ARBITRATION COURT.

Evening Star, Issue 11278, 27 June 1900, Page 6

ARBITRATION COURT.

TK& TAILORESSES" DEPUTE. ' Consideration of this matter lasted throughout yesterday's sitting. •Mr P. Hally (vice-president) and Miss WhHehorn (secretary) appeared to represent •he Tailoresses' Union; Mr M. G. Heeles (president) and Messrs P. Hercus, A. L. Isaacs, and P. Palmer represented the Manufacturers' Association. The following concludes our report of Mr Rally's opening speech:—l can say, with every degreo of certainty pc-ssibio, that if this Auckland log and its attendant and necessary sweating adu'nets is ijntroduced into either Wellington, Christchurch, or Dunedin, employers will have to obtain operatives from that quarter also, as before. The members of the union will agree to work under- either log system or conditions. They will throw over the trade that they have spent years in becoming proficietn in, and seek some other methods where they can obtain the means of earning an honest livelihood, and this is more than is possible in Auckland if the evidence taken before the Police Commission in that city is correct. Yet this is the state of things, and even worse, that is now to exist in other' towns if the clothing manufacturers' argument is permitted to have its way—worse than Auckland, because onr employers will expect the good honest workmanship that they have instilled into their operatives for many years, and in return they are to be paid the rates of shoddy work a.s done in .Auckland as wages. To sum up this part of my statement, I would say that the grounds on which the union asks your favorable award for an increase of present wages are—lst, because the. conditions of the trade as shown permit of a reasonable increase being made; and, secondly, the absolute necessity that clothing factory employes should have the means of providing the ordinary necessaries of life, and the fact that the present rates do not permit of this'being done justifies the union in making this request. Coming now to another item—viz.. the number of working hours per week. Tho desire of the union is that they should be reduced one hour per week—viz., 44 in lieu of 45, the present number. In-asking your consideration to I his matter, we Avish you to recollect that the tendency of all trades in all parts of lhe Avorld is for a reduction of the hours of labor. More especially is this the case in those trades in which machinery plavs such a. large and important factor in the'mattcr of production, and I think you will admit that there are few, if any, industries in ivlnch machinery has such a strong hold as that of clothing manufacture. A good thing, so far as the masses are concerned, but certainly not to the interest of the particular class of Avorkers who are brought more intimately in contact with the effects nf this method of production. Speaking as lo the expediency of working shorter hours, Mr Hally said that previous to the log under which the tailoresses of this City were at pro en I working coming into force' the num-. her of working hours was 44£, and vet, as a mutter of fact, the actual wages "earned under the present- condition of 45 hours shows a. decrease of 5 per cent, in the average rom<>:•?•.•<!uon receiA-ed by the operatives." and, notwithstanding the increased demand for workers throughout the factories and the extra time worked, the amount of money e.-irned had not been as large as hitherto, showing a decrease of over 5 per cent, on the past 23 months. The union requested that, subject to any legislation that miriit he passed regarding boy and girl labor, the same number of apprentices and the same condit'ons respecting them as Aras mutually agreed to between the Association and the union tAvo years ago should be reinstated, with tho exception that the words " in each department" should be added to the clause. The object of the provision avus, first, to prevent employers chiving apprentices into one branch of the trade, and thereby placing adult operatives at a great disadvantage in the matter of obtaining a fair proportion of Arork in that particular department; and secondly, ,t did not give the apprentice an opportunity of learning the trade, as by being confined to one department thev had no opportunity of .acquiring other skilled knowledge in the other branches. Had the employes treated the union fairly in thi«= in the past, and acted up to'tho spirit of the !,.- rendition. Uiev would not ask the Court to make this stipulation : but as a feAv of them had taken an unfair advantage of the ac'ua.l wordier of the clause, and thereby placed their feNow-manufacli'ra-* -t a- disadvantage, not to speak of the iniusfu-a to the. apprentices and the union, in ihe interests of all rnncenied thev asked 'i 1.-"."• these words—" in each tlepartm°nt'"_shoVrd be added to the exMiV regulation in t'-.. neAv locr. AnoMier difficulty that presented itself in th's connection was the unfair use made of apprentices Arfien start-in" the trade Tn some factories- it was the custom to keep theso. rVrlren f or m ., nv , no „[i JS ~„„„{„„ about Hie factories with no fixed idea of startine tl-m at, anv of the branches of the trade. While the union did not think that emnlovprs should be compelled to teach these anorentices from their introduction into Hip factory. vet.t-T.ev thought that some fiv.,,-1 term of pronation—say, three or four months—should he laid down as a regulation in *hn neAv hie The union also asked for of employment, and that provision be made in the nressers' log for new cli<"<:es of poods.

