GENEVA LABOUR CONVENTIONS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21903, 2 October 1936, Page 12

GENEVA LABOUR CONVENTIONS

* NO RATIFICATION BY NEW ZEALAND QUESTION RAISED IN HOUSE [From Our Parliamentary Reporter] WELLINGTON, October 1. The statement to the newspapers this week by Mr G. T. Thurston, New Zealand workers’ delegate to the In* ternational Labour Office conference at Geneva, that New Zealand had not ratified any of the draft conventions of the conference, was referred to in an urgent question by Mr T. H. McCombs (Govt.. Lyttelton) to the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) in the House of Representatives toda, Tf this statement is correct," said Mr McCombs, “will the Government consider taking suitable action?" Replying, the Prime Minister said he had seen the statement referred to by Mr McCombs. Ratification of the various draft conventions of the International Labour Conference had been under consideration; but the Government’s legislative programme for the present session, which was planned with a view to facilitating the amelioration of the economic conditions of the people of New Zealand, had precluded the possibility of any action being taken this year. The question, however, was being brought up for consideration when the legislative programme for next session was under .review. A number of the conventions could no doubt be ratified without legislation being required to give effect to the principles involved, namely, hours of work In industry, the application of a weekly rest in industrial undertakings, and forced or compulsory labour. The ratification ,of others would involve merely slight amendments of the existing law—for instance, the conventions dealing with the minimum ago for jthe admission of Children to employment. As for the convention relating to the reduction of hours of work to 40 a Week, it might be pointed out (added the prime Minister) that this was being dealt with by the conference industry by industry, while in New Zealand the 40-hour week had been introduced by the Government in a comprehensive manner far in advance of anything fever suggested by the conference.

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