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LABOUR MATTERS.

TRADES COUNCILS' DEPUTATION. , THE ARBITRATION BILL DISCUSSED. 1 other' measures foreshadowed. The Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) and the Minister for Labour (Hon. 1 Ji A. Millar) ; received on Saturday morning a deputation representing the recent Trades Councils' Conference. Mr. G. H. Lightfoot (president of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council) said the chief request was for a statutory work.ing day of eight hours, and four, hours on, Saturday. They' wished to congratulate the Government on the Workers' Compensation Bill, but thought the compensation. should be equal to the usual wages of the worker. . Mr. D.' M'Laren, speaking on tho question of' statutory working hours, made special reference to long hours worked by . men engaged in the Wellington harbour, 'ferry service. He also advocated.legal pro- . vision for a "weekly day of .'rest'for all workers; following the example set by some '". European countries; In regard to the Arbi- • tration Act, they asked for a modification of; the provision as to returns of membership ; furnished by trade, unions. It . should be •-. enough to send in the names and addresses of tha officers and, a statement of the total number of the members. "A HEINOUS CONSPIRACY." They also desired that the onus should be placed on the employer to prove a legitimate' cause for the discharge of!a worker. At' present the law against' victimisation was practically valueless,"because it threw upon, the workers the almost impossible task of : proving that a worker had been discharged because he was a unionist. They regarded this as a very important point, becauso the. . present: position tended to nullify. all the efforts of ■ unionism,' and subject members to 8 heinous conspiracy. They saw no ground for raising the minimum number of workers • allowed .to form a workers' union above •seven. In regard to the new Bill, he could : not say much, as he. had not yet seen the Bill as amended by the Labour Bills Committee. ; Tho conference desired, not only , that the clause relating to.the exertion wago or premium bonus system should deleted, but they wished further that a clause'should . be inserted specifically to forbid ; the system, ' which they regarded as a form of sweating. The conference' saw very, little good in - tho Bill in the form in which they had it at tho time. They wished to have the right to withhold the isale- of their labour, just as other classes had the right to withhold : the sale of anything else for the purpose of getting better returns. Tho conference fav- / oured the original Act of 1894, but found itself faced instead with a measure for the suppression of strikes, and not "a true con- ' ciliation and arbitration scheme. WORKERS' COMPENSATION. The conference also desired, in : connection . with the Workers' Compensation Bill, that the disability in regard to "common employment" should be removed. • Hon. Sir. Millar: I have got a clause drafted for that'purpose. It was accidentally omitted from the draft Bill. (Hear,' hear.) •. v • Proceeding, Mr. M'Laren said that at present tho unions had to. give additional assistance suffering from accidents. Nothing short of full wages would meet the' case. They asked that d 'worker' employed by a'' .relative should not he denrived of, the benefit of the Act. He'urged that wharf labour should be scheduled : 'among tho hazardous occupations, and that agreements between a worker .and his • employer should not be • allowed unless countersigned by the secretary of the union or its solicitor. The conference had resolved that no such .agreement should be binding. f ■ LOCAL BODIES'EMPLOYEES. , Mr. M. J. Reardon protested against tho recommendation of tho Labour Bills Commit tee that workers not employed for pecuniary . gain should not come under the Arbitration Act. This, would rule out the large body of general labourers employed by local bodies. It was not : true that local bodies usually paid better wages ,than employers beoause thdy were influenced by the voting' power, of tho workers. He quoted. strikes of local, body employees - in. support of., this contention. Ho urged that favourable con- . sideration should, be given to the recom- . mendations of the conference in regard to , appeals from the conciliation tribunals to the Arbitration Court. Ho questioned whether the Court had ever-been : guilty of giving a decision more favourable to. the workers tSan the' recommendations of," the Conciliation Boards. " The workers wished it to.be made more difficult . to appeal. The" employers would appeal, if only to gain .time. , , Mr. Millar:., That. is , met in the Bill by giving the Court power to make the award date' back!to tho time of the recommendation. • .■ Mr. Reardon: "There may be. something in that."- He further urged that insurance, business under the Workers' Compensation Act should be done with the State-Office. Mr; M'Laren protested against the proposed special-provision against strikes connected with the necessaries of life, and against attachment of wages for the recovery of fines imposed by. the Arbitration Court. Mr. fi. J. Carey (secretary of the Co'oks and Waiters' Union), supporting the demand - for statutory .limitation-.of ■ working hours, - stated, that men in his trade were. working 80 and 90 hours a week 'in tho country places. _ Mr. Lightfoot asked! for special consideration of tho recommendations of the conference in. regard , to miners, and also , in, regard to the workers at the Otira tunnel, / He urged that the Arbitration Court'should not have power to override statute law./ SIR JOSEPH WARD'S REPLY. Tho Prime Minister, in reply, said the Government was anxious to make the condition _ of the workers better wherever they required to be better, but the conference seemed to think that whatever resolution it passed tho Government must give effect to it. That was impossible until they could .get the country to think in their way. The Government, however, considered the interests of'the,'workers as vital as those of any other class, and had always so considered them. Indeed, the Government did a great deal that it did not got much credit for. His experience was that once a good tiling was done it was soon forgotten, ifiere were some difficult sides to some of the 1 problems which his hearers and himself desired to solve. They all believed in a man having one day's rest in seven, but if they attempted to put that into law, they'might bring about a condition of things that would be very injurious to everybody. In France, which had been quoted by the deputation, the ordinary tram services for goods, and passengers were run every Sunday, night and day, from January .to December. In Germany, Italy, and elsewhere, it was much the same. Everybody used the Sunday trains, and race-meetings and other amusements were held on that day. The European countries had somo things we could take as a guide, but _ they also had somo detestable things, which he would be very sorry to ae<! in this country. ' Mr.'Carey: We don't ask for the Sunday. ■ We ask for one day in seven. Sunday Rest. , The Prime Minister: Well, as to that, there is an unwritten law, which I don't want to go into now. Wo should liko everybody to bo able to rest on Sunday, but there are difficulties in the way. Wo have to consider tho ordinary travelling public, who want to aet over tto short lines of railway from.