Ti- President as ]. e ,} w})at i(pms of tl)o trpnora? Ine an advance was claimed on. Vr Fprfiis replied Hint- the whole lon- was •Ti increase, varying from 10 to 60~ per

Hally said that somn of his witness had not vet arrived : and he asked whetl'iT the taVms of evidence could be postponed. The employers' representatives consented to state th»ir case before the union's evidence was taken. Mr Isa-ics, with the permission of (lie Court and at the suseestinn of the chairman of the Conciliation Board, rear ] t ! ]c spepch that Mr HsUenstein delivered before tdie Poard>on the 18th July last, The concluding sentences of Mr HaUenstcin's remarks summed up his arsrnment: —" The manufacturers desire to work forty-eight hours per week as Ions; as other parts of the colony do so. and .to pay the lot; fixed hy the Auckland Conciliation Board. We have unanimously decided that it is no use orineinsr this matter before the Conciliation Board, because we have -repeatedly mentioned to thft secretary of the union'that if t,b°. lotr is the same all over .New Zealand it is fill the same to us what thev have, excepting, of course, it is uot calculated at so hi<rh a rate as to enable imported goods to come in to our detriment." Having read this address. Mr Isaacs supplemented the former president's remarks by saving that last month he learnt that the Auckland lo<r, with a few very minor alterations, had'a«ain heen renewed for a further term of "two years, thus emphasising the fact that the lo« was giving complete satisfaction alike to the workers and manufacturers. Referring to the honrs of labor, in the union's-rules rt was laid down on page 16. rule No. 18 "that the hours of labor in all factories or workshops where members are employed shall (( be as per the New Zealand Faotorv Act. He had referred to that Act, and found clause 54 laying down the limit for a week s work at forty-eight hours, yet they were advised by the secretary of the union that, members would not be permitted to work longer than forty-five hours per week, rhey had heard a great cry from the union in reference to the earnings of the Auckland tailoresses, but he would refer the Co»rt to the Department of Labor Report of 1898, in which it was shown that the average earnin ss of tailoresses in Auckland at a lower log than the one now existing there averaged 19s per week, as against the Dunedin tailoresses (with a much higher log) average of 19s Bd. This also meant that when required to work overtime the Dunedin houses were compelled by the union to pay extra rates after forty-five hours, whereas nothing extra, was paid in Auckland until forty-eight hrurs ware completed. They had been told by the president of the union, in his address before the Conciliation Board, that no Auckland T manufactured goods were to be found in Dunedin. For argument's sake, supposing that statement to be correct, would the manufacturers in the South have to quietly submit, and see the trade of Auckland and the east and west coast of the North Island cut from under their feet, or > else h*ve to dispose.of their manufactures in those districts without customary profit, as was now being done in; many lines ? The hours of labor and the lower log, acceptable

