LABOUR DEPARTMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11734, 16 August 1901, Page 5

LABOUR DEPARTMENT.

ANNUAL REPORT. INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OP FACTORIES. FURTHER REGULATION OF OVERTIME. [BY TELEGRAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington-, Thursday. The annual report of the Department of Labour laid on the table of the House today is a voluminous affair of about ii'J pages. The year, reports Mr. Tregear, the secretary, has been marked by unusual prosperity in business, and continuous employment of labour in the colony, with the exception of the boot and shoe manufacture, which unfortunately has every year to be exempted from the roll of prosperous enterprises. The increase of business has been distributed over the whole community, although, of course, some occupations deserve more marked comment than others. Among these, I may specify the woollen manufactories, where in some cases orders have had to be declined owing to over pressure. Among the more particularly nourishing businesses may be placed the building trades, foundries, and engineering shops, clothing factories, tanneries, and fellmongeries, cabinetmaking workshops, dressmakers' establishments, etc. "The unemployed difficulty has almost disappeared as a practical factor in the work of this Department, thanks to the co-opera-tive system used in the Departments of Public Works and Crown Lands. In the total number of 3124 men passed through the books of this Department some 519 only should be considered as having been assisted as ' unemployed ' proper, these having been sent to private employment. Of the '3124 men' 1798 were single, and 1326 married, these latter having 5432 persons dependent on them. " There is an increase of 506 in the number of factories registered this year over those of the preceding year. The number of hands employed in. these establishments has increased by 4522. the total number being 53,460, of whom 40,381 are males, and 13.079 females. These figures should be augmented by the record of 1703 men and youths employed, in the Government railway workshops. The increase in the last seven years was 79 per cent." The report states that however valuable the constantly increasing demands from employers to work their hands overtime may be as an index of extending trade and a sign of industrial prosperity, the pressure has during the last year kept up such a eontinu- . ous strain that it demands serious attention from all those interested in the health and , welfare of the workers. The reports of fac- ; lory inspectors to this effect are reinforced ; by resolutions forwarded from powerful unions of working women deprecating legislative pel-mission. For such limits of over- : time as may now be worked under the present Act the total number of persons working in 1900 in the four large centres was 5090, who worked 138,169 hours overtime ; in 1901 there were 7247 workers, whose overtime amounted to 211,725 hours. It should be noticed that this overtime has been recorded only concerning the work of women, girls, and lads, and that only in factories. If to this were added the hours of overtime worked by men in factories, and by men and girls in shops, the result would be startling. It was hoped that the introduction of a section into the Act insisting on a minimum wage fo"r overtime would have had some retarding influence upon the growing demands of employers, but the present minimum wage of 6d per hour is not high enough in itself to withstand the pressure of great industrial activity, and the result is becoming oppressive. I suggest (continues Mr. Tregear) that though the minimum wage remain 6d per hour all overtime should be paid for at the rate of time and a-half for wage-earners, while piece-workers should have 50 per cent, for night-work added to the day log prices. At present if one of the better paid women, say. 1 at £1 10s per week, has to remain on overtime she may only get 6d per hour, while her rate of pay for the hours of day work is 8d per hour, therefore her pay for overtime should be at least Is per hour, especially when it is remembered that the recreation time of the worker has been taken, that an extra meal has to be paid for, and that her reserve of strength for the ensujng (Say's work has been drawn upon. If industrial prosperity is so great that the workers' services are in excessive demand, those who earn the profit should have a, share in the profit. T. strongly recommend that overtime should not be permitted at all in the case of girls and boys under 16. Their growing bodies have performed quite enough work, often monotonous and laborious work, when they have finished their eight hours of factory labour. " Difficulty is often experienced by inspectors of factories in their efforts for procuring better sanitary conditions by the want of power to directly compel persons owning land and buildings near factories to keep their premises clean. There should bo some method whereby an inspector might demand and obtain immediate removal of refuse or the repair of drains on premises adjacent to a factory, just as though such nuisances were on the factory property itself. "The Shops and Shop Assistants Act has worked extremely well during the year. The working hours mentioned in the Act are, however, too long. They exceed those recognised by the better class of shops wherein usually the assistants only work on ordinary days from nine to six, with an hour off for meals. This allows eight hours lor four days, 11 hours for one day, and four hours on the half-holiday, totalling 47 hours par week ; whereas, the harsher masters exact the fully 52 hours allowed by the present law, getting the full time from girl assistants, and unlimited hours from the men. Some scale of working hours should be fixed, preferably a time limit within which they should be forbidden to work, as women in factories now are forbidden to work between six p.m. and a-quarter tp eight a.m. Other provisions of the Factories Act might also, with advantage, be introduced into the Shops Act; for instance, a, minimum wage for overtime would be a great boon to many overworked shop assistants, whose private time is now unfairly exploited to the prevention of recreation and detriment of health. The provisions of the Employment of Boys and Girls Without Payment Prevention Act should also be made to apply to youngsters in shops as well as in factories, since there are some persons whose consciences do not forbid them to make money out of the unpaid labour of weary children. " I sincerely trust (concludes Mr. Tregear) that the Bill of last year regulating clerical labour in offices, will again be laid before the House, and this session pass into law." In the course of his report the chief clerk, Mr. Jas. Mackay, says : —"There is great difficulty experienced in getting young men and lads for dairy farming, the great objection being the long hours which this branch of labour entails upon the employees, and the sleeping accommodation is not always as good its it should be. In the cities work of all kinds has been fairly plentiful, very few complaints having been received. Boot manufacturers say that they cannot get girls as machinists. For some reason or other this branch of industry does not seem to be a favourite one with women, and yet good wages are earned. Clothing manufacturers also complain that they cannot get enough hands, while the servant girl difficulty is as pronounced as ever."