the ports- to tho suburbs. In actual practice it is difficult to lay down any mandatory 'rule. ' . .. ' , i 'Mr.' Lightfoot: Wo recoenisq that it is impossible for overybody to have tho Sunday. : Tho Prime Minister expressed a fear that if''it' wore generally arranged for people to work on Sundays, and rest on another day, it would lead ' to ■ something incomparably worse than the system now obtaining in this country. He was, however, quite prepared to •look into the wholo question with his colleagues.., It. went .without saying that-if a •' man had to. w.ork ofl,,Synd.ay, ho must have another day. in the week for rest.. Otherwise the human frame would not stand tho strain with impunity. ' It was difficult to put such a thing within the four corners of a statute and supersedo thereby the Court which should deal with such matters in relation to the local surroundings,' whereas any legislation 'oii -'the subject "wduld Kavo to, apply to tho ■ whole: country. ' •• l| Mr. Carey: In our case)-,the Court refused to deal with_ this- holidayrquestion, on the ground that it was a matter for legislation. Mr. Millar: There is a new provision that as soon , as the law is altered tho award has to conform to it. ...State. Notes. '.".Sir Joseph Ward'.went on to say that the Government, was doing what it- could to improve tho general conditions. There might be different; opinions; as to, how they were doing . it, or. as to what thoy wero doing in the way of amending the, Arbitration Act. Reverting to the impracticability: of,, some of the Trades Conference's." resolutions,the' Premier . instanced one : which, he said', had been passed unanimously', land .rib idoiib't with tho best intentions''That,the. Government be urged to issue State nptesjj and. make them legal tender, to complete the railways, and other public works." '-'That comes along to us," said the Prime,.Jlinister,.,','and wo can't see our way to do it.;-Wo'know that it would burst the country.. You- raay paste us, because we don't do what-is asked of us, but wo have our,responsibilities. We are earnest and • anxious,, to. do what; we can, ' but wo can't 'do everything you resolve upon at your conferences." .. ', .-' , . , Tho Arbitration Bill. Somo of the- amendments urged by the conference had been, put into the Arbitration Bill by] tho,Labour Bills Committee. Others had been considord .by tho coramitteo, and it oould ;not see its way to • adopt them, and, no doubt,'..with,, reason. .The Government was going 'to do its best to. haive the Bill, as .it now stood,, put on the.Statute Book'. The conference wished for-the-Act of 1894, but the Government-believed that if industries wero to be. worked under a recognised system of statute .law, they.; must-..have' amendments made that were , not-in.; the Act of 1894. If they found, on trial, that the Act was not of use, but was a source, of friction and troublo to everybody, thon tho only alternative would bo.to repeal, it and have, no such law. Tho more ho thought of * it, the more ho was convinced of that.. He did not believe either the workers or the employers would ever get a law that would satisfy them perfectly, but the' Government would pass as good a law as they could, and both sides would havo to observo it. All the suggestions of the conference and the deputation 'had been noted, and would receive earnest consideration. THE MINISTER FOR LABOUR. The Hon. J. A. Millar (Minister for Labour), said that all the resolutions of the conference had been passed on the assumption that the Conciliation Boards were to be retained., Now - they would be absolutely done away with by the Bill, as amonded, and there would no compulsory conciliation at all. Compulsory conciliation was a misnomer; the boards had developed into lower Courts.. .Absolute conciliation would now be reverted to. The Commissioners would have no. power beyond bringing tho parties together, arid framing the agreements which thoy came to. No person.'would be able to take a dispute to the Court in the first instance. If the men engaged in tho trade could not elfeot an agreement nobody else could do it;, for them. During the last eighteen months,' over 60 awards had been made without the ;parties-going before the board W.'tholCourfc,"and there'was a growing .tendency. 'to riieepjiaivayi from both those tribunals, arid for'the parties'to make their own agreements. .