THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 23175, 26 January 1939, Page 20

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

IBy Thadk UmomstJ

INCREASES OF TRADE UNION -MEMBERSHIP.

Since the advent of the Labour Government ni Aeir Zealand increases in membership ot trade unions have far exceeded all expectations. Year by year the Labour Department’s annual returns have indicated substantial increases, and for the year ended December 31, 1938, if local figures arc any criterion, the membership should now eclipse ail records. One noticeable fact is that fewer unions are being registered than in the early part of the industrial activity amongst the unions, or when compulsory arbitration was restored, and in addition compulsory unionism was made law. There is a tendency now for smaller groups of workers to fuse with the larger unions operating in related trades.

Jn spite of the large influx of membership to the trade union movement, it is surprising the large number of unorganised workers there are still in the Dominion, especially in rural occupations. Farm and station workers at present work under the Agricultural Workers Act, 193 G, an agreement arrived at by the Sheep Owners’ Federation and the New Zealand Farmers’ Union on one side and the New Zealand Workers’ Union, representing employees, subsequently made an Act of Parliament. The Act does not contain compulsory unionism, and leaves it optional for employees to become members. The result is there is pending a large increase in membership in this important industry when the law of compulsory unionism is applied.

Trade unionism has never been so numerically and financially strong in the Dominion as it is to-day. Its growth and influence are being watched with keen interest by students of many lands.

THE GENEVA DELEGATION. The election of a workers’ representative to go to Geneva has progressed a step further, as indicated in a circular memorandum from the Department of Labour to all trade unions, which is as follows; I am directed by the Hon. the Minister of Labour to inform you that the following nominations have been received of persons to represent the workers at the twenty-fiftn session at the international Labour Conference, which is to be held at Geneva in June next:—Butler, P. M. (.Wellington); Kay, J. W. (Wellington); Purcell, J. (Auckland); Roberts, J. (Christchurch); Robinson, J. (Dunedin); Stanley, T. (Auckland). Each ol the above persons has consented to nomination. “it has been decided to call for recommendations for the selection ot one of the above-named persons, and a form for use by your union in this connection is enclosed. 1 should be glad if you would have it completed and returned to reach me not later than noon on Monday, February 13, 1939. As in the case of the nominations it is left for each union to decide whether its recommendations should be made in pursuance of a resolution of a meeting of the union or of the Committee of Management. The recommendations should be addressed to the Secretary of Labour, Private Bag, Wellington, C.l. A stamped addressed envelope for the purpose is enclosed herewith; “ For the purposes of selection each union with not more than 50 members will have one vote, and each union having more than 50 members will have one vote for each complete 50 mem-bers.—-Henry E. Moston, seciclary.” Under the same date a circular letter was also received from the New Zealand Federation of Labour. Wellington, addressed to the president and secretary of each respective union, which reads as follows: — “ I beg to advise you that the trades councils throughout New Zealand which' are affiliated to the New Zealand Federation of Labour have had before them the question of recommending to your union a candidate to represent the New Zealand Labour Movement at Geneva ,in 1939. Four candidates were submitted to the trades councils, and Mr John Roberts, of Christchurch, has received a majority of the votes, and is therefore recommended l to you for your support, in the ballot being taken by the Department ot Labour. “ We desire it to be understood that the additional names which are on the ballot paper issued to you by the Department of Labour have been sent there by their unions, and whilst we would have desired; all names to have come through the trades councils, the fact that the names of these other candidates appear on the ballot paper is not on this occasion to he looked upon as detrimental to the New Zealand Federation of Labour. . . .—F. Cornwell, secretary.”

A MOOT COMPENSATION CLAIM. If a man is injured by a dart in the works canteen during his lunch hour, is he entitled to workmen’s compensation ? Yes, said the Court of Appeal in England recently, upholding a decision by Judge Tudor Rees in Shoreditch County Court. Judge Tudor Rees had awarded 13s ‘id a week compensation to Herbert Knight, aged 15, of Stanley road, Hornchurch, Essex, on the ground that the accident arose “ out of. and in the course of, Knight’s employment ” Knight’s employers, Howard, Wall Ltd., engineers, of Hackney road, E., challenged the award. The dart, it was stated, accidentally “ flew off ” a dart board in the canteen and struck Knight in the eye. Lord Justice Slesser said that the exercise by the workpeople of their right to go to the canteen for lunch was done as one of the terms ol their employment, and it was open, in those circumstances, for the judge to find that, if any of them met with injury in the canteen, it was “ in the course of the employment.” “ Darts were being played.” added Lord Justice Slesser, “ and a dart might prove an extremely dangerous instrument.” Lords .Justices Finlay and Luxmore agreed, and the appeal of the employers was dismissed. Leave to appeal to the House of Lords was refused.

