LABOR QUESTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 13098, 3 November 1908, Page 2

LABOR QUESTIONS

DISCUSSED BY THE MINISTER OF LABOR,. Special attention was paid bv th« crowd at the Garrison Hall last night to what the Hon. J. A. Millar had to eay on Labor questions. The first of there dealt with was WORKERS' COMPENSATION. Speaking of the Worl-crs’ Compensation foi- Accidents Act, the lion, gentleman sail, that men well qualified to judge maintained that is a complete protection to the employed there was no Ac: equal to this in any other part of the world. If a man lost an arm, or a leg, or sustained any injury, lie knew exactly, without reference to the law. how much compensation he was eutitled *o. Moreover, the maximum was increased to £SOO, and a worker totally disabled received the same antount as wonld bc payable in ease of death. And the money was payable as soon as it was proved that the arm or the leg, or two arms or two kes, or .an arm and a leg were off. There was ro waiting and no necessity to go to law about if. (Applause.) Further, the, injury by dincases incidental to a trade was now compensated for the same as accident. (Applause.) Further, it was formerly th ■ ease if that a hoy who was earning 5s a week met with an "accident he could get only 5s a week compensation. That was unfair, for a hoy wlro got injured was leasing time at an age when ho might lie supposec to he growing towards manhood and becoming more valuable. He (Mr Alilhir) had succeeded in. getting the ni'inimrmi raised to £2 a week, mid compensation to an injured lad would he assessed on that amount of wi.ev.—iApplause.) The workers of New //caiaud would find this a workable Act. He coked them to read the Act carefully, and note its particular.'', and he felt suio that if they did so they would «a and reals© the great advantages it gave them. STItIK KH v. MAXKU SKTTUFMKXT. I lie are at audience were gripped by a fever of oxjvectaut in travel whm ttie Hon. J. A. Milhir mentioned the Arbitration and. Conciliation Act -that open sesame to the niindri of X*-w Zeal;aid workeis. The Min-i-tor o f l.abnr said that, the opinions he ex-jer-nad <-u the I’oor of the House "that •-tnkcv were mimical to the interests of the workers" was no new thing. He had told them that before the strike in 1890. Voicee; "What alKuri '9O? What did you say in '9O? Why. you have changed altogether since ’DO." Mr Millar; "I'll, tell you what I said.” and he read this extract from his evidence given b foie the Sweating Commission in 1890; "As to Atbitiatioin my idea is that a cempot r.t Judge should ho appointed by the Government in the same way as the Judge of any other court, and" that he should call evidence from botli sides ( mean a permanent Judge, who should le paid by !lie State for the settlement of these disputes, Iseeausc it is in the interests of the St de that rip disputes should exist. f would hare there Judges associated with time representatives of each side, who should call evidence, and the decision of the Judge should be binding on both parties for a certain length of time, say six months. If workmen refure to obey, pleasure would be b;ought to bear uplm them by their societies. Tf this Court was recognised by all ! panics, i: would lie established the same as! other courta. It do not uicjsii that the dc- r ei-ion of the Court should be binding for all ' time, but for six or twelve- months.” It ‘ had hem ofttimes .said that Ire had changed ! since 1890. The times had changed.- Them there was no maclunery whereby- a man could, rectify' his wrongs. ; "Ho,,had to strike oy submit trf' his wiionga.a- (Applause, and erics of ‘ No. ii<V")' Referring to the present Arbitration Act. he slid that if a union wanted to strike it had the power to fctrike, and sir ike every day if it liked. But uud-r the present law a Judge declared' what was a strike It was far better to li:;V" an Act of Parliament to say what wav a nhik". Tbo Government were doing their beet io discouiage strike;; in New Zea. iand. "And.* -aid the hon. gentleman. "I make-no secret that we don't want strikes, an i We are doing our l ire I to discourage them."—(l.oiul applause.) The Government w»tc.-providing inatlrincry whereby leasonahl, men could have their grievances di w eu.-.-ed with rheir employers with a view to settling disputes. “Wo can't do it ; wc won't do it," yelled mam loud-voiced men. “fton't. <!d it-?.” cried (ho Minister. ” I ba.t 'iiiely rollouts on the character of mu rising.generation if iliey pay that they have not tlib brain power and tho. coinage to meet their et-.plnveis ami disc lies matb l ' - ti'.vkr dhpute."—(Load and enthusi-' asiie _ appi.iii'f.) He submitted at'd-imics showing I hat during the last eighteen month* over sixty-five agreements had been enl< ’.<vl into by unions ami epiployerswithout ih.- interlcrcnce of the Court at all. No h-u.s than 10.522 uninni-ts, or one-fom-ili of the tot.il membomnip of New Zetland union-, had hound tliemselvee voluntarily bv agreement without going to Couit—(Applause.) As to the prohibition of unions a..sisiing another union on strike, wluu rert of a farce would it be when they did no? believe in strikes, and*'when they sod that a registered union could not sink;-. to allow sucii a. union to afv-ist another union or. strike with its funds. If a inrrei wanted to strike it could cancel its x ■ ri-t;.;l r,n. and register under the Trades i. moil Art. which also gave a union a legal sbiir’ing. and they could strike as often and ...s 1-’llg an they liked without the Government interferin'.; In answer to much inten option. Mr Millar ; aid : "The men who tali; .so glibly admit strikes are those who n- vee experienced a strike."