WATERSIDE LABOUR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3057, 19 April 1917, Page 6

WATERSIDE LABOUR

THE RECENT DOMINION CONFERENCE ,

REVIEW BY THE CHAIRMAN

.Mr. C. E. Daniel], chairman of the . Wejlington. Harbour Board, was alsq . chairman of the recent Dominion . .Waterside Labour Conference held in ellingtoii. At last evening's meetof the board he gave an interesting resume of the conference, and im'.pressions formed thereat. He stated that the conference originally met on January 24, 25, and 26, when the men, 'liaving stated their, olaims, were referred by the employers to the Conciliation and Arbitration Court. The parties met the Conciliation Commissioner , on February 13,' when it was decided that the principal cause of .the trouble was some of the working conditions, which could best be discussed in a general conference. To this end the shipowners arranged that representative expert men, whose duty it is to engage and supervise' labour in the several ports of the Dominion, should meet the representatives of t.be Labour ■ Federation. The parties met on ■ March 6, and for four weeks ending 'April 2 quite candidly talked over their differences, and. possible improvements. "'This board, though a large employer of labour, was riot. directly interested in the question of conditions except in a minor degree. The shipping com- - panies and the men were equally desirous of having rules that should ap- , ply wherever possible to each port in .tho Dominion. . ' "The board. was. in a peculiar position in relation to the conference, in ilmt it was.made a party to the demandsj and was. 'much interested in the ultimate results, though hardly interested in much of the discussion, except perhaps, that it was often quoted as, a model employer; but the difficulty was .met by making your representative chairman of the conference. Tha candour of the speakers! was tempered .By such a fine spirit of loyalty as to make my duty easy, , even though the 'smoky atmosphere of good fellowship did occasionally cloud the room. The 'only conuition in which this board was in.direct conflict with the workers (apart from wages) was the fact that whle five and a half cwt. of-merchandise is the accepted.load for one man'to wheel on a truck ahout the wharves, the practice has been for men to wheel seven and a half cwt. of wool. The conference agreed to the five and a half cwt. ' limit. : , ■ "In wages, tile increase of 2d. per hour will cost the hoard directly ahout £6509,' while ."consequent increases to other workers will very substantially jncrease the'amount. .Questions that have been repeatedlj' before the board, such as dumping cargo, were discussed/ and a better ■understanding come to. ''The men's laudable desire to restrict the "hours. during, which labour .will bo engaged provoked much discusrsion, and even as now.agreed to' is riot all that is desirable. ' It may be desirable to repeat the argument used l . ,Jt is admitted that!by reaßon of the casual nature of employment on the .waterfront the men 1 receive a higher . rate of pay than other labour. The Tiigher ■ rate of pay attracts nen, and the men wait around, sitting on stringers, often in. large numbers.' In some ports the men wait all day; in others, as the result of agitation; the iiours haye been restricted to two hours : ibefore noon and two hours after' noon. The Federation of. Waterside Workers ■ mrge that,-with the-aid of telephone, rtelegraph, and wireless, it is possible |to . arrange work as to require only a .ishoz't- .period at 8 a.m audi 1 p.m., 'l'vhen all labour required could he engaged, and. pointed out' that waiting jound is irksome:to : an honourable : anan, and demoralising .to r.ny body of iinen, and hence injurious to the State, fl'he, employers reply that so many contingencies have'to be met L that it is idifficiilt to do with less than three calls i'a day.. Many hours or. conference time

■ jwas taken to debate this matter, with jthe result that the hours in most , : -ports (including Wellington), will, be re-' , 'istficted. All reasonable men will- sympathise with tho effort to ; reduce, the Jiours of compulsory idleness involved iin the present system. A step in this . [direction y would b'e secured if -one ccn,trolling body employed! all labour on a particular waterfront, such as Welling--1011. ' . i" • - -'Hid, shipping, in ferests, which are . largely' owned outside New Zealand, .were represented at the conference by; keen commercial men, who earnestly -protected the interests iommitted to their care, while in taue British fashion they tried to understand the 'otHer fellow's 1 view-point. This was notably brought out in their bringing members of their staffs from the various ports ; ,to eiable them to get more closely to the .facts and conditions:,of daily service. The process was sometimes slow, ; and must have occasionally tested their patience, but, candidly, 1 think that ,the .result.of .the.conference is a dis-tinqrt-step, forward on good "constitutional lines of industrial development. • - "The labour representatives were earnest, ; capable meny stating their case clearly, with a hill; knowledge of .thp industry in- which they are employed, aud with such emphasis as to command respeotful attention. Our Jiation would benefit if some of the ability and oharaoter here in evidence fwcre available in more responsible positions." . " At the conclusion of thb reading of ilie. report, Mr. R. Fletclicr moved a .Vote of. thanks to .Mr. Daniell for-the services he had rendered the board as a- mombor.of the conference. Tliis was iseconded by Mr. W. T. Hildreth. • Mr. Hindmarsh alsy congratulated . (the chairman -on his report.'.Mr. R.. A. Wright raised the point toil" the phase that a solution might be arrived at m the conduct of waterside labour fi the -whole of the labour ' -were' vested in ono body. . He said it thad been discussed after the strike in 1913, but somehow they had always c»me to a dead end. • Ho had been given ,to -understand that the other employers of labour v,ere all against- its IDeing taken up by the board— somehow pr other they wero aliaid of tho board. St; seemed to .hini that some understanding/might be arrived' at, and if rthe shipping companies approved of-the principle of ono employing body thev might be met in some reasonable way. !As it was, lie did not think they ■would get' any legislation through Par- ' liament, as there was such a big body opposing it. The, chairman said that tho shipowners preferred to keep the business amongst themselves —a federation of the companies. "I don't know what 'they would do with the profit," added Mr. Daniell. \ ■Mr. Jones: "Or tho loss." Tile chairman said that the com- ' jpauies were not afraid of the board— ft hey were afraid of .the Government, end wanted an organisation of their own. A shipping man .had told him lliow they employed men by securing ithem ahead and paying them for idleness whilst- they waited for the ship to arrive. Mr. Jones said-, that that was mere gossip, and' unless it was known to bo a fact it should not be stated.