WORK AND WAGES.

Evening Star, Issue 12964, 29 May 1908, Page 2

WORK AND WAGES.

TRADES UNION CONFERENCE. Tho executive officers of th© varkna trades unions "met in tho Trades Hall last evening. There was an. attendance of .marly eighty. The president of the Trades ■and Labor Council was to have presided, but being ill his place was taken by Mr A. Tuffin, senior vice-president. ' A long discussion took placo on a motion (afterwords ruled out of order) censuring tho Government for laxity in labor legislation. The following resolutions were r greed to:— , 1. That in the opinion of this meeting it ia desirable that th© workers' of Dunedirr should be properly represented in Parliament, and that the best means to attain that end is by the unions affiliating with the Political Labor League of New Zealand. 2. That the representatives of tho union pledge themselves to do their best to induce their unions to affiliate with th© League. 3. That this meeting requests the Duncdtn branch r>f the Political Labor League to arrange for a deputation, to wait on. the itnioiiti to explain tho objects of the League. The Arbitration Court sat at Wellington ytistordtiy. Two charges were laid against the Stewart Timber Corapttny by the inspector of awards of having wrongfully dismissed two men, one of them being reengaged in a different capacity at a lower wage. R. Hodgkinson claimed £3OO from .1. J. Powell by way of compensation for the amputation of his left leg, which he .alleged reMilted from ;tn injury received in the respondent's quarry at Pencarrow on April 11, 1906. The amputation took place in the West-port Hospital on Juno 1907. The Court reserved their decision, in each of the three cases. The following additional regulation has been made under the Scaffolding Inspection. Act. 1906:—"All scaffolding for carpenters shall be erected according to the following specifications—namely :—Standards tip to 20ft in height to consist of not less than 4in by 2in ; beyond this height, not h-i-t than 4in by 3in for the first 15ft, thereafter 4in by 2in; the standards to be nut more than 9ft apart; bearers and cleats to be not less than Bin by lin, well nailed to walls and standards ; all scaffolds to be well braced with not less than 6in by lin braces, well nailed. Approved wooden or iron brackets may be used, placed not more than 9ft apart.'' The Arbitration Court delivered their award in the bakers' dispute for the Wellington industrial district. Special provisions are contained in the award with regard to the Hnwki-'s Bay provincial district wliich were Agreed to by the union and the representatives of the Napier and Hastings employers. The hours of work in the City of Wellington, which includes the area within a radius of five miles from the Cliief Post Office, have been left at fifty-one, as in the last award, and the wages of the several classes of workers have been increased by 3s per week. In ail other paths of the industrial districts the hours of woik have been reduced to forty-eight per week, but the wages have not been, increased. This reduction in hours was agreed to by the Napier and ITiistinpi employers, but was icbi.-jt-.vl by the employers of Wiuigtuini and Palme rstcn.