BRITISH LABOR

Evening Star, Issue 16995, 18 March 1919, Page 6

BRITISH LABOR

AN ANXIOUS TIME. LLOYD GEORGE RETURNING. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, March 16. (Received March 18, at 9 a.m.) • It is expected that Sir Eric Goddes, Transport Minister, in response to insistent popular demands, will announce a series of concessions in the Transport Bill, including a modification of the Minister's powers. Mr Lloyd Georgo will probably return at the end of the week, in view of the fateful Labor decisions pending. CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. FRANCE’S EXPERIMENTS. PEACE CONFERENCE PROPOSALS. MB HORNE’S DEDUCTIONS. LONDON, March 13. (Received March 18, at 9.20 a.m.) Mr Home, Minister of Labor, was a guest of Aldwych Club, where in the course of a speech he stated that the Labor troubles were not entirely the result of the war. The demands for shorter hours, pro-fit-sharing, and some control over the conditions ot work could not bo neglected any longer, and had given the general community a clearer perception of the merits of these demands. No enlightened man wished to return to pre-war conditions, some of which were intolerable. There must be a revaluation of human effort. The employers were prepared to meet the men in a now spirit. Unfortunately industrial negotiations in the past bad been conducted at arms’ length, each side being unable to trust the other. He hoped the new spirit would involve a scheme whereby employers and workmen in each industry would sit at the same table and arrive at decisions in their common interest. A sub-committee of the Industrial Conference was drawing up a proposal for the creation of an industrial council. Franco possessed such a council, composed of 31 repicsentatives of the employers, 51 of the workers, three Senators, throe members of the Chamber of Deputies, three professors of economics, and three representatives of the chambers of commerce and the trade unions. This supremo Labor Council held a fortnight’s session annually and discussed great industrial issues. Also a subsidiary permanent Commission, composed of 17 members, investigated all Labor disputes as those arose, and reported on the conditions and hours of labor in various industries, Parliament subsequently being duly instructed concerning these. This mechanism had proved extremely valuable and efficacious. The Supreme Labor Council instituted practically all the Labor legislation passed in Franco in recent "years. He did not desire a precisely similar council in Britain, but France’s experience would be useful for the formulation of a British Council. The Peace Conference wore considering the draft convention for the creation of an International Labor Conference, meeting annually, each country sending four deleI gates, of whom the Government would j nominate two, the employers one. and tho I workers one. This Labor Conference’s dej cisions would be referred to tho respective j Parliaments for enactment. The draft convention also provides for a. permanent iuj dustrial labor bureau to collect information in all countries and report to the La-bo?' Conference. TRIPLE ALLIANCE FIAT ? NO SEPARATE PEACE. LONDON, March 17. fßoceived March 18, at- 11.30 a.m.) Tho present week will bo critical in Labor matters. The Coal Commission submit their report on Thursday; the “ Triple Alliance” will on Friday discuss a strike involving 1,900,000 railwaymen, miners, an cl transport workers; and the miners’ strike notices expire on 'Saturday. Mr J. H. Tnoraas, M.P., and other Labor leaders have been in communication with the Board of Trade during the weekend. There have also been a series of conferences and branch meetings of railwaynum throughout tho country. The rank and file are displaying a better feeling. Substantia! progress has been made towards a settlement of the transport workers’ demands for a 44-hour week and a rt) per cent, increase in tho rates for piece- | work, but the “Triple Alliance” decided that there shall be no settlement unless the full demands of all three groups are granted.