LABOUR IN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19469, 27 October 1926, Page 14

LABOUR IN AUSTRALIA.

DICTATION BY UNIONS. HANDICAPS ON INDUSTRY. EMPLOYER'S CONDEMNATION. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. {Received 7,5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. MELBOURNE. Oct. 26. In an address before the annual conference of, the Central Council of the Employers' Federation, the president of the New South Wales Federation, Mr. A. 11. Moore, condemned the present system of dictation by trades unions. tie said job control, restriction of output, reduction of working hours, overlapping awards, workers' compensation provisions and the utter absence of any concern on the part of officials of the trades unions to ensure s, fair return for wages paid, were some of the handicaps with which manufacturers had to contend. There appeared to be little immediate prospect of relief from these handicaps. The growing feeling of antagonism on the part of the trades unions toward the employers was a natural result of constant recourse to legalised tribunals. This rendered the position of the employer intolerable and impracticable. It also raised the question of whether compulsory arbitration had not proved to be a failure. But he assumed the system had come to stay. Mr. Moore said wages in Australia, generally speaking, were 100 per cent, higher than in similar industries in the United Kingdom. The loss of four hours » week on full pay in Australia was, therefore, equivalent to eight hours extra competitive work per week per worker in Britain. The speaker urged the need for closer co-operation between the employers' organisations.