NOTES AND COMMENTS ON LABOUR QUESTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13814, 29 July 1908, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS ON LABOUR QUESTIONS.

' ' BY artisax The Auckland House Painters' Union hold a social this evening (Wednesday). The election for the position of secretary to the Auckland Bootmakers' Union takes place next Monday. The Auckland Labour Day Committee hold their second meeting this evening in the Swanson-street rooms, v The aims of the unions are, and should be, to obtain a living wage for their members, to see that apprentices are thoroughly trained, and that the hours of labour should be such as will leave a reasonable time for recreation. ■ The refusal of the Labour Department to registar the Domestic Workers' Union under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act is unfavourably commented upon, it being the general opinion that all and every class of labour could be registered. The domestic worker is one of the most useful, and at the same time, most sweated forms of labour we have. The " needs'-' and " exertion" wage is still being discussed by unionists, and the " exertion" wage is regarded as an ingenious method, introducing the thin end of the wedge for the re-introduction of sweating and piecework.' Unionists hold, that it isi reasonable to fix a minimum wage, but no court should be allowed to fix a maximum wage, and that is what the " exertion" wage would resolve itself into. The last meeting of the Carters' Union was a record one, being the largest gathering of the members ever held, over fifty new members being elected that night. The principal business under consideration was the new statement of wages and con ditions of labour. The case is being prepared for the next sittings of the Court, due in October next. Quite a number of the members are in favour of the strike, as a means of obtaining better conditions, but, after discussion, it was decided to give the Court a chance. The.. carter in Auckland works the longest hours and is the poorest paid of any class pf lalour in the city. The average' wage, on a time basis, for carters is about 6i|(d per hour.

The result of the award given by the Special Board in the tramway case was not generally expected by the unionists, but is received with gratification. The award may be said to have justified the union in going out on strike, though it will hardly mitigate the penalty which will be inflicted by the Arbitration Court at its. next sittings. The award has a special significance to all unions, especially relating to the clauses regarding the furnishing of characters to employees on the occasion of their leaving employment. Judging by the chorus of disapproval given by the employers as a class Special Boards or Industrial Councils will not now be received with the favour with which they were previously held. Unionists are, on the whole, satisfied with the finding as regards the men who refused to go out on strike, recognising that any other decision would have been practically offering a premium on law-breaking.

The conference of delegates representing the several Trades Councils has finished its sittings, and, as usual, has carried a large number of resolutions, which will in the ordinary course of events, if the past may be taken as an indication, be allowed to lie dormant until the . next conference comes around. The conference has discussed the Arbitration Bill very fully, and the position of organised Labour is now denned with regard to that measure, and should be of assistance to those members of Parliament who would like to see the Act placed on a sound basis. / Perhaps one of the most interesting features of the conference was the introduction of the liruor question and the ultimate result of the recommendation to the workers to vote "no-license." , The liquor question is. one that affects the working class as a whole more than any other class, and it is well known that abstainers are more reliable in the performance of their duties than non-abstainers, and that if the workers as a body kept" sober; "they would be better able to command increased wages. than they are under present conditions. The best interests of the workers, and trades unionists in particular, lie in the making of the great mass of the workers sober, and given a sober people they will be able to obtain greater economic advantages than are now obtainable. The conference is to be congratulated on having grappled with a difficult question, and having done so the unionists should follow the lead given, and the results will prove to be better than an increase of wages given by the Court under present conditions.