ARBITRATION COURT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5737, 4 November 1905, Page 5

ARBITRATION COURT.

YESTERDAY’S BUSINESS.

The Arbitration Court —bis Honor Mr Justice Chapman, Messrs Ur own and Slater—continued tho hearing of tho industrial dispute in the. tailoring trade.

At the previous day’s sitting an application had been made by the Tailors’ Union with regard to tho Wellington!, branch of the Manufacturers’ Association that tho rules agreed to by soma sixty-four employers should bo accepted by some seven employers who comprise tho Manufacturers’ Association. The desire of tho union was that manufacturers should placo upon garments that were factory-made a tag to say) so, in order to prevent outfitters from' taking orders for garments, haring them! made at a factory, and selling them aa tailor-made articles. Tho reply of the employers was that a considerable portion of their business is done with the warehousemen, who use thoir own particular brand on their garments, and that if any other brand was put on they would start factories of their own and make garments themselves. The Court suggested that the manufacturers should he allowed to placo the names of warehousemen on the ware-house-made articles, and should he enforced to place on articles made for retail shops the brand required by the union- • Tins was not agreed to, and the Court reserved judgment. CAB-DRIVERS. , In the afternoon a dispute was heard between the Wellington Drivers’ Industrial Union and the cab proprietors of Wellington. ■ > ■ Mr D. Blaokio appeared for the union, and stated that the appeal to tho Court was to' regulate tho hours of work and rates of wages for cabmen. It. was asked that the driver of a twohorse cab should ho paid £2 12s 6d si week, and for a eno-horso cab £2 Bs, tho actual driving time to he seventy hours a week, including Sunday. They wanted to bo exempt from cleaning vehicles and attending to vehicles, andl they wanted preference of employment for members of the union. At tho present time drivers were at posal of employers practically day and night all the week. The case had 'been, before the Court some time ago and adjourned because of witnesses not appearing.’ The counter proposals put in by tho employers then were that the houre should he seventy-six a week, exclusive of attendance upon horses and vehicles. ‘ Mr Justice Chapman: What is thogeneral rate of pay now? Mr Blackio: The general rate is anything. One employer pays youths to drive for him anything from 10s to £1; a week and keep. I was told that ono small lad driving for him is being paid 5s a week and found. As for the “keep”—well, I won’t say anything about that except that they are kept alive. Ono witness said ho was receiving £3 5s a week for driving a cab, and wan working on an average 100 hours a week; another said ho was receiving £3 5s a week and averaged sixteen hours a day; another was working from about 7 o’clock in tho morning until 8. o’clock at night for £2 Ss a week. The last-named was a married man and paid 15s a week for a four-roomed house (“canary cage,” ho called it). ’ Mr Justice Chapman: They tell me that that difficulty is. going te be solved' at ati early date. Mr T. P. Lyons, who appeared on his own behalf, said the takings did not justify an increase of wages. For tho past three months ho had lost £l2 on the takings of three cabs. Tho electric car's had practically ruined the cab business in Wellington. Two years ago bo had paid Ins men £2 10s a week, but five months ago bo bad reduced them te £2 5s because of t]rc competition of 'the tramcar service. Mr H. Inniss, carnage proprietor, asked the Court not to Ux too firmly the hours to he worked, nor to give prefer'ence to unionists. At the conclusion of tho evidence tbsCourt adjourned until Monday.