LABOUR CONVENTIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22540, 3 October 1936, Page 14

LABOUR CONVENTIONS

THE GENEVA CONFERENCE ATTITUDE OF GOVERNMENT [BY TELEGRAPH SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Friday A statement made this week by Mr. G. T. Thurston, the New Zealand workers' delegate to the International Labour Conference at Geneva, who recently returned to Christchurch, that New Zealand had not ratified any of the draft conventions of the conference was referred to in an urgent question by Mr. T. H. McCombs (Government — Lvttelton) to the Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, in the House of Representatives yesterday. "If this statement is correct," said Mr. McCombs, "will the Government consider taking suitable action? " The Prime Minister said the ratification of the various draft conventions of the International Labour Conference had been under consideration, but the Government's legislative programme for the present session, which was planned with a view to facilitating the amelioration of economic conditions of the people of New Zealand, had precluded the possibility of any action being taken in this direction this year. However, the question was being brought up for consideration when the legislative programme for next session was under review. A number of conventions could no doubt be ratified without legislation, namely, hours of work in industry, the application of weekly rest in industrial undertakings and forced or compulsory labour. Ratification of others would involve merely slight amendments of the existing law, for instance, conventions dealing with the minimum age for the admission of children to employment. In connection with the convention relating to the reduction of hours of work to 40 a week, continued Mr. Savage, this was being dealt with by the conference industry by industry, while in New Zealand the 40-hour week had been introduced by the Government in a comprehensive manner far in advance of anything ever suggested by the conference,