TRADES AND LABOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 269, 12 November 1932, Page 16

TRADES AND LABOUR.

AUCKLAND UNiON ACTIVITIES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.) UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. This Evening, November 12—Fellmongers. Sunday, November 13—Freezing Works Employees. Tuesday, November 15—Joint Committee ofIndustrial Conference. THE JOINT CONFERENCE. At the time of writing last week's notes the joint conference of Auckland ■unions, along with delegates from the Unemployed Association, was in session, two whole days being taken up with consideration of remits from various organisations. Thirty-three unions sent delegates and on the first day four remits were passed, in addition to routine work in connection with the deliberations. On the second day (Friday) sixteen remits were carried, some in an amended form, while one was withdrawn.

In considering the business done, and the varied character of the organisations taking part, one is struck by the surprising unanimity of delegates and their opposition to any further wage cuts or loss of working conditions. It was a complete rebuttal of the generally accepted theory that the trade union movement is apathetic to it.i own welfare, and it was evident thai Auckland is nearer to the objective of one national organisation than any other centre. There' was a complete agreement with respect to the opposition that should be shown towards the Employers' Federation proposals for new awards and agreements. It was also manifested that the larger organisations will agree to support the smaller unions in their efforts to retain or better their standard of living.

The conference! also showed that the ■unemployed are remarkably well organised. Some of the anomalies suffered by the unemployed are surprising and not generally understood by the average man in the street. If the Unemployment Board fails to find a single man work lie is only allowed 7/6 per week, while a married man. under the same circumstances, with his increased responsibilities, has to rub along precariously with 12/6 per week. Also at the conference it was pointed out that the Compensation for Accidents Act is decidedly unsatisfactory 'in its application : to relief workers, as the rates paid are based on a •weekly rate, and all that he earns may, be only a matter of. 25/ per week. The conference has achieved a healthy Bpirit of cohesion in the Labour ranks.

MATTERS OF CONCILIATION. As a pleasant interlude in the list of awards that have been annulled on account of no settlement being arrived at before the Conciliation Commissioners all over the Dominion we have here and there reports of settlements being arrived at by mutual consent. This shows that some of the employers are reasonable knd will meet their workers on give-and-take principles. Whereas some unyielding employers insist on a 10 per •centreduction and a longer working week, others have come half way and offered 5 per cent reduction, and this has been accepted by the workers as the best settlement under the circumstances. In these cases the employers have frankly "laid all the cards on the table" and convinced the respondent unions that the situation must be met, and a settlement was secured. I notice that Mr. Bishop, the secretary of the Zealand Employers' Federation, this week has been at some pains to announce that the general idea that his federation is out for a wholesale of awards is an erroneous one; but the unions are hardly to be blamed for holding.contrary opinions,* for it has been generated by the drastic-' character of the applications filed in scores-of cases and the general indisposition of the applicants to trust any point in dispute to the Arbitration Court.

In the boot and shoe dispute, before the Conciliation Commissioner at Wei-; lington recently, one point only hindered a complete agreement between the parties. The question in-dispute was whether Boxing Day should be'made a paid* holiday. The parties were sportsmen, and the workers' advocate Bpun a penny in the air and one of ..the employers' assessors called "head*." The coin fell "tails" and the "workers got the holiday. Were more of this epirit shown the Dominion would not' have' euch,; a dreary outlook industrially.;' . •.

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF IN VICTORIA.

The Government proposes to amend the Unemployment Relief Act in the direction of' compelling a relative (father, mother, husband, wife, or child of or over 21 years of age) of an;f person receiving the dole to recoup or to contribute towards recouping the Unemployed Relief FUnd the amount of sustenance received by that person. The bill also provides for giving the Minister in charge the right to deprivepractically any dole' recipient of any property that he may possess,.,and to make it a penal offence for any person to oppose working -for the dole. This latter provision (says a labour exchange) has b§en included in the bill for the purpose of taking action against Labour representatives who call /upon the unemployed to refuse to work for the dole.

The bill was considered by the Trades TTall Council and a strongly-worded protest was carried. It is not intended that the matter shall end there. With the assistance of the Central Unemployed Committee the council will continue to demand sustenance for the unemployed, not as a£ act of grace, but as a right. It will also continue to oppose relatives of the unemployed being compelled to contribute towards their maintenance, as is proposed by the Government. And as for the penal clauses which provide for preventing the representa-, tives of Labour opposing the working for the dole, they will be ignored.