A LABOR DEPUTATION.

Evening Star, Issue 12875, 26 July 1906, Page 3

A LABOR DEPUTATION.

Lash evening" at The Trades Hall; about fourteen members of the General Laborers’ Union of Workers-had an interview with the--Hon. Mr Duncan, Minister of. Lands. The President of the Union /Mr J Thomson) explained the object of the deputation. It was desired to bring about a bettor state of affairs for the workers of Dunedin. It was an advisable thing that the men engaged at the new railway station should be .paid fortnightly instead cf monthly, as at present. Another matter of importance was with reference to the Arbitration Court. Tho Minister might not be aware of the fact that the Laborers’ Union went before the Conciliation Board and received a fairly favorable recommendation. The masters did not accept the recommendation, and the result was tha,t the union had to wait for a final decision until the Arbitration Court sat in Dunedin. The Court had not sat here for over eighteen months, except for a f«w days for special business. These delays caused downheafledness among the n-wly-formed unions. The Ac* should be amended to make Conciliation' Board recommendations binding on both parties unril -n| trseded by an Arbitration Court award. If tlti- were done, both masters an i niei> would be anxious for the Court to ?it t (rc as often as pos-ible. At the present, Rasters wasted time, knowing that the Court were not likely to sit for some months. It was also desired by the union that an Act should be introduced into Parliament restricting money-lenders financing working men so as to enable them to take fairly large contracts. This was a bad system, because those who took the contracts had no capital of their own, and were compelled, owing to the large interest charged, to pay low wages to the men they employed. Mr S. Bore ham said the co-operative system was a splendid one for tho colony, but it was not so for the. men. The colony got all the advantage, and the men got nothing. There were men present ivho had not received final payments for work they had done under the Government cooperative system. Another grievance was that the Labor Bureau had constituted itself a debt-collecting agency. In respect to the co-operative system of constructing public works, the speaker said that the workers were satisfied with the system, provided a schedule of rates for particular works was fixed. Men should not be put on a certain work at a certain rate, and when it was found that good pay could be made the rate bo reduced. Those in charge of the work should be able to say at tho outset what was a fair price per yard. It was surprising to all to find that tho Government had appointed no practical men to the Labor Department. Those who were appointed should 1 e aclo to say what particular class of work an applicant was suited for. Mr J. Dowd all corroborated the major portion of Mr Bo re ham’s statements. He could speak from practical experience of tho injustice of the Labor Department. He had been one of twenty-five men sent to tiie North Island, and had been told that any money earned by him would be sent to his wife and family. They did not receive anything. Prom Taahapo they were sent another long journey to Taurangarerc, and proper prevision was not made to provide tho men with anything to eat. Another journey took them to Mataroa, where they had to sleep on the floor of a galvanised iron shed for some nights. After all this they were set to work on a job which others* had thrown up. Some of the men sent to the work had never handled a pick and shovel before, and some would not work at all if they could help H. After they started they were told that money would be kept back from them on behalf of the previous gang. After working for the greater part of a month he reluctantly left tho work, and left a signed order that any money due to him should be sent to his wife and family in Dunedin. He arrived home penniless, and found that no money had been received by his wife and family, who were in a destitute condition. He left the work on February 23, and no money had yet been sent to him. Living was dear, and Is per loaf was a big price to pay for bread where men only earned 2s lid per day. Ho could produce his pay-sheets in support of the latter statement. In the face of that they were told they could not get sufficient labor in the colony—was there any wonder at it?—and they were sanding to England for labor. Ho was prepared to say that he could at the present time get 400 or 500 men in Dunedin to proceed to Government work if they were sura of getting reasonable pay and fair treatment. Where that was so men were being brought into the country under false pretences, and from what be knew many of them would go back by the same boat. After Messrs Barnett, Bryan, an<i CYoung had addressed Mr Duncan, tho Minister said tho Labor Department was not in any way under his control. He was therefore unable to say anything direct, hut would place what had been said by the members of the deputation before the Minister in charge of the department- The Government did not wish man to be humbugged. They did not want men to work for nothing. What had been complained of showed incompetency either in respect to the system or on tho part of the men in charge. If some of the charges that had been made were proved it would most decidedly mean that some of those in charge of the works would get notice to find work for themselves somewhere else. The deputation thanked Mr Duncan for his kindly hearing and fox Hi,°. courteous reception.