to the Auckland tailoresses, were equivalent to more than a trader's profit, and. moreover, by those concessions the Auckland district had;'practically the advantage in the clothing trade of a preferential tariff. He ventured to state that if these facts were' more generally known an outcry would be raised by all the traders in the Southern parts of New Zealand. Mr Hafly. would like to kuow whether Mr Isaacs proposed making any distinction between the two classes of tailomses in Auckland, those 'working in other shops and those working m factories. The former earned considerably more than factory operatives. Mr Isaacs said the tailoresses he referred to appeared in the Government ' Gazette' as tailoresses in clothing factories. Mr Hercus said that tho consideration of the case must be regarded from a colonial standpoint, and from its bearing upon the general trade of tho colony. There were two divisions of ta.ilpresses engaged in making apparel.' . The first were the shop tailoresses. who formed a. separate union, and who had on previous occasions taken advantage of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. These tailoresses were engaged in tailors' shops, and made up chiefly bespoke garments or articles of apparel made to special measure. This trade was principally of a. local character, and wages and conditions of labor might, therefore, bo determined largely by local consideration, as there was little or no interchange in such, goods. The second division of tailoresses were the large number employed in clothing factories, and it was those who were now before the Court. They were engaged principally in making up slop or ready-made clothing for the wholesale warehousemen and the leading retail houses of the colony. Threo.of the clothing manufacturers represented were warehousemen owning their own factories and distributing their own manufactures. Tho other factories represented manufactured clothing very largely for other warehousemen not owning their own factories, but preferring to employ contractors. Some of the warehouse firms had branches in every centre of importance in the colony, and in addition these warehousemen were very numerous. In addition there was the mighty army of travellers representing English, German, American, and colonial houses, who, either as commission men, indent agents, or direct representatives, whip this colony from end to end like a well-fished stream. Thus, Auckland travellers for warehouses selling clothing work every town on both coasts of the North Island. They work the West Coast of this island, Nelson, Blenheim, Chrislchurch, and Canterbury, Dnnedin, and Invercargill. Christchurch travellers worked from Riverton in the south to the Bay of Islands in the north, and Dunedin representatives did the same. This would indicate the colonial nature of tha trade in which the present issues were involved. After reminding the Court that hand in hand with the making-up of the clothing went the woollen industry, manufacturing tweeds, serges, and cloths, from Ailrcu the clothing was made, Mr Hercus went on to say : '• The Court, in its progress through cverv part of the colony, has not failed to mark the enormous and complicated r.'-stc-m of distribution which prevails throughout the country ; the configuration of the colony lending itself to decentralisation of trade; the numerous ports and centres offering facilities to import and export trade • the magnificent steam and train services, which serve all coasts, offering unequalled opportunities of regular and frequent inter-communication for goods—all speaking volumes for the enterprise and business push of the colony. To stand on the whalves at Wellington, Auckland. Lyttel-

