Page 11

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

ißv INDUSTRIAL TRAM..)

. rN ION MKKTTXOS FOR THE WEEK. ~,„,,,, Employees. gS&." iay al-Enslnedrircrs. Cooper.. Boilcniiiikcr?. CARPENTERS JUBILEE. The Auckland branch of the AmalLted Society of Carpenters and !£ celebrate the jubilee of their as a union in Auckland n Saturday, July 7t1,. hy . .octal and J" cc in the Concert Chamber ol tile Town Hall, when it is expected a big reunion of members of tho society will take n i are If not the oldest union in Auckland it '-omes very close to that distinction, for. on referring to my labour note for October 15th, 1914. I find the following:—'"A meeting of trades men Jrasbeld on July Tlh. 1873, and formed the first carpenters" union in Auckland. It wastermed the -Auckland Carpenters M d Joiners' Protection Society, - with Mr Joseph Pooler as president, and Mr. j o hi, Warren as'secretary. The meetings were held at the V.M.C.A. rooms in Welleslcy Streei. After two rears of «ood work, it was decided to merge the society into a branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and joiners, and this took place on August 2nd. 1875. The first officers were: President. Mr. J. Pooley; secretary, Mr. H. Smith: and treasurer. Mr. T. Tiidehopc." THE APPRENTICE QUESTION. It has been clearly shown in these notes from time to time, that the reason of the scarcity of apprentices in the building trades, is due to the disinclination of tlip employers to undertake the training of hoys; it takes up too much time, and "'does not pay." This fact was pointed out at the conference called by the Minister of Labour last month at Wellington, and the opinion was put foiward by the workers' representatives, that in order to provide journeymen for skilled work in years to come, that the Government should make it compulsory for employers in these trades, or any other trades in which there is a dearth of apprentices, to take a certain proportion of apprentices so as to preserve the trade for future "enerations. To some, this may appear to savour too much of the principle of State interference with private business, but to the thoughtful mind, it is a necessary precaution in the interests of the commun- '' ity. It is not a new idea, for it has been I in operation for some time in Australia, and is producing beneficial results. T have before mc the Building Trades Award delivered by the Queensland -Arbitration Court declared on April (it.h, 1022, and in a variation of thai award published on December Ist, 1022. the following is provided:—"(Sβ). (a) Each employer who employs not less than five journeymen in any of the following tiades, i.0., carpentry, bricklaying, and plastering, sliaJl (unless the 'Court or Apprenticeship Committee for good cause ofherinse orders) employ not less than one apprentice in each trade in which he empfo.rs.not less than five journeymen. - (c) The said apprentices shall be allotted to employers by the Apprenticeship Committee as indicated by the representative, of the Queensland Master Builders' (VβSociaiion; such employers shall be responsible for the payment of the wa»c« pi an apprentice while such apprentice: is in their employ."' In a letter received at. the Trades Hall from the principal of the Central Technical College. Brisbane, dated May 2nd, 19Z3, enclosing particulars of the Queensland scheme, he writesDuring the first twelve months that tie scheme was in operation, I was ex officio chairman of all group apprenticeBflip committees, and thus had an opportunity of ascertaining the, feelings or both employers and employees towards the apprenticeship scheme. In all cases LtHTT Vote WR3 obtai ned, and a mutual feeling of co-operation prevailed. LvH. "° , hesitation saj'inp that I have tho ..tmoet confidence in the ultimate success of the scheme." A LABOUR EDITORS TRIALS. edit" con - ,m , on witl, m *"7 others the] ?" ? th ? "'Australian Worker- o f'Mded the >yew South Wales executive 1 the Australian Labour party. Mr. Mote wag promptly "summoned-' to appear before the executive, and in the »cU c i" f , hi3 rCpI:V " Silid: " r decline t0 .Knowledge an - v responsibility to the •£i. executive for criticisms of its Mtions contained in "The Worker," kmTt IS tlle offi( " ial organ of the "•vy.U., and nave no intention of permitting myself to be intimidated by its autocrat,c commands into the smallest Render of the freedom of the press." flowing the official letters was this at"Si re 'f s f V as ' ,Tbe Worker" know. "present, the matter ends, but this PfP« desires to say quite plainly that ,l o ™ E * rveE \ t ', ,c r, '" ht t0 cri «ci9e the £»ermng body of the State Labour par.y whenever it deems it necessary '/,° 50 I" the interests of the movement. After lighting strenuously gainst the censorship instituted by >. -M. Hughes, under the War Precati>ons Act, "The Worker" is not disposed "meekly submit to another one every BnL^n? d , ious, im Posed by the New utll "ales executive of the A.L.P." SHOTTLD WAGES, OR PROFITS AND RENTS. COME SOWN FIRST ? Speaking at Woollonjrong. Mr. Dooley ? mier of Ken " Snuth Wales) is reP"ned to have said, in referring to the «emand for a reduction in wages, that Br V e Go "rnment took the stand that Z „ mone y- profits, and rents must tiie first to come down. Payment w labour was the last to go up": yet P eo ple wanted it to be the first to come owu This was manifestly unfair, and ° ~ em phatically the " Government ir?i ,"••* stand for if -" Thi s is an enhl «. dlfferent attitude to that adopted wv! Gnvernm ent of New Zealand, men declined absolutely to take into cost' V r ation an J" th »if? other than the ot fo °d when conducting its recent nn?r a ' en a S ai nst the salaries of the Public servants of this countrv.—'TST.Z. Hallway Officers' Advocate/ " Labour fit to rule. llas cached that stage in its which justifies it in the 2" , il is fit to rule ; u s history 1,7 s . the hard-earned experience it lias Si 5 atti »«de towards the world L?rf w!th which ,h e country is 6nW ; aDd Whlch are «ving out" for Mt ' sho " s how !t hks P rofit «l »jf.. GX P e neiice, and its conduct, of its ■flo V*. • Irs S' vos am P le Proof of its man il S,On ° f a and states. anllke nnnd._.J. H. Thomas. i

OLD PIONEERS OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT. A noteworthy feature of the Melbourne Eight-hour Day procession last month was a motor car following the Old Pioneers - " banner, in which were James Wardley. 107 years of age. the one-time president of the Operative Bakers, and Richard Honeycomb, aged 04, a member of the Stonemasons' Lnion. There were also in the procession Alf Pratt and David Woods, each a sixty-year-old member of the Stonemasons' Union. These tried and trusty old battlers have held fast to the Labour movement through thick and thin for generations, setting a worthy example for all Labourites to follow. "