WORK AND WAGES

Evening Star, Issue 12397, 10 January 1905, Page 6

WORK AND WAGES

Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.

DEFYING THE COURT.

SYDNEY, January 9. The wheelers of twelve collieries set the Arbitration Court at defiance by absenting themselves from -work to-day. * The proprietors have decided to seek legal advice on tie situation created.

4,000 IDLE MEN". SYDNEY, January 10. (Received January 10, at 10.25 a'ni.) About 4,000 Newcastle miners are idle. Tho Helton Colliery have notified the Proprietors' Association that they have arranged with the wheelers to iresume work, paying them last year's rates. This break-away greatly weakens the masters' position. LABORERS' AND CARPENTERS' TROUBLE& NELSON", January 10. Owing to awards of the Arbitration Court in coosneotkm with the Laboiers' and Carpenters' Unions several men are temporardy out of work. The miniaum wage was fixed at £2 15s for carpenters, and employers are making this the friandard of the maximum wage, except for firemen; consequently several hands who were hitherto receiving £3 per week were offered £2 15s as from the Ist January audi r.o overtime. These men mostly declined the reduction, and threw up their jobs. Over fifty applications for permits to receive the below-mminwrm wage were considered by the Carpenters' Union, but many were refused, on the ground that the "applicants had had charge of outside jobs and were fully competent. In connection with the laborers' award, the City Council haw given notice of dismissal of their lampßghters and all hands where night work is required, owing to the overtime rules, and decided to have such work as lamplightirig and cleaning gratings during storm done by contract. The dismissals, following immediately upon -fee receipt of the award, has raised the question, whether the Council are not breaking the provisions of tie Act against such dismissals. Textile workers of Philadelphia have decided to ask the Legislature of that State to pass a law fixing a fifty-five hour week for women and children employed in mills. The French Parliament will be asked next session to consider a plan for pensioning workmen. Canadian -trade unions -have-decided

send agents to Great Britain and other parts of Europe to discourage emigration to Canada.

The Victorian Employers' Federation recently issued a leaflet to prove that the arbitration laws had been a failure in New" Zealand. Copies of the leaflet; were for--warded by the secretary of the Trades HaU Council to. Mr Seddon (Minister of Labor in this colony) and to Mr Tregear (of the Labor Department). At a recent meeting of \btr Trades Hall Council the replies were'read,, Mr Tregear, in foawarding a copy of Iris' pamphlet in regard to the working of the Arbitratkm Act in New Zealand, claimed that no inferences could be drawn from tns pamphlet such as were set out in the circa* tar issued by the Federation, and added thai evidently the Employers' Federation had, quoted extracts to suit their own purposes, irrespective of the context. ' The general effect of the Arbitration Act bad been to benefit the whole community. No doubt, after reading the fal text of the the Council would be in a position to refute* any charge that the Arbitration Act was nob working satisfactorily. . , The author of the New South Wales Arbitration Act (Mr R. B. Wise), in the course: of an interview ia Adelaide, said: " The Ar»* nitration Act is a very great. success, although a great many people raised a protest against it. Some people prophesied that tha Arbitration Act would drive capital out of the country and do all sorts of things, bat so far their prophecies have been falsified. During W» three years in which the Act has been in operation the country has shown. greater progress in industrial devefopmenk than it has ever done before. lam glad to notice also that the Act has only proved defective in one point. A recent decision of the High Court has laid down that an in* dnsffcriaf agreement cannot become a common rule unless as the result of an award of the Court made after litigation. My intention in framing the Act was that the parties should make agreements without havmg recourse to toe Courts. These .agreements should become common rules. I quite recognise, however, that the decision of the High Court was right, and the language I used was not sufficiently 'explicit. I am very glad it was not, because an attempt was made to get a direction from the Court giving a common rule under circamsfawtfea which I had never contemplated. I never contemplated that an employer and bis man might stake an elusive agreement and tbea try to impose this upon the rest of the trade, and the decision of the High Court has prevented any such abuse. It will, however, I think, necessitate an amendment of the Act in order to allow a bona fide individual agreement to be declared a common role without reference to litigation." There aie forty-six Labor -representatives' in the French Chamber of Deputies,