ton, or Dunedin, and note how busily goods from numberless steamers are being shipped and transhipped to every other part of the colony—goods from the North being shipped to the Southern ports, meeting a stream of equal magnitude shipped by the South to the Northern ports. What classes of goods are thus being exchanged from port to port? Timber, grain, dairy produce, boots, drapery, clothing, machinery, woollens, fruits, oils, paper, sucar, tea., hardware, and a thousaud other classes of goods. And among cases and bales of soft goods ljeing distributed to ! every corner of the land will Iks seen the well-known brands of such firms of waroll linemen as Sargood's, Ross and Glendining, Archibald Clark and Co., Bing, Harris, and Co., Macky, Logan, and Co., and Kaiapoi and Wellington Woollen Companies, etc. (These firms arc all distributing clothing (among other things) throughout the country under equal conditions of freight, landing charges, tariff, and taxation, and it is with regard to the conditions under which it is made up from tho cloth to the finished garments, that, this dispute has to do. Herein as in a. nutshell lies the kemel of this rofereuce to the. Court. The clothing manufacturers consider that in all fairness and justice th-j u>st of manufacturing clothing should be ou the same basis throughout New Zealand in a. trade, like this, where the commodities manufactured are interchangeable from north to south. In other words, the- time has now come, when there should be. a. uniform tai-lorc.-scs and pressors' log throughout New Zealand. . . . The log, which pleases the Auckland tailoresses so'well, is the log I which wc have filed ;is our defence in the pre-;:'!it dispute. Before the Court las 1 studied it long, it will be observed that the statement of wages for piecework ranges from 10 to 30 per cent, beneath our Southern log prices, although the statement of weekly wages is almost identical with ours. At I this point I must ask the Court's permission I to return to a, point some eighteen months | ago. up to which date tho Southern ma.nuj facturers had been content to jog quietly I along under this heavy handicap, without , much Protest, seeing a considerable portion j of their trade slipping away out of their fin- \ gers, but for the sake of peace avoiding any i serious breach with the unions. At this ! date, the unions took tho extraordinary step j of demanding from the Southern manufacturers tho considerable and important increases of wages embodied in. the log now tiled in tho present case—a log which demands from employers advances ranging from 10 to 60 per cent, upon our present statement. That is to say, ignoring the disability under which we were laboring as against Northern competition, ignoring all the agitation of years on tlxis very point, all Miss Marie Boucicau.lt whipped up a the promises to secure uniformity of the cost of making clothing throughout the colony, all the previous efforts of years and expenditure of money by them to secure 'his end, they calmly proceeded to load our statement with additional differential rates, which, if granted them by this Court, would simply mean the ruin of our industry, the loss to us of tens of thousands of pounds which we have invested in factories, plant, and machinery, the utter loss of their own employment, and the transfeTrence of trade to other centres. For various reasons amending legislation was not secured, and on November 1 the Board again sat on the case,-and. after hearing evidence, filed a recommendation which was accepted, to the effect that both parties continue to work tinder the existing conditions until May, or until such time as the present Auckland award terminates, with a, view to the adoption of a uniform log for New Zealand. The Auckland award expired, and was again renewed, with sundry minor alterations, and on the tenn of our award terminating the unions again cited us before the Conciliation Board, who, without taking fur(her evidence, referred the case to this, the Arbitration Court. The Court will have observed that up to a certain point the Unions were agreed with us that in order to preserve the trade a common log was essential in New Zealand. The change in this respect appears to have come in with the present officials of the Union, and is greatly to be deplored. It must be a very narrow-minded view of the case which fails to see that where goods manufactured are interchangeable iu the ordinary course of things between rival cities, if other facilities are equal, the place that can get the cheapest labor will in process of time absorb the trado in such commodities. . . . We have been trying for over ten years, and have given the employes every opportunity of trying, to lift the Auckland log to a. higher level. We have failed, and legislation has now stepped in and legalised their reaffirmed lower log by registering it as an industrial agreement. One course only is now open to us—viz., to drop the Southern log to the-lower level, and make the present Auckland agreement the new colonial log. When this is done, and we, as employers, are ou a level footing as regards inter-city competition, we would recommend all the unions to federate, and if they can agree together on-a revised and higher log, we, as employers, will favorably reccisre ii. to loner

as it.is not fixed at rates which will open the doors/to increased■ competition. The Court will notice in considering these logs the disparity in the hours of labor. In Auckland 48 hours constitute the week's work; in the South we only work 45 hours, and the unions now ask the Court to reduce this to 44 hours. That is to flay, there is here a handicap against the Southern manufacturer of per cent. .We cannot imagine an argument, climatic or otherwise, bv which this differential rate can bo defended, and must ask.the Courf to make us all uniform on this important point, and fix a 43-hour week, as enacted by tho,Factories Act. The employes have said elsewhere that Auck-land-made clothing has not obtained a footing in Dunedin, and this is true. They also say, which is perfectly correct also, that Southern-made clothing can be bought in Auckland shops, and they adduce this as an argument why the differing logs should be still continued. I cannot accept this as true economical reasoning. All trade experience teaches that trade must eventually run along the lines of least resistance, and'the seat of industry will survive in that point which is rendered fittest by its special conditions. A large portion of the Northern trade is still retained by Southern houses, who have had to meet the unfair competition of lowerpriced labor by sacrificing profits, in many cases to an alarming extent. This cannot l»*e long continued, and is unfair to the whole community. It is unjust to the manufacturer, who has to sell without a fair business profit, and it taxes the rest of the consumers of the colony, who have to make good the loss thus incurred elsewhere. The argument may be raised that has been brought forward elsewhere—that the cost of living is lower in Auckland than eh;ewhere iif the colony; consequently wages may with justice be lower there "than in other towns. If this were true, and a ring could be drawn round Auckland, shutting in its manufactures from competition in the other markets of the colony, it might merit some consideration. It should be considered in a local trade dispute, but in a, great colonial question it carries no weight whatever. It would not be considered by the Customs authorities as a reason for a lower tariff in Auckland, or an argument for a lower land and income tax, and when we have to submit to the competition of a lower legalised standard of wages I submit it has" the precise etrect of competing against a. lower rate of tariff m the same colony. Btit it is not true that the average cost of living is lower in Auckland than elsewhere in the colony, and I am prepared to prove this in due course." After the luncheon adjournment the evidence was taken.