—(Loud appi niv .) A strike allected the women and children a* well as the men. The present ,m hit rat ion Act was the best there was for giving a union a chance to settle their disputes without strikes. In doing that tin; Government had done more in promoting the interests of workers than the men ■w ho advocated strikes.--) Applause.) Once woike.iT> came under the Arbitration Act and they came voluntarily--they must ohev tile law to the letter. He quoted the strike law in New .South Wales, ami reminded workers that strikers there were fined lined £I,OCO or three months in gaol. Voices: We don’t want that. "I know you don't,” said Mr Miliar, t who. continuing, said that simply because he wanted to retain the. Arbitration Act, ! knowing its benefit to the unskilled workem. it had been said that he had worked against organised labor.—(Crier; of 11 So you did.") It he had wished to work against organised labor he could have provided for a Wages Board, but under the Wages Board of Victoria unions were not recognised at all. Instead of that, ho had fought for an Act that only recognised unionists. Yet they were not: satisfied. It was an object lesson to everyone. The kite Sir George Grey once said; "Favors ton toned are soon forgotten." “I," remarked Air Millar, "soon experienced the panic thing."—(Applause anti much interruption. and one try of " Aon 11 experience itoiT'e before long.") Referring to Conciliation Boards, Air Millar said that there had been a great cry about their abolition. AVh.it good did they do? It was in 1901, let them remember, that the “ Willis blot ” was .introduced into the Act. He quoted a retikm of the .number of disputes ‘©tiled without reference- to the Court—that is, agreements and accepted recommendations —showing that prior to November 7, 1901. the number was 122, and the unmbet between 7th November, 1901. and loth July, 1908, 108; also a return of the number of cases referred to the Court (including disputes referred direct to tho (ourt). riiowing the number prior to 7th November, 1901, to be 135,- and the number between 7th November, 1901, and 13th July. 1508, to bo 375 (including Auckland 92, Canterbury 88, Wellington 86, and; Otago and Southland 81). The expenses of' Conciliation Boards in the Dominion for the three years ended 31st March, 1908, were £3.003 S» (including Wellington £1.709, Canterbury £531, Auckland £285, Otago £269), and yet between the Ist i January, 1905. and 14th September, 1908, i only in eight cases did the recommendatiotm of Conciliation Boards bring about settlements. It was dear that the Con-! dilation Boards had failed to carry out' w hut was intended of them, and the time had come for a eliangc.~(Hcar, hear, and I applause.), A great song hud been mad© about tho number of strikes that had ocemred in New Zealand, but some of them were i-'illy not strikes at all. For inia tlw Auckland doctric tram wajia

strike in 1906 the men were out for three hours, in the' Wanganui slaughtermen’*! strike (fellmongery hands) for half an hotir, in the Won garnit slaughtermen’s strike (freezers) for half an hour,' in the Petone fellmongers’ strike (meat preservers) for three-quarters of an hour, and in the Pareora strike in February last for one day. Yet £hero were all designated strikes. He quoted a return of-strikes' (ihcludlng these so-called strikes) between November, 1906, and June, 1908, showing that in that period twenty-three strikes had taken place, while the total number of strikers was 1,117, the men rendered idle 2,389, the duration of the strikes 316 days.'the loc-s of wages to the workmen £17,667, and the approximate loss to the employers £15,688. Did anyone tell him that that sort of thing was conducive to the welfare of the workers? He did not think it was. —(A Voice 'Of course, not.") And now that machinery was provided to prevent anything like that taking place in the future the fair thing on the pint of the workers was to give it a trial,—(Applause.) All legislation of this character was experimental. These wore world's problems*. All over the world serious men were groping after the solution, and the greatest thinkers of the day were trying to cope with them. To think that we could pass, legislation to-ckiv that would settle these questions for all time was ridiculous. Changes would necessitate alterations from time to time, in order to meet changing aspects of the old problems. Bid he honestly believed that if the workers would give this measure a fair trial a much better feeling wouid spring up as between employers and employed. and that much better results would memo to workers than in the past.—(Applause and interruption.) Ho would prove this by giving a case in point. In 1890 the *eam?n lost 10s a month and 6d an hour oveitime. From 1890 to 1907 they had been trying to regain, this 10s a month. They had gone to the Court about it. and had got nothing. Then he (Mr Millar) got the representatives of each party together, and in two days the men had that 10s a month back, and their overtime was increased, besides which other concessions were made by the employers—(applause) and to-day a better feeling existed than had ever existed at anV time since,• he should say. about 1889. because to-day we could say that there wan a. friendly relationship between the officers and the men and the companies tco—a more friendly relationship than at any time in the past. —(Loud applauM-.) A Voice: "What about Blackball?’’— (Uproar.) Hon Mr Alillar : All I can toll yon about Blackball is that the minora paid" the fine, and there’s an end of it. They paid £ll7, being the tine and costs, and that was the end of it so far us tho State wa>s concerned.