GOVERNMENTS PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12897, 31 August 1907, Page 10

GOVERNMENTS PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

MINISTERS REPLY TO OBJECTIONS.

(press association telegram.) WELLINGTON, August 30. Tlie members of the Employers' Federation waitcthfiuxm the Minister ot Lalxiiir to-day/Tmd placed beforo him resolutions passed at tho Conference r .erring to tho new Arbitration Bill. Mr Hobbs said the point they wanted to discuss was tho proposed amendment to tho Act. The Association in the past had done its best to uphold tho existing Act. Full consideration had been given to the new Bill, and lie could say the Association was very disappointed with it. The Association did not think the appointment of Industrial Councils would effect the object aimed it. The Association's views wero embodied in tho following resolutions;—' This Federation, after giving full consideration to tho proposed amendment, is strongly opposed to the inclusion ol either Conciliation hoards or Industrial Councils. It is of opinion that tho Arbitration Courts should b« tho sole Courts to deal both with disputes and enforcements arising out of the Arbitration Act. It is rurthor of opinion that, in order to provide lor the settlement of disputes within a reasonable time a Lourt should be provide! tor each Island and that when « d_.put. mvolveH trades the products of which enter into competition throughout th.» colony,, two Courts should ,it together and decide whether n colonial award should not 1_ made." , _~.„ ~ . __ In his reply, Mr Millar *aid he regretted that the Association hadl not necn that his proposals would bring about the results which he th °y would-to put an end t« .the friction that had occurred. He thought that So trim spirit of conciliation would be fonad in tho form of industnal councils of the kind provided or in the ] J'"- Although tho Association did not think these would work satisfactorily, it was a strange thing that a boardof tho samo descr ption was the only ono that had framed « satisfactory settlement of « dispute at Auckland, where tli. Mayor acted as clnirman. A Judge of the Supremo Court was tho I , _vho had settled matters ultimately. Jlo would liko to see his wheni© iivon a trial. It would, he, thought, Cp reductive of more beneficial results than tho employers were at present Sued to thiuk. It had occ«"«lto him it one time that a, provision might 1 o nut in tho Bill appointing chairmen [ ] Industrial Councils for each d.stricJ but ho decided to leave tho matter upon. "I intend," he said, to iiio this council a trial. I ask thy employers of the colony to help mc to see if it will not .prevent ai lot> of friction that has arisen in the past. With a common-sense chairman, - think that in ninety cases out ot a hundred a settlement will bo arrived at" v. "Mr Millar went on to say that the whole cause of the trouble in the past had boon the delay that occurred m hearing cases. It was to avoid this that ho decided to have councils set no. Ho recognised that tho ideal position was to hove a uniform wage oyer tho whole colony, but ho did not see how such a thing could bo «? tain "f; He intended to go on with his proposals, and ho hoped tho Housp would put them on the statute book, and that they would bo given a fair trial. It was 'provided that breaches oi awards should be dealt with by c Magistrate, for this reason—a breach of an nward was a matter of fact, it < was not a matter of law. If a breach of an award had been made, the > sooner it was dealt with the better. If the Magistrate was not satisfied as to a technicality, and he would like further advice, he had power to state the caso to the Arbitration Court. There was a difficulty at present In getting the papers returned, owing to tbe way members of some unions were .scattered about. So that every member of a union might be given an opportunity of voting, notice would bo sent out accompanied by a proxy , form, co that every member would be ablo to record his vote, whether he was proaent or not. Then, as to ■another proposal of tho Department, if a union could never tako a dispute from tha Board to the Court, until a majority of tho people engaged in the industry decided on it, they would never got any case taken to Court. Ho agreed, however, that it was reasonable that a majority of employers (instead of tht whole of them) would be sufficient to tako a case to Court, and thus put them on tho aame plane as unions. The Minister then dealt with the proposal that non-unionists benefited shall pay to tho funds of the union. That was, ho supposed, the most important clauso in tho Bill, and the employers wore opposed to it. If they were going to put ponalties on tho men who formed unions, who got tho awards, and put the whole machinery of the . Act into motion, and saw that the awards wero maintained, he said every man who worked in that industry and received tho benefit of that award should pay the same as a man who paid for it as a member of the union. Tho payment made by a man as a unionist was a premium to insure the conditions of hia labour. There were -men who paid nothing, and yet deliberately camo alone, and took tho full benefit of tho advantages gained by unionists. The unionist put the wliolo of bis capital (his labour) into his union, and tho dividends were to be divided equally with those who never plaid anything at nil. Now thero was freedom for tho employer to employ whom ho liked. The men could join a union or not, and the union could rcceivo or reject them as it liked. Under tbeso conditions, they must acknowledge it was only reasonable that where the union ensured the conditions, those who took advantage ot thorn should pay the same. Besides, tho Court would only order nonunionists to pay when the majority of tho workers affected were in the union. Further, a non-unionist who was called upon to pay had a perfect right then and there to join tho union. After explaining the powers of the Court to extend nwnrds, Mr Millar said thero was an important provision he intended to include in the Bill which did not appear in the measure as drafted. It related to funds collected by unions, and the reason it did not appear in tho Bill was because he wished to 6ond tho measuro on to tho employers, and tho clause could not bo drafted hurriedly. Briefly, Mr Millar explained that tho funds of a union, after ordinary working expenses had been met, would havo to be devoted to making provision for men j out of employment and sick pay; so it would be seen the men would get a direct, benefit from the funds they put into a union. Referring to the now Factories Act, the Minister said that where six women and boys were employed all day in a vitiated ntmosphere, it was necessary to have a separate place for meals. If this number was too small, he would enquire whether it was necessary to extend it. Referring to tho clauso dealing with holidays, Mr Millar said that what the deputation asked waa That tho wholo colony, except the four centres, should bo exempt from the Saturday half-holiday for a factory which was purely a factory, and not a shop. Ho was not going to alter the law in this respe«_> He was willing, where a shop and factory were combined, to add 1000 or 2000 to the proposed quota, of population, co long as they did not make this principle general in it_ application.