Ada F. W. Whiteliorn said that she was the paid secretary of the Duuedin branch uf the union. She was formerly secretary of the federation, which included the Diuiedm, Christehurch, and Wellington Tailoresses' Unions and the Pressers' Unions in Dunedin and Christehurch. Repeated efforts hud been made to get the Auckland tailoresses to come into the union by means of correspondence and by sending delegates. She had not been successful," as the girls in Auckland absolutely refused to join. They gave as a reason that'they were afraid of losing their trade. There were over 1,000 members in the federation. She had attended conferences with the employers during the past few years, and the members of the union had been fairly satisfied in a general war with the result. There were occasions when the employers asked for reduction on the ground that they could not compete with Auckland. Under the reduced price employes in a certain branch who were earning 18s a week came down to about 15s. She knew in some instances where the employers pave an increase "on the log pricps, and she could give the names if the President asked for them. The only reason she could suggest for the increase was that (he employers: must have thought the price insufficient. She remembered a firm which increased the pay of some of the girls about a, week before the case came before the Boird. This increase was not asked for. She ,thought it strange that this 'should' havmen j'.ist before the Board met. She considered that the regulations relating to apprentices had been abused by a number of employers, and there were only two or three who had kept the regulations inviolate. It was not a matter of only two or three apprentices b«insr taken on, and more than ten were taken into one factory. She knew of cases -where girls who had been four years at the trade were receiving os 6d per week. She knew of instances where the Auckland class of work was made in Dimedin. and the employer expressed dissatisfaction with if. In more than one Duuedin factory work- was made for Auckland, and, as far as she knew, no Auckland goods came to Dunedin. Kaiapoi Factory goods were sold in Auckland, but she did not know if Auckland goods were sold in Christehurch. Christehurch manufacturers advertised their rroods largely in Auckland. The wages under the set wage svstem in Dunedin ranged from 8s to 20s. Very few sot the larger sum. Under the old system there were a. few who earned 255. They were , chiefly . emploved on Irouser machining. Under the Dunedin system a girl'in one week recently (with a holiday off) finished 69 pairs of trousers in the week, which yielded her 8s 4d. and. she was told that she would have to finish 100 pairs before getting 15s. There Vas nothing binding in the Auckland agreement to make the employers pay the rate existing some timo back. During the last fivo years she did not know of anv increases in the Dunedin log prices, but there had been three increases in Auckland duriug the same time. To Mr Hereux : There was only one union in Dunedin—which included factory and shop employes. In Christehurch there was a. separate union for each. The fear of the Auckland firls that they would lose their trade if the. Southern log was accepted arose, from the fear of competition with (he better-made article of the South. The Auckland article was inferior in workmanship. She referred to hand work. The Auckland girls did not put in so inany stitches. She had also seen machine wuv"; from Auckland in which the stitches were ever so much bigger than the stitches in similar garments made hero. Witness remembered that at the Christehurch Conference the main wrangle was over sacs. Auckland had a sac at lOd, and the cheapest Otago one was Is Bd. The union accepted a compromise of Is 3d: Witness did not think the Dunedin makers could turn out. a sac for lOd on the present log. 'She would not contradict the statement that that reduction had led to a large increase iu the output of sacs by one of the factories. There was ever so much more hand sewing in the Dunedin garment, and in Auckland they were given out in larger quantities, but she would prefer that tlie description of tho Auckl.nd system slwuk; be gjvcii by a witness who had worked in Auckland. Miss Whiteliorn was furth-.-,• questioned as to technical details, and in aiuwer (o whether she could produce, a witness l j give particulars as to one statement she so id": T am rather afraid to bring a. witness from that particular factory, because the girl who comes will be marked afterwards. " 1 hat is the truth.

Catherine Pcden, a member of the union, said in the course of her evide ice Iliac when she went to Auckland she goi cinpio-inent in a factory, and, being put < n exhibition work, she was paid £1 a. week. In Dun edin, on piecework, she had eainea IFs 6 or 18s a week. In the New Zealand Clothing Factory at Dunedin coats wre generally given out two or three at a time. in Auckland, so far as she could see, the girls helped themselves. The work, .so far an she saw, was inferior in Auckland Thsre was more machinery and less tackiu". On third-class work the Aucklanders used soap instead of tasking. To Mr Isaacs : tjho' had seen the foreman at- the Nc 'Zealand' Clothing Factory give out work .during the day as it came from the cutting r>>6iV. To Mr Hcrcus: She was only three or foui" weeks in the Auckland factoiy. To Air Broughton (of Auckland): in Auckland she worked at Clark's factory. Th» girls did not seem to be a low cu>sii iur 'lid they seem to be sweated. He (Mr J'.roughton) had told witness that some jwnpie up there would be satisfied with a bio.n»-|;&per suik ...

Mr Hercus said that on behalf of the employers present he resented the remark by Miss Whiteliorn that a girl win came to the Court to give evidence would be marked. The employers courted the fullest inquiry, and any employe wlib wished to come forward had the fullest liberty to come forward, and would not be prejudiced thereby. Joseph Cleworth, a member of the Pressers' Union in Christehurch, said that Atiekland~orders constituted a fair proportion.oT the Kaiapoi -Factory's work. 'To M'- Her-

cfls: He got his information by 'nbucmg the tickets on the" garments'' indicating what firms they Avere,for. .He could speak jiositiyely of three firms. " Not 'olit; ago the Avholc of the tailoresses were for .0 f-iU week working on garments for one of these firms. Mr Hally. intimated that he would not call ;uiy more witnesses. at present. John C. Seelye, called by the other side, Ava.s examined by Mr Hercus. He had hern manufacturing iu Dunedin for about sixteen years, making np clothing for warehouses. He had made goods for Auckland.- Up to four or five yea.rs ago that was a. large proportion of his trade. It gradually propped aAvay. He did not now employ" so manv hands. He. now 'made lio clothing for Auckland. The -Auckland factories undercut hun in price. Thev could produce cheaper than he could. This he attnonted to the the logs. He KneAv of no other reason. He had met one or tAvo pretty smart men from Auckland and did not think they would accept lower-class articles from the Auckland factories. If there was an equal log he could compete with the rest of the colony. To Mr liallv : Most of his Auckland work .was for two houses, one of Avhieh'had started a factory of its oavii.

Mr M. G. Ucelcs said that the nrm he represented started to manufacture for the Auckland trade, but found that th-;v could jiot compete, and they Avere compelled to get a portion of their Avork done in the .Northern city. They found this more convenient, but would prefer to do it. in their oavii factory at Wellington. To Mr Hnllv: In their Auckland factory they did " chart" orders, Achieh Aver'e equivalent to tailors' orders. None of his Auckland gooJs came to Dunedin, but he made a little for Wellington. The work was cut in Wellington, and sent to Auckland. Witness had mills attached to his factory, and the Auckland manufacturers may have said that he had them at aji unfair advantage. The Court, adjourned until this morning.