LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 16

LABOUR NOTES.

UNION ACTIVITIES. ' . - ;?•' (By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.) UNION" MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. Monday, .Tulie'29.—Bricklayers. Tuesday, June 30.—Stonemasons, Drivers' Executive. : Wednesday, July I.—Auckland Carpenters, Local Bodies! Labourers, Onehunga Carpenters. 'THE LOAN POLL. His , Worship the Mayor and the city councillors experienced a great feeling of "thankfulness on Wednesday evening as the news came over that the: city loan proposals liad been carried by a majority vote of the ratepayers, for it meant progress and continuity of work for the workless for the next two years at any rate. Durilig the four years of the depression expenditure on streets has had to be sparingly doled out, 01 stopped altogether to avoid an increase in the rates, but as the result of the passing of the loan proposals 02 streets specially mentioned are due for improvement in the way of formation, kerbing and channeling and surfacing, while 23 streets will be properly surfaced. It means that streets not specified in the •proposals but bare in'maintenance will receive increased consideration from the regular revenue of the council. Looking* through the polling figures, one cannot but be struck by the way in which tlie loan proposals were regarded in certain localities. Of the 20,000 properties in the city, 14,000 are rated at the annual value of under £00, and 0000 at »£GO and over, showing that the majority of ratepayers are of what is called the poorer section, while' the 0000 are better off in finance, or tion. Out of 24 voting places extending from Blockhouse Bay to St, Helier's, only five recorded an adverse vote. Three of these were in Reinuera, one at the top of St. Stephen's Avenue and one at the Heme Bay end of P'onsoriby. There was no question of an increase of

rates, for the rate for the next year had been already declared unaltered except for the halfpenny passed on from the increased levy made by the Hospital Board. One might be-pardoned for concluding that the opposition came from political motives'" alone. In fact one voter declared to me that,,he would not .stir a finger to help a Laboui council to carry out its proposals. And this in spite of the approval of the loan from the daily Press and the Chamber of Commerce. It only goes to show how small-minded human nature -can become in certain surroundings. However, the loan was carried and the necessary work of the city will proceed during the next two years, after which','we expect, the city finances will have benefited by a steady return of prosperity.

THE NEW TRANSPORT AUTHORITY. The appointment of Mr. E. J. Phelan, union secretary, city councillor and a member of other local bodies, has caused great interest amongst labourites, and the congratulations received by Mr. Phelan have been very numerous indeed —so numerous that he has been unable to reply to a quarter of them. Personally, I feel that he is just tlie man for the position, which will be no sinecure, and he will earn every penny of the salary. From a southern exchange I find that: "Among the alterations to the system of control of motor services not involving legislation are the elimination of 'sweated conditions' in the form of long driving hours and low earnings on passenger and goods vehicles licensed under the 1931 Act, measures to see all trucks are maintained and operated in a reasonably safe condition, the abolition of many of the exemptions from the licensing of goods services and the abolition of restrictions relating to commodities, weights of loads, and unduly small areas in goods services not competing with the railways."

The new Act abolished the Transport Co-ordination Board and vested their powers in :the Minister of Transport. The four new appointees for the Dominion will represent the Minister in the administration of these powers, which include "Dealing with appeals from decisions of transport licensing authorities and acting as licensing authorities for commercial air seiryiCCs." As Mr. Plielan's

district extends from North Cape to Taumarunui and Gisborne to Raglan he will have to deal with -3000 to 4000 licenses annually, so that he will have plenty of work ahead of him. TIMBER WORKERS' AWARD. The fact must not be overlooked that a new short-dated award for the timberworking industry is now in operation in the Auckland industrial district. The conditions ruling in the trade in 1931 have been adopted, as weil as a new class of work in the kiln-drying of timber adopted. This drying or seasoning of timber for manufacturing purposes by kilns heated b3 r steam is assuming larger proportions in Auckland; some kilns will take upwards of Hi,ooo superficial feet of timber at a time; it eliminates the natural sap of tlie timber that the worm or borer subsists on, and it is claimed that the timber is then borerproof. The kiln in a few weeks effects what it takes years of natural seasoning to do. This new award has been fixed to expire on August 31 next, so as to allow of any decisions of the Arbitration Court in the interim to be available for the timber industry. Under this award the lowest wage recognised to be paid to timber workers is 1/10 per hour, but if the 40-hour week is adopted the same aggregate will bring the hourly rate up to 2/3. Very many .of the timber mills have been working the five day week for years, and these include the city mills, which have not worked Saturdays for a long time past. The union holds the opinion that there therefore be no dislocation of trade." EMPLOYER WANTS OVERTIME ABOLISHED. That he had been associated with the five-day week for about seven years was the statement of Sir V. Crittall, chairman of the Critall Manufacturing Company, at the Confederation of Management Associations Conference at Oxford. "I don't say that ours is the final or best solution of the five-day week," he said. "We have live nine-hour days — I think they should be shorter." "He"thought that they would do well to legislate against overtime, for persistent and regular overtime was a bad thing.