WORLD of WORK

NZ Truth, Issue 584, 26 August 1916, Page 8

WORLD of WORK

> i BY "HONEBTAB." —

* In the British. AmtjigsimntaA Society W Engineers' "Report" for June, the chairman of the Executive Council states that f at recent conferences -with employers on the subject of -wages, the bearing 1 on that question, of the increase In the cost of . living has been much In evidence. His estimate of the position Is that, -while wages have Increased from 10 per cent; . to 15 per cent, .since the beginning of' the war, the cost of the staple necessaries of life has been bumped up oloso on 50 per cent. He declares that: "Were It not for the fact that our members are m receipt of increased earnings m consequence of working excessive hours, the position of the operative engineer would be very serious Indeed. ,Wo are told that the Engineering Employers' Federation recognise the gravity of the situations but that as most of the firms they represent are-con-trolled are governed by the War k Munitions and other economic factors, they are powerless to advance wages commensurate to the needs of the case. However, they emphatically declare that: Unless some action Is taken by I ' the Government to control prices and reduce the cost of living, serious difficulties may arise m the workshops. to the detriment of the nation. \ ' ■ ■ This is a much better Idea than Insisting on an increase of wages to munition workers. For the latter this might temporarily ease : matters, but what of the great mass of the popula-

tion "who would not be so fortunate as to come within scope of such increment? Without any advance m wages, or increased earnings of any kind, they have to do the best they can to plug along and keep out of debt — if possible. Any further increase to the munition workers would but aggravate matters for them, as m all probability the price of the necessaries of life would be still further enhanced. The .best solution: of the difficulty would be for .the Government to take control of the supply of foodstuffs and fix prices at a rate to defray costs and thus eliminate profits. The following paragraph dealing with an action brought by the Labor Department against a Wellington employer has been going th© rounