TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 206, 31 August 1929, Page 21

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.)

UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK,

Monday, September Grocers'

Assistants, W.E.A. Tuesday, September 3 —Plumbers. ft Wednesday, September 4 —Auckland Car-

penters, Onehunga Carpenters. . . Thursday, ■ September s—Plumbers' Educa- ! tional. Saturday, September 7 —Bakers.

CONDITION OF TRADES

From time to time I have endeavoured to give some idea of the state of the labour market in Auckland, as indicated by reports from the various union offices at the Trades Hall, but for weeks past this has not been done, because of the fact that things could not very'well be worse, and the reporte could not be altered and were decidedly dismal in character. In making the round of the offices this week reporte are of a mixed nature. The engineering trades are a bit brighter, and 'so also is the ironworkers labourers, and this is accounted for by the windfall of the liner Marama j coming to Auckland for an extensive overhaul and refit. But this is only a temporary easement, for "One swallow does not make a summer," we are told, and-neither does one liner make a busy season. The carpenters' trade is also a bit easier so far as unemployment is concerned, and for this the Marama is also- partly responsible, while there is slightly more' building going on. The painters, on the other hand, are experiencing a very lean year, the secretary having over 50 men on the unemployment book; the greatest number for two years. The furniture workers have also a poor report to give, the worst for three years past. The General Labourers' Union has not a hopeful report to give. When it was decided to proceed with the tramway extensions in the suburban districts it was expected that the work would absorb a big amount of Burplue labour, but disillusionment has replaced those expectations, and although the contracts have been let, and in some cases the work started, it is realised that the number of extra hands taken on will not be large. On one contract the number will not exceed 20, as the stretch of road opened up from day to day will not be a long one, but just sufficient to keep ahead of the platelaying and filling-up gangs, for traffic must be maintained on the road while the work ie in progress and cross-roads must be kept opened. The one satisfying thought that sustains the labouring man is that the obnoxious and labour-saving mechanical shovel cannot be used. The plumbing trade is just holding its own; there is a slight improvement this week, but there are no indications as to how long it will last. Still, even a temporary rush is better than a prolonged stagnation.

COURT BUSINESS. The Arbitration Court, under the tempoTary guidance of Mr. Justice Blair as acting president, is etill busy on the lon* list awaiting it on arrival in Auckland, and' will be kept busy until September 17, when it leaves for Hamilton. Each session in Auckland business m bonnection with the various apprenticeship committees looms large on its order paper. One of the most interesting of, these problems for some time will be brought under the notice of the Court next Tuesday, when the application of the Furniture Trades , Apprenticeship Committee., composed of equal numbers of employers and workers, to have an apprenticeship contract made by the registrar of apprentices cancelled, will be considered. The circumstances are these: A local firm of house furnishers secured the registration of an extra apprentice, whereas subsequent inquiry revealed the fact that the quota laid down in the apprenticeship order had been exceeded. The order provides for one apprentice to three iourneymen, or fraction of three, but when an apprentice completes his fourth year of apprenticeship the employer may take on an extra apprentice. In the case to be brought before the Court the firm employed three journeymen and two apprentices, one of whom is in his fourth year They secured the registration ol the extra boy, and the committee has decided to challenge the decision of the re«istrar in registering the contract Ilie Apprenticeship Committee of the trade has power to cancel a contract ot apprenticeehip, but the employers' representatives preferred to have the question, decided in the Court, which is really a reasonable procedure, and will form a precedent for other committees to abide by.

:.±ivssk NIGHT BAKING. Fresh efforts to bring about legislation which -would prohibit night baking aro being made by the Federated Bakers and Pastrycooks' Association. It is a^ ecl that work in bakeries shall be prohibited between the hours'of 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. Thie, it is claimed, will not restrict the legitimate trade of the master baker, but rather would place all workers, •whether employers of labour or not, on the eame basis as regards starting time. At present the larger firms have a big advantage in that, with the amount of machinery in use, the output per man is so much greater that they can afford to pay double time (the penalty for an early start), and so have their bread out much earlier. The case of the association ie set out exhaustively by the secretary, Mr. E. J. Watson, in a lengthy article in the "New Zealand Worker" He instances cases of the firms supplying shops near" other email bakers before the small man, who works under fair conditions, and starta at 4 a.m., can have his bread baked, and asks if thie is fair trading. Practical tradesmen assert that with a universal 4 am start the bread could be baked and' delivered and the public satisfactorily supplied. In Sydney a population of over a million is being eupplied, and the starting time there is 5 a.m., and midnight on double and treble days. Mr. Justice Stringer, when he was president of the Arbitration Court, made the following comment concerning a memorandum to an award: — "The Court would, if practicable hibit all night baking. . . . . TTue can only be effected by legislation. Mr. Justice Frazer has also expressed an opinion in favour of its abolition. Mr. J McCombe, M.P., introduced a bill m 1927 to prohibit night baking, but the bill was stopped as the result of the Minister's promise to call a conference. The conference was a failure, due to the opposition of the master bakere.