THE LABOR MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 16778, 5 July 1918, Page 7

THE LABOR MOVEMENT

[By Veteran.] Brief contributions on matters with reference to the Labor Movement are invited. THE PASSING OF FRANK STUBBS. It is fitting that mention should be made in this column of the passing away of men who have -done good work in the Labor Movement. Such a one was \lr Francis Stubbs, who died on Thursday. June 27, at the ago of 70. Mr Stubbs belonged to the Iron and Brassmoulders’ Union, which was one oi tue original unions of the Otago Trades and Labor Council. For some years he represented his union on the council, and lor two or three years ho was treasurer ot the council, fie was one of those members who never had much to say, but was always attentive to the business in hand, and made it a point of being regular in attendance at the meetings of the council. In feet, he scarcely over missed a meeting, and never without sending an apology accounting for his absence. Only in one fear was''there a better record ot ariendynce, and that was by the secretary ot gw ccuncil. Trade nniomsm owes much 'L .iich men as the late Frank b.ubvs. ******* UNITED FEDERATION OF LABOR. ! ?be annual conference of _ the _ United Federation of Labor is meeting m Wellington at present, and, judging oy some of 'the remits that have been forwarded bv tV different organisations, there is j bvw time in front of the delegates. Several remits are asking for amendments of the Arbitration Act. One from tno Auckland Painters’ Union reads as follows ; —“ In view of the delay and decision given bv the Arbitration Court in the Auckland retail soft goods employees application for an award, the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act i>e amended to compel the Court to grant an award to every properly constituted union making an application for an award.” The' Canterbury Grocers’ Assistants’ Union ask for several amendments of the Shops and Offices Act. to provide for a 48-hour week and a universal Saturday half-holiday, etc. The Auckland Tailors Union ask tor tmsiidment of the Factories Act re overtime and payment of tea money ; Tint the Act be amended to provide that all employees required to work overtime will be paid tea money, whether previous intention to work overtime has been given to the worker by the employer or not. That not less than Is be allowed each worker as tea money. That the said tea money shall bo paid upon the day that overtime is to be worked, and at least one hour before the meal time. That the conference request the Government to institutes an investigation into tho conditions of the tailoring trade award in relation to (1) the reduction of wages in the northern industrial district; (2) the dilution of labor by the employment of four female workers to each mala worker. That tne conference impress upon the Government the serious need for investigation into tho methods employed by the manufacturers in fixing the price of articles_ by which workers in factories have their earnings calculated. Also the system of apprenticeship in factories, which imposes years of apprenticeship to acquire a knowledge which is attainable in a few months, thereby giving the employer a _ qualified wo'-kcr at apprentice wage. _ which wage tends to fix the prices by which the earn.£njc of the adult workers aro calculated, thus necessitating an enormous speeding up bv the more highly-paid adult workers.

