THE DEADLOCK IN THE FURNITURE TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12212, 6 March 1903, Page 6

THE DEADLOCK IN THE FURNITURE TRADE.

THE POSITION UNCHANGED.

FURTHER STATEMENTS BY EMPLOYEES.

The position in regard to the deadlock in the furniture manufacturing trade caused by the employers suspending most of tbeir hands did not undergo any alteration yesterday, and matters remain 'so far in the condition described in our last issue. A subcommittee of the Employers' Union met yesterday afternoon to consider the situation, but no particulars were made public, it being explained that the meeting was merely preliminary to a general meeting to be held to-day at which the subject will be fully discussed' and the future course of action, no doubt, decided upon. The position taken up by the employers is one which will be very difficult to defeat They have simply suspended a number of their hands. The men asked what was the reason and -rere told that it was simply because the employers did not think they were worth the wages which had been awarded by 'the Court. "Thev could take the legal procedure, and could, if they chose, apply to the secretary of th» union and the chairman of the Conciliation Board and get a certificate that they were not competent to earn the full wage. . Then they would probably be employed again at a reduced wage, but in the meantime it was the opinion of the emplovers that they were not worth the money. Nothing has yet been done to fill up the places of these men, although the employers have had numerous applications from men from Sydney and the South. We understand also that the men who have been suspended are willing to work at the old wage, but that the union will not allow them. The men who have been retained— who, of course, are the best workmen scarcely be called out on. strike by the -.-nion, because they are working under an award of the Court and are paid the wages of the award. A' representative of- the Herald Waited upon the managers of several of the principal factories yesterday, but very little further information was obtainable in respect to the trouble which has arisen. The employers generally unite in declaring that the matter is not one which should be referred to as a "dispute." One manager said: "There is no dispute in the matter at all so far as we are concerned. The benches are ready for the men to come back at their previous rates of wages if they feel inclined. We do not object to paying the full <fages fixed in the award to competent men, and, in fact, the few men who have been retained are receiving that amount. Wo do object, however, to paying this wage to men who are not worth it. We cannot afford, to quote an example, to pay £2 to produce a chair for, which we receive only 355." The other employers adopt the same tone, and staffthat, generally speaking, the men were satisfied with their previous rates of pay. "Dozens of the men," said one employer, " are anxious to come back to work at the old rates, but we cannot take them back because the union would baulk us from doing that."

In regard to the schedules of rates showing what the employers are prepared to pay to the men considered by them to be incompetent, one employer states tha*" whilst he has sent no list to the union ne has given each man who has applied for it a written statement of what he is agreeable to pay him. Several of the men have obtained this information. A large number of the men have not been members of the union hitherto. Messrs. Winks and Hall, one of the firms mentioned yesterday, have not dispensed with any of their men. One employer, in speaking of the question of im porting Australian furniture, said that his firm had not, so far, taken that step, but that if matters did not right themselves satisfactorily they would be obliged, for their own protection, to place orders in Australia for a large proportion of their goods. DUTY ON IMPORTED FURNITURE. SUGGESTED GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE. ' [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Thursday. Mr. Tregear (Secretary of the Department of Labour) has received a telegram stating that the number of men suspended in -the cafoinetmaking trouble in Auckland has been greatly exaggerated, and that it is expected the dispute will be entirely settled in a day or two. . The Cabinet has under consideration a suggestion that the duty on imported furniture should be raised from 25 to 35 per cent. SYMPATHY FROM TRADES 1 UNIONISTS. [BY TELEGRAPH. ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Thursday. The Wellington Trades and Labour Council to-night _ passed a resolution expressing sympathy,with the Auckland cabinetmakers, and offering to grant them assistance to combat the employers. Dunedin, Thursday. At a meeting of the Dunedin Trades and Labour Council to-night it was resodved to express indignation at the acSfon of the furniture trade employers in Auckland in locking out workers in contravention of the spirit of the conciliation and arbitration law, and at the' importation of cheap, sweated-made goods,' principally Chinese manufactured, from Australia. The Council decided to ask the Premier to use Iris influence in preventing this section of the employers inaugurating a system, which was evidently intended to destroy the working of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act.