—(Applause and interruption, and a round of cheers, the point of which was known only to those in the rear.) THE ARBITRATION COURT. : It- had .become a fashion to any..that the Arbitration Court had given no inc. in wages. He had in his hands a return from which he would quote showing what the Court had actually done. Before dealing.witlrthat, he would |>oint out. in connection with factories, that in 1907 the j number of work rooms was 11,845. the num- | her of hands employed 78,625. the wages • paid £5,519.019. and the increase of work- [ l!r< (exclusive of Government service) 3,315. In regard to «ho))s in 1907, their number | was 11.981. the number of employees 32,506, I and the wage** paid £1,675.106. These figures showed a steady increase and a better condition of affairs for the employees.—(A Voice: “They knocked it out of their dinner.") In/regard to the question of Arbitration, ho would point out this: During the hu-:t eighteen months over rijty-five industrial agreemcnlr had been entered into by unions and employers without the interference of the Court or Boards. In the Auckland industrial district there were ten, in .Wellington ten, in Canterbury ‘eleven, iff Westland, (oiiv, and in lltago and Southland eleven, or a total of forty-six. In addition to these there were twenty cases mutually arranged Ik; I ween the unions themselves- ami the employers, that, went to the Court for the settlement of one or two points only. The Court word'simply naked by the parties to cbmpietn HWragreement in tOspect fo these few points. • 'Ehere was thus: it■.■■ijotal; of sixtyffvfr.unions bavins* a membership of 10.532. or, one-fqurtb of the total hiem'bership of! the.' unions the Dominion, that had . within, the past eighteen months made their own agreements outside of any Board or 'Court.— (Applause.) EVEN-HANDED JUSTICE. It had bedii'saicl that the Court was a onesided institution favoring the employers in all directions. His answer to that was to produce a few facts and figures, which would tell their own tale. Taking first thf err plovers, the cases in which penalties were indicted numbered 1.074; tho total amount of tines came to £0,531; and the total collected was 83J per- cent. In respect to the slaughtermen, the number of cases was 270; the total amount of fines £LSSO; and the amount paid 49 per cent., £556 being owing by slaughtermen whose whereabouts could not be found, Then, in regard to workers other than slaughtermen, tho number of eases was 255; tho total fines £247 ; and the amount collected 84 per cent. These figures showed that the department, was doing absolute justicebetween the parties. Of the finch indicted B>3 per cent, was collected from employers, and 1 84 per cent, from employees. Further, in no loss than 102 awards "or agreements the Arbitration Court gave either an increase of wages or less hours over the conditions given by previous awards. In some cases both increased pay and shorter hours were granted.—(Applause.) In SO of the 102 awards increased wages were given to journeymen, and the average increase Is estimated at 10 per cent, over rates paid under original awards. . The wages paid prior- to the Act coming into force were, generally speaking, less than the amounts subsequently given bv the boards and Court. Tho" incensed wages amounted in one case Jtailoresses, Auckland) from 17s 6d (awarded in 1897) to 25s per week', a rise of 43 per cent. The lowest increase was that given to the timhcr yard and coal carters (Ashburton), who received an increase of Is pci- week on an average wage of 445. The greatest drop iii hours worked was shown in the Auckland drivers' award—from 54 hours in 1899 to 47j hours in 1906. He (Mr Millar) would also remind the people that, in addition to the advantages thus secured Inworkers in the matter of wages, the Government had increased the pay of railway servants, postal officers, school teachers, policemen, and members of the Civil Service generally, and had provided a superannuation scheme for the whole of the' Civil Service.—(Applause.) The Government had. in fact, endeavored to at least keep pace with the increased salaries and wages that were given outside the Service.—(Applause.) WORKERS' HOMES. Tho amount of expenditure under this scheme was as follows:—In purchase of land, £117,688; on buildings, £46,541; and about £7,000 was authorised for dwellings now in c-onrse of construction. In connection with this scheme, it was a pleasure to know that every one of the houses was taken, and the benefits *of tho Act were fully appreciated.—(A Voice: "They are not much good for the working man.’’) Well, at any rate, the houses were much run after,- whether appreciated by the working man or not. In addition, the Government had lent money to people in order to enable them to build homes for themselves.—(Applause and disorder.) The , sum of £205,000 had been already ad- ; vanced; the Act had been amended to ; enable £500,000 to be borrowed for that purpose; and the Government had applications in hand that it would take them all their time to meet, even with the : £500,000 _ authorised. Tho applications I were coming in wholesale. This was one j of the things that was going to help the people to solve the rent problem.—(lnter- , ruption, and a voice: “How?”) The ; answer was very simple. One way was 1 this; that every man who went into one of these houses left another house emptv, j and when such cases were multiplied ‘it made a difference, for in the natural order of things if there wore half a dozen men running after one house, the man who got it would have to pay so much the more tent.—(Ajyjlause.)