TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 187, 9 August 1930, Page 19

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.)

UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK,

This Evening, August 9—Fellmongers'

Executive. Sunday, August 10—Front of the House

Employees. Monday, August 11—'Pointers. Tuesday, August 12 —Storemen, Tramway Employees (a.m. and p.m.). Wednesday, August 13—Gas Employees.

CONFERENCE ON UNEMPLOYMENT BILL. Delegates representing 70,000 trades unionists met at Wellington last week to discuss the Unemployment Bill as brought down by the Government. There were upwards of 70 delegates from both islands, and the conference lasted from Wednesday until noon of Saturday. The first amendment of importance suggested was that the bill should apply to male and female workers, as against the provision in the bill to include male workers only. A further suggestion was that the provision that no person under the age of 21 years should come under the operations of the bill should be altered to read "sixteen years." The proposal of the Government that an annual levy of 30/ should be made came in for severe criticism, and the opinion of the conference was that all incomes up to £200 per annum should pay at the rate of one penny in the pound, and on all incomes over that amount there should be a levy of one four-hundredths of a penny in the pound. Permission was granted to the waterside workers' unions by the conference to draft a special clause relating to waterside workers, as it was claimed that owing to the casual nature of their employment they would not benefit by the provisions of the bill, which provides for a period of fourteen days' unemployment before benefit can be obtained.

Another provision that has been widely discussed since the introduction of the bill is the one that states that persons not in recent of wages or salary shall not be subject to payment of the levy. The suggested amendment is that women in receipt of a weekly allowance not exceeding 10/ should be exempt. Representation on the Unemployment Board was also considered, and finally it was agreed that the proposed representation was unsatisfactory to the conference, and that a board should have equal representation from both 6ides, with an independent chairman.

Another suggestion carried, which should interest trades unionists, was to the effect that workers should not be compelled to accept employment whilst there is a strike or lock-out in operation.

The provision in the bill •stating that a worker must be unemployed for fourteen days before coming into benefit was altered to seven days.

These suggestions or amendments are to be forwarded to the Minister in charge of the bill.

THE TARIFF. The numerous alterations in the! Dominion tariff have come in for spine strenuous criticism, and the Prime Minister is not the first Minister of Finance who has realised that it is only after his proposals have been formulated" that his troubles commence. There are so many diverse and complex interests involved that the Finance Minister is hard put to it to do the right and proper thing. The average human being is inherently selfish, and one section of the community claims exemption from the tariff at the expense of the others. The farmer as a rule claims to be a free trader, and says all agricultural implements and machinery should be allowed to come in free, but if he happens tobe a wheat grower he is distinctly in favour of the tariff on imported wheat, while the poultry farmer is loud in his denunciation against paying 8/ per bushel for his wheat when the price of that cereal in Australia is in the region of 4/. On the other hand, he is quite satisfied to see a heavy duty on imported eggs from Canada. Last week a deputation from the South approached the members of Parliament seeking a heavy duty on imported extract of malt, as it appears that a very good extract is manufactured in the South Island. They asked for more protection, but when it was pointed out to them that the two glass works in the Dominion were turning out the glass jars that the extract is sold in and asked' for an increase on imported glass jars, they entered a protest against the iatter proposal, because they import thenown containers from countries where wao-es are much lower than the Dominion glassworkers receive, and therefore can be turned out at a cheaper rate. There appears to be only one principle that the many sections .can agree upon, and that is: "Tax the other fellow while I <ro free." Oh, yes, the troubles of any Finance Minister, whether he be a Philip Snowden, a J. H. Scullin or a G. W. Forbes, are many and various. COMPENSATION FOR LOSS OF WORK A new and beneficial principle appears to be involved in the bill brought forward by a Labour member in the British House of Commons, which provides for the payment of compensation for the loss of employment. The sponsor of the bill stated that it would apply to nonmanual workers, such as clerks and professional and semi-professional workers who were deprived of employment on account of some act by their employer. The compensation proposed consisted of one-twelfth of the employee's remuneration for each complete year of service. Those most affected would be employees who had been dismissed owing to the enforcement of some scheme of rationalisation or trust combination. AUSTRALIAN. WORKERS' UNION. A committee representing the Australian Workers' Union met a committee of the Labour party with a view to arriving at a settlement of the longstanding dispute between the Australian Workers' Union and the Australian Labour party. It will be remembered that this dispute has been the subject of many negotiations, and eventually it was

decided that Mr. Scullin, the Prime Minister of Australia, should act as arbitrator. Owing to some Press comment, Mr. Scullin decided that he could not accept the position. Arising out of a resolution of the Central branch of the Australian Workers' Union appointing a deputation to ask the Labour party to expedite the negotiations, the committee met on July 15 and concluded its deliberations. The conclusions arrived at were: — The committee decided to bring to an end the prolonged feud which has been disuniting and separating the Labour movement. The Australian Labour party and the ■ Australian Workers' Union joint committees, realising the urgent necessity for complete harmony and unity, so essential to the Labour movement owing Ito the organised attacks against the conditions of the workers, have unanimously arrived at a satisfactory agreement. The committee now calls upon all members of the movement to cast aside all petty differences and bickering with the object of presenting a united front to Labour's enemies at the coming State 1 political fight.