LABOUR'S PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14657, 18 April 1911, Page 6

LABOUR'S PARLIAMENT.

O 1 ■ . WHAT THE WORKERS WANT. SUGGESTED LEGISLATION. y £ar TELEGRAPH.PRESS ARfACTATIOSr.] 5 \ ." CnxusTCHtnacH, Monday. * The conference of Trades and Labour ' Councils find the Federation of Labour was " resumed this morning. ' * The remits first dealt with were those 3 relating to the Arbitration Act. Remits from Auckland were agreed to ' as follows — ; fc " That any sections of an award agreed 3 to by the Conciliation Council shall not ir be altered by the Court of Arbitration, except when necessary to correct legal . technicalities or to prevent tho nullifica--1 tion of other sections of the award." " That where employers are filing - counter proposals to a union's demands, i the same to be in the hands of the union not later than seven days previous to the ? date of hearing of the application." 1 The following remit from Canterbury was agreed to : — " That inspectors of factories shall, on application being made by a union concerned in an industry, furnish a, list of apprentices working in that industry to the said union, within 14 days after the . application has been made." ' A Canterbury remit was agreed to providing that when an employer decides to I give evidence with regard to trade _ secrets he may do so if Conciliation Commissioner j thinks fit before the commissioner alone, who is not to disclose the nature of such t evidencej but may inform the assessors whether or not in his opinion any claim or ' allegation made by the applicants or re- i 1 spondents in the inquiry is substantiated by the evidence all books relating to r finance to be produced before the assessor's- 1 by either party. Powers of Arbitration Court. [ Mr. Howard (Canterbury) moved, and , Mr. Laracy seconded, "That section 72 be , struck out, and the following inserted " :— " When an industrial <|ispnto has been referred to the Court, the Court shall make an award covering wages and conditions ] of labour in connection with that industry." ' Mr. Young (Wellington) said that if there was any scarcity of farm labour it was due to the failure of the Court to lay down specific conditions for those employed in the industry. It was desired that uniform conditions should apply to all employers, and if a farmer was not prepared to pay proper wages and give his employees fair and reasonable conditions, it would bo better for this country if he ceased from that occupation. He alleged ,• that there was evidence that some of t&; , Sedgwick boys were only receiving 4s to 5s f per week. These boys were keeping men i out of employment. ; Mr. MacLaren said it was wrong to say 3 that the Legislature of New Zealand con--3 sisted of the House of Representatives and ) the Legislative Council. It consisted of those Houses and the Arbitration Court. • Under section 72 the Court had, statutory power to go on strike when it liked .and for any reason it liked. Tho Court had been " " pulled" by political influence to specially : protect the agricultural and banking in- ' tcrests of the country, and the workers en- " gaged in those industries were not being ' fairly and honestly considered. » The remit was agreed to. | Scope of Awards. ' Another Canterbury remit, providing that » any trades union, industrial association, or ) employer cited to show cause why they . should not be added as parties to an award i shall file any objection in writing five daysi - before the date fixed for the hearing, was agreed to. Other Canterbury remits agreed to were : —-"In section 107, clause 2, strike out the words, ' For the enforcement of any industrial agreement or award, or order of the Court,' and add the following to paragraph : ' The management committee of an industrial union or association may instruct the secretary to apply in. tho prescribed form to the Court for enforcement of any i industrial agreement or award, or order of > the Court.* " " " That the Act be amended to provide 1 that when an award is made by the Court ' to apply to any industry, such award shall * be binding upon every party engaged in " that industry, whether employer or em- i " ployee, throughout the whole of the industrial district." } " That section 61 of the Act be amended , to provide that any claim for back wages * shall date from the time the claim is made, 1 and not from the time it reaches the 5 Court." 5 On the motion of the Southland dele--1 gates, tho following remit was agreed to: — * " That this conference demand statutory unconditional preference to unionists." f Government Employees. s The Chairman, for the East Coast Coun- . cil, moved, " That the Government be „ asked to bring their employees under the j scope of awards in the different districts." : Mr. Young (Wellington) seconded, 3 The Hon. J. T. Paul expressed the { opinion that the Conference should not at- . tempt to force on Government workers an 8 alteration in their conditions that they had 5 not asked for. . Mr. Carey moved as an amendment, a " That the Government be asked to pro- . vide that labour conditions in the Govern- . ment service should be at least.equal to the conditions fixed by the Arbitration ] Court for tradesmen and workers in the 1 service of private employers." ; The amendment was agreed to. > The Osborne Judgment. ' , Mr. Carey (Wellington) moved the foK ' lowing remit' That the Conciliation and I Arbitration and Trades . Union Act, be amended, so as to remove restrictions lm- ' posed on trades unions by virtue of the i Osborne judgment." He said it was ab- , sard that workers in New Zealand should be governed by a law that the Liberal " Government of England was prepared to * ■'"repeal. 3 Mr. McLaren said whether unions would use their members' funds on all occasions for political purposes was not the issue.' " The position was that the funds belonged to the members, who should be free to use them as they think necessary, provided they did not conspire against the general law. The New Zealand. Government in getting the Solicitor-General's advice on the subject simply showed an element of bias against the trades unions of the country, and the trades unions should not lose sight ' of it. It was necessary that the workers 5 should stand absolutely solid on this and give the country to understand that they ' were in earnest. Individual members of * unions might contend that they objected - to the funds being used for political action, 1 but they had to be governed by the f majority. • , The remit was agreed to. ) ' The Factories Act. The following amendments to the Faci tories Act remitted by Wellington were i agreed to: — "That the Conference demand the repeal t of section 20." i "That employers be compelled to provide - letter racks accessible to employees and to s make provision for the prompt delivery of - all employees' letters." a "That wages shall be paid immediately 0 employment ceases, cither by dismissal or i expiration of notice, in accordance with - the provisions of an award or custom." 3' "That section 26 bo amended to provide r that no employer shall employ boys or 1 girls under 17 years of age for more than b 30 hours per week." " That all boys and, girls under , the ago a of 17 years shall 'receive instruction for a not less than 15 hours per week at conl tin nation classes." B That all chart orders and ready-made l suits shall l)o marked as factory made, by ■> having stamped or printed in a plain and f legible manner inside the coat and vest [l and trousers, the words " Factory Made " f in letters at least one-eighth of on inch inj S size.' " That tho Act be amended to provide l that all overtime shall be paid at double- } time rates." ( | The Conference adjourned till 9.30 a.m. t to-morrow. | : *: -