THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT.

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 March 1907, Page 4

THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT.

TELEGRAMS.

AN ATTACK AND A REPLY,

[by telegraph—special to star]

WELLINGTON This Day

Locally there has for some time | past been great dissatisfaction among j Unionists with the working of the Labour Deparment. Some of the grievances were ventilated- at a recent deputation to the Minister for Labour. Mr Millair made enquiries | and two days ago he replied to the secretary of the Cooks and Waiters Union. The following is an extract from tho letter: —“lt appears to me that so far as the Cooks and Waiters’ Union is concerned, there is not much cause for complaint against the Department. I may point out that your agreement came into gperation only on the 26th of November last, and since that time eighteen cases have been dealt with by. the court, convictions following in each Fourteen othdr cases have been filed. The remainder lire either under invesigation or instructions, have been given to cite. Under these circumstances I do not thing it possible for 'your Union to maintain that the Department have not endeavoured ,to see the agreement carried out. Notwithstanding the fact that the agreement is one of tho most difficult for employers and employees to work under, and also for the Department to administer. I also find that in regard to your statement respecting letters not being replied to, tho majority of these letters have, been answered, either by My, Tregcar, by Mr Aldridge, or Mr Mackay,. and , some by Mr Rowley all of whom arc departmental officers, but as many of yours letters require Id investigation before a satisfactory report could be sent, it is needless to say in caes no answers could bo forwarded to you until the results of such in- • '.ves'tijgatjfons could be idscertained. This, .therefore, accounts for some of the delays referred to, .however, with the increased staff now at the head office, I do not think that even" this cause for complaint \yill exist.’.’ The Minister asked that his reply be pub hshed. to-day. The secretary .of the Union replied in. .vigorous terms. Ho points out that the reply should have been sent to the Trades and Labour

Council, whose deputation it was, and continues as follows: —“As you specially refer to the Cooks and Waiters’ Union at the commencement of your letter, and state that that Union has not much cause for complaint against the Department, I beg leave- to repeat the assertions I made as secretary, qf that Union, and one of the speakers of the deputation. 1 contender! then that your Department had in many instances condoned breaches by accepting the payment of back money after those breaches had bben investigated, and proved that the inspectors had gone half hearted iv into tho work of investigation, and !.n many instances the employers wlio were concerned in the reported breach es were never interviewed by the inspector at all ; further, that in this connection tho inspectors had taken the mere word of the employer alone consulted in those cases, and had expected the Union to be satisfied with lias investigation; lastly I asserted • that of, roughly, forty. Inters sent by me to your Department, all of which more or less contained reports of serious breaches, and some of which were written as far back as over a month from the time of the deputation, thirty had remained unanswered. These assertions I strictly adhere to, and challenge you, sir, as head of the Department, to prove their untruthfulness. ..