FEDERATION OF LABOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15001, 24 May 1912, Page 8

FEDERATION OF LABOUR.

CONFERENCE OPENS. .WORK OF THE YEAR. THE AUSTRALIAN AGREEMENT. I [EX TELEGRAPH. — ASSOCIATION.] Weixington, Thursday. About 50 delegates from various parts of f tho Dominion are attending the confer- : ence of the New ; : Zealand Federation of : Labour, the opening sessions of -which were held to-day. Mr. P. C. Webb (president 'of the federation) was in the chair. ' ■ ■ It was decided to exclude the represen- , tatives of, the daily press from the Conference, and to supply an official report to the papers. It was also resolved that a verbatim report of the proceedings be specially taken and published in pamphlet form. The official report is as follows In welcoming the delegates, the president expressed the hope that they would not separate until they had perfected .; the machinery of the organisation in such a way as to make the Federation of Labour the most complete organisation of the working class. Ho regarded the Conference as tho most important ever held in ! the history of the ■ working-class moveI ment of Now Zealand, and ;ho believed I the deliberations and decisions -would tend to the freeing of the workers from ! the injustices of capitalism. The delegates pledged themselves to divulge no I information to the press. - • . ! Mr. Webb gave an exhaustive report iof executive work, • referring to the Remarkable growth of tho , membership ' since the previous conference held in J.Jiu. ! Agreements had been made from one ena of New Zealand to the other, and' in every ' case the conditions had been, bettered. 1 The federation had tried compulsory arbitration, but had found that organisation in the spirit of solidarity, had achieved better results. '■■ The Federation'of Labour sought to unite all wage earners .into one class organisation. r • It had gained the allegiance of the waterside>workers,, and had been the means of improving their lot, more thoroughly than had been the case for 15 years. In 1911 the federation had taken over the Mabrilahd Worker, iMtted it as a weekly newspaper, and subsequently installed a plant and; purchased premises. The paper had come to stay, and had done good work. ,The organisation had had to fight for its existence and principles every inch of the way, but tho present large conference attested to its spreading popularity and need. _ : Mr.' K. Sample (the organiser) also gave an exhaustive report, in which_ he emphasised that he had carried out instructions in signing agreements, but in no agreement had the right to strike or the right to make common cause in industrial upheaval been sacrificed. He had been somewhat handicapped in his propaganda work by the necessities of administration; As a result of, his mission to Australia .the coalminers of Victoria, New South Wales and New Zealand had i been ; linked ■?■up, and the" following agreement had been approved and sighed:—"For the purpose of more efficiently and successfully conducting wage wars ; and securing working-class : i solidarity in such industrial straggles its ; may extend \ from Australia to New Zealand, of vice versa, it is hereby agreed by the New Zealand Federation of Labour on the one -i hand and tho; undermentioned \ industrial \ organisations on the other hand as fol- j lows:—(1) That the various organisations j shall make.common cause in all disputes i affecting the Waterside and Minors' "Onions • directly the dispute is held by the or- | ganisation which has initiated action to I require j the cooperation of other parties j to this agreement; (2) that moral ,and. ! financial aid shall be mutually rendered in ] industrial struggles; (3) that in industrial \ struggles ; the : Unions ' ■ hereunder specified j shall in any and all circumstances; refuse, upon official notification, to assist in tho production or .transportation of like commodities; to those affected if such production or transportation ;be the means, of ,| injuring the cause of the organisation involved. Mr. Semple added that he had not been able in the time at his disposal to reach the rank and file cf the Australian waterside workers, but he felt sure that in tho future the waterside industry would also be intercolonially joined. On tho motion of Messrs, P. Fraser and G. Bruce, the reports were adopted, as ! was also the executive balance-sheet. Thai conference will: be resumed to-morrow. I