TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 27, 1 February 1930, Page 20

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.) UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. This evening, February I.—Bakers. Monday, February 3.—Shipwrights, Drivers, Grocers' Assistants. Tuesday, February 4.—Engineering Trades, Freezing Works' Employees, Timberworkers. Wednesday, February s.—Auckland Carpenters, Onehunga Carpenters. DOMINION CARPENTERS' DISPUTE. A Conciliation Council, with Mr. P. Hally as Conciliation Commissioner, sat in Wellington on January 28 and 29. to hear an application of the New Zealand Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, representing 30 affiliated unions, for a Dominion award in the carpentering trade. The parties, were represented by six assessors on each side, from Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, Hawke's Bay and Wanganui. Mr. B. L. Hammond was advocate for the employers, while Mr. Tom Bloodworth, of Auckland, represented the workers. The main clauses in dispute were hours and wages, the other points causing little or no discussion. The claimants asked for a working week of 40 hours and a weekly wage of £6, and this caused an impasse right away. It should be remembered that the carpenters of the Dominion have always made their claim for a 40-hour week, carrying out a decision arrived at by a mass meeting of unionists some years ago, to the effect that in order to maintain the principle of a shorter working week, giving work to a greater number of workers, all unions should in future apply for a 40-hour week on principle, leaving the decision to the Court of Arbitration.-The carpcnters have done this on each occasion they have applied for a new award, and, consistently did so in this application, on the principle that such a limitation would be one of the solutions of the prevalent unemployment. The application for a weekly wage is also in conformity with the decisions of the mass meeting mentioned. It may be mentioned that the conciliation council met at the Dominion Farmers' Institute building, owing to a paucity of accommodation, and when the council was opened, no seating accommodation was left for the members of the Press, who had to be content with sitting on some carpenters' saw-stools that were commandeered from some alterations that were in progress in the building. Although these were /somewhat uncomfortable, they would appear to be appropriate for a carpenters' dispute. When the council adjourned at the close of the first day's sitting, all papers were left on the table ready for the next day, but during the gale that night, a pane of glass blew in, and next morning the papers were all scattered on the floor, which was flooded ai well. With all these discomforts, it is not to be wondered at that the two principles contended for were unsettled, and the dispute has been referred to the Arbitration Court, which sits ut Wellington late in February or euly in March.

LABOUR DELEGATES FOR GENEVA. A flutter of excitement was caused amongst the trades union officials of the Dominion yesterday morning, by the receipt of a circular letter from the ActingSecretary of the Department of Labour, Wellington, which I give in full: — TO UNIONS OF EMPLOYERS AND WORKERS. "I am directed by the Hon. the Minister of Labour to inform you that it has been decided by Government that New Zealand shall be represented at the 14th session of the International Labour Conference, which is to be held at Geneva in May, 1930, by three delegates (one to represent the Government, one to represent the employers, and one to represent the workers of New Zealand). "By Article 389 of the Treaty of Versailles each member of the League of Nations undertakes to nominate nonGovernment delegates chosen in agreement with the industrial organisation (if any) which' are most representative of employers or work-people, as the case may be, in the country concerned. "In order to enable Government to obtain an expression of opinion which would enable it to nominate a suitable person to represent each side it has been decided that the procedure laid down by section 65 of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1925, for the appointment of members of the Court of Arbitration should be followed as far as possible, but it is left for each union to decide whether its nomination should bo made in pursuance of a resolution of a meeting of the union or of the committee of management. lam therefore directed to forward you the enclosed form of nomination, which I shall be glad if you will have completed in respect of your organisation and returned to reach me not later than noon on Friflay the 14tli proximo. It is recognised that the period for nomination is somewhat short, but I am sure that organisations will appreciate the necessity for urgency in making the necessary appointments in view of the fact that the session commences at Geneva in May next. GOVERNMENT'S PROMPT ACTION. This provision, which has been in existence since the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, has never been given effect to by the New Zealand Government, under the two Reform Prime Ministers (Messrs. Massey and Coates), and it has been reserved for the United or Liberal party to bring it into force at the first opportunity after coming into power. Other countries recognised by the League of Nations have had representation by Capital and Labour for years past, until only two South American States, Ecuador and Paraguay, and New Zealand were absentees. The reason given by the New Zealand Governments _ of the day was that such representation was too expensive, and also that our laws were so up-to-date that no alteration was deemed necessary. So for years past, New Zealand Labour 'has been represented by the High Commissioner, Sir James Parr, in a general way, and Labour has not been unduly elated by such representation. With the prospect of immediate representation at Geneva in May by a genuine Labour representative, Labour officials are not a little interested, and quite a few suitcases have been dusted in preparation for eventualities.