SAFER MIXES REPORT IS SIGXEJD. Members of the British Royal Commission on Safety in Alines, which was appointed nearly three years ago. signed their report recently, and it is now in the hands of the Government. It is an elaborate and detailed document of more than 500 pages. All the members signed it, but some have made reservations.

The Secretary for Alines will be asked when it is proposed to publish it. Recommendations of the commission will, it is expected, form the basis of a

Bill some time nest .year to bring up to date the provisions of the Coal Mines Act, 1911. Important changes will be proposed affecting standards of ventilation, inspection, and numerous other matters. The Commission held its first public sitting in February. 1930. and sat on 52 days up to April, 1937. Since then members of the Commission have paid visits to many mines, and the drafting of agreed recommendations has involved an enormous amount of work. Lord Hockley is the chairman, and the members include Mr Ebbv Edwards and Mr D. R. Grenfell, M.P., on the miners’ side. • # • • ROOSEVELT PRAISES TRADE UNIONS. Here is President Roosevelt’s testimony to the value of trade unionism, in a message to Mr William Green, president of the American Federation of Labour:— “ During your lifetime' and mine a vast improvement in the conditions of labour and the pay of labour in many occupations in most parts of the country has been brought about. This has come about largely through the efforts of organised labour. But much still remains to be done. “ Collective bargaining is one of the most useful services for fair and constructive human relations, and collective bargaining in the industrial field presupposes some kind of organisation of employees to conduct their part of such bargaining.” GERMAN WORKERS IN FORTIFICATIONS. In spite of the Munich agreement, the workers employed on the fortifications in Germany must continue to slave as before. The conditions of these workers, who have been sent to work there from all parts of Germany, are very bad, and the hardship, is felt particularly by some workers who were taken away from work on good conditions and transported to the western frontier. Thousands of workers are housed in huts and tents, and there is a lack of all amenities. Life is unbearable with the coming of the cold and rainy weather,, and the workers resort to all kinds of pretexts in order to get away, going sick if no other way proves successful. The management is thus up against great difficulties, and the dissatisfaction among the workers certainly does not make for good work, but the work nevertheless goes 0n. —(1.F.T.U.) * * ♦ * MALNUTRITION IN 'BRITAIN. According to investigations made by dir William Crawford, an expert on economic questions, more than b,UUU,(JUU Britons are suffering from malnutrition because they haven’t enough money to spend on food. Based on an exliaustive inquiry covering families in live social grades, ranging from the rich to the very poor, the investigation was conducted in London and six large provincial cities. Average milk and cream consumption is 3.11 pints per head weekly, while butter consumption rates about 7.(Joz, Marmalade is a luxury for the large majority of Britons, who eat jam or syrup instead —when they get even that. Bacon and eggs for “breakfast represents the •' mark of social achievement,” it was proven. Even beer, which it is customarily believed the British, no matter how poor, has regularly, is a luxury for the poor Briton. The poorest class in England buys an average of only .03 pints per week, representing an expenditure of but one-fifth of a penny. DUST FROM DRILLING. SWEDISH SAFETY DEVICE. A simple device to protect those occupied in drilling stone from the dangerous dust arising, which produces the lung disease known as “ silicosis,” lias been invented and perfected in Sweden. The device, constructed and patented by a Mr Ruben Carlsson, of Stockholm, consists of a rubber cap enclosing the drilling tool and an ingenious little suction apparatus, the so-called “ ejector,” driven by compressed air from the compressor for operating the tool. Through a piping the cap is connected with the ejector, which draws off the dangerous dust from the spot where the drilling takes place. In the case of work in tunnels and other enclosed places the dust is collected in a receptacle, like that of a vacuum cleaner, by means of a so-called cyclone apparatus. The device is equally effective in whichever direction drilling is carried on, which is of importance, especially in mines. It consumes only 3-50 litres of compressed air a minute, and is thus economic in use. The apparatus, which has proved effective during tests over a long time, has received recognition in all quarters, and about 150 are already in use in Sweden. Demonstrations were undertaken recently in the of representatives of the Social Board and the Labour Inspection of Sweden, ami these experts estimated that about .90 per cent, of the drilling dust was removed by'the device.