The Christchurch United Furniture Trades X'nion submit the fallowing remit ; —“ That the Government be requested to establish a compulsory sick, accident, uneraplnvmant, and mortality scheme that will cover nil the workers in New Zealand. the cost to be borne by the primary and secondary industries of the country.” The Otago Labor Council have for-■vra-ded a series of resolutions dealing with the employment of returned soldiers, also another set of 12 resolutions dealing with the suggested amendments by the Government to clause 25 of the Finance Art. 1918. the first of which reads as follows:—“ That before any reenhtions are made by the Government under the a'-eve douse of the Finance Act a confercnr? <9-all bp called to frame the propo-ed regulations; such conference to be held mrl?r tb' auspices of tho Governnv-nt, and in be composed of an equal nember of employers and employees, with a Government renresentative as chairman.'' The rest of the resolutions deal mainly v.uth the r,n chin cry to be set up to carry cut tho regulations. Nino and 10 read a- fallow : —" All workers effected by any of the regulations made under the nWe clau-'c 23 of the Finance A.ct. 1913, shall be required to belong to sonic industrial union of workers. Where it shall become necessary for the State to control any factory or other undertaking, the profit allotted to th; owner or owners of sudt factory or undertaking shah be tho average profit obtained for the three veers ended August 1. 191-1. the balance thereafter to go tn the ■ State. ” To deal properly with the full order paper will require the close attention of delegates for more than one week. * ss # # ■* * * TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES’ FEDERATION. During tho present week delegates from all the tramway unions from Auckland to Invercargill with tho exception of the Napier Union) are meeting in conference in the Dunedin Trades Kali. One great object the federal ion have in view is the securing of a uniform award for all tramway employees in the Dominion. On Tuesday evening the visiting delegates v.cue entertained at a social in the club room at the City tram .sheds. There was a. good attendance of City and suburban tramway employees, and a very enjoyable evening was spent. Two or three short addresses were given by the visiting delegates, the speakers mentioning the need of chaser attention by the individual members, of tho various unions to the aims and objects oi the federation. Pointed reference was made to the fact that tramway employees worked longer hours than almost any other calling, and are paid at a less rate per hoar. It is contended that there is no reason why tramway workers should not be placed on the same footing as other workers. and work a six-day week, with a maximum of 43 hours, at a rate that will give a living wage for a 48-hour week. At the present time, when tramway employees ask for better working conditions and higher wages, they are told that they are already fairly well off, as many of them draw as high as £7 per fortnight. That may be true: but the fact remains that in order to earn that £7 a motorman lias to work 60 hours pier week or thereabouts, and a condiu tor does not earn as much. The present conference are paying particular attention to the question of reducing the number of working hours per week and the securing a rate per hour that will place them on a more equal footing with their fellow-workers in other callings. Meetings are being held at which tho men on the different shifts can attend, when the conference delegates will deal with the necessity of a. keener interest being taken by tins rank and file in order to back up the demand of the exeevutive that there shall be a drastic reduction in the number of hours worked per week and a substantial increase in the hourly rates of pay. The conference is composed of a fine body of earnest and intelligent men, who aro determined that in the near future there must be a substantial alteration in the conditions and pay of tramway employees.

WAGES AND COST OP LIVING. “Zcalandia,” in his Labor notes in the Wellington ‘Post’ of June 29, says: In giving a decision in regard to an application made' by the Auc£land Gas Workers Union for ah amendment to the award in the direction of granting a war bones, ill Justice Stringer, President of the Arbitration Court, stated, anter alia: “ As the Court has pointed out before, the inn-eased cost of living, so far as it is caused by the war, is a burden which has to be borne bv the whole community, and to relieve ono class of its proportion of that burden would have the effect of increasing the proportion already born© bv tho other rla*ses of the community.” The question raised ia : Does the cost of living fluctuate according to the average rate of wages ruling ia any one centre? Dining the sit-

ting of tho Arbitration. Court in Welling* ton last week Mr A. Montoath, at tue hearing of the electrical workers’ dispute, quoted some very illuminating official figures dealing with tho experiences in the various States of the Australian Commonwealth. For instance, the average increase in the rate of wages per head of the population of Now South Wales in 1915 was 4s 10d, and in 1916 it was 4s Bd. How does this compare with the purchasing power of money in the same State? In 1913 the amount necessary to purchase what would have cost, >pn an average, £1 in 1911 was 25s 7d, and in 1916 27s lOd, making a total increase of 4s 3d, as against a decrease in wages of 2d. In Victoria there was an increase in wages of Is Id, and an increase in tho cost of living—worked out on the same basis as that fallowed in the case of New South Wales —of 5s 2d. For South Australia the figures are 9d and 3s 3d respectively ; for West Australia 2s Id and 3s lOd respectively ; for Tasmania Is 3d and 4s 6d respechv-dy. Such figures doubtless help to prove to the satisfaction of some that a rise in wages increases to some extent the cost of living, but such reasoning does not hold good when Queensland's experience is taken into consideration. In Queensland tho average •increase in wages is 7s 2d, but it took only 4s 4d more to buy a sovereign’s wortn of goods than was tho case in 1911. By { m- the greatest increase in wages took place in Queensland, but tho cost of Imng d>d not vise in proportion. Mr Monteath put ft this wav i It is a matter ot economics that prices rise first and that wages elowlv follow. This rising of wages merely puts things back as they were.