-'■■/• . Unloi Statistics. .', He would make' a note: of the request as to sending in the - name's of members of unions, fie.agreed that the present system entailed- a let of useless-work, but ho thought the unions should send in riot only the number, of 'mombers, ; but' also tho number of financial' members. Mr. M'Laren: Would-you like tho balancesheets, too? ■ ' i Mr. ;Millar: : No;,that"is" a matter that concerns yourselves. Mr. M'Laren::'So is tho other. ' The Minister said that "at . present names apperred on 'the returns several times over, owing; to'.men: moviiig 'to'different parts of the country,'arid if''the'books were examined it would be-found ;th'at : a great many of the nariies, we're'not' tliose of'financial members. The only real benefit' of: the returns was to let. and non-unionists — know the, strength; of; the J unions. . Many Demands' Granted. ■' They, would 'find'many v of their requests already l granted'in'the Bill as-now amended. Thus it had been provided that 1 the Court should not be able to*".override statute law. The Court was also : to given power to date back an award to ffie n 'issue of tho commissioner's recommendation. The point raised by Mr.' Reardbn'l'asi'lto the position of labourers employed by" the; local bodies was rather important.'There , was no intention to exempt local bodies ; from the provisions of the i Bill, .arid'if'tliero'was any doubt about the'effect' of .the clause 'it would be put right in .Committee. To. ;show , the necessity for the," exemption i 'of'"w(Jr.k",not done for the pecuniary ' gain of tlio ' employer, Mr.. Millar said'that'if a'mail employed by a fire brigade, and : set 'to''do little" 'bdejs' and ends of work, was; to mcndVa. fence, he might be guilty, under present''conditions, of a breach of award;'':' Thb Department had been asked to .take'action in'such; cases. Those were the sOTt'of''little piri-pficks they got—cases that had nothing 'in them. At Christchurch the 'Department''ha'd''been , asked to proceed against the local; authority for a breach of award'in allowing a; man to do a little painting insidff a building. Tho deputation, indicated that they 'did not sympathise .with such; a policy of "pinpricks," arid/Mr'/•M'Laren remarked: "That's only ari'i's'olated'case'."'"' ~' . ~... : . Pure Conciliation. The Minister went on to point out that the definition of " worker .", in the Bill had been enlarged so that any persons who worked for hire or reward could form a union. Mr. ;Al'Laren: And get,,ari award from the Court? ■Mr.'Millar:.They can get it if the Court gives' it. /'(Laughter.)" I''should be getting on..very delicate ground if I said tho Court must make an award. I. am not going to criticise the action of the Court. , Proceeding, the Minister said ho did not think there, would, ever, be finality in tho adjustment of the .relations between capital and labour, but the Government had tried to meet as many as . possible of the points that had been brought up, and if they would give the new system a fair trial tho workers would find that the fears they sometimes expressed would not be realised. Ho said this on the ground of those sixty agreements that had been made without the assistance of the board or Court. There had been no victimising in those cases, and a better feeling all round existed. " ~ ;. , Mr. 'Reardon: Some of them are wretched agreements.'' A Form of Agreement. i The Minister: My idea is to have a proper form of agreement drawn up for use in all cases, with blanks to fill in. There would be no .danger then of loosely drawn agreements being thrown out. Mr. M'Laren: It's not tho form wo complain of, but the matter. ' The Minister: That's not my experience. Go- and ask anyone who put? cases best before the Arbitration. Court. I havo confidence in the ability of tho workers' to put their case. The system wo are adopting is already employed by.the Board of Trado in England, without any compulsion. Tlie Minister added that the Bill would not take awtty tijo right to sell one's labour to i

■ the highest bidder. It only said that if workers took advantage of the Act and they did not obey it they must be punished. Workers' Compensation. Referring to the request that workers' compensation for accidents should bo on the principle of full wages to disabled workers, Mr. Millar said, tho difficulty .was that the insurance premiums would go up. There was no chanco of getting such a clauso through Parliament unless an assurance could be given that there would be no great increase in premiums. He was going to try to get tho Bill through, and leavo that point for further consideration. He had no doubt that tho Premier would try to get tho Bill through if tho business of tho session permitted. Mr. Millar also stated that ho was going into tho question of a separate Bill dealing with hotel omployces. Ho was getting the different Acts in force in Australia. Ho thought that class of workers must' be taken out of tho Shops and Offices Act. It was a difficult trade to deal with, and that was tho only way he could' see.

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Bibliographic details

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 301, 14 September 1908, Page 8

Word Count
2,776

LABOUR MATTERS. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 301, 14 September 1908, Page 8

LABOUR MATTERS. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 301, 14 September 1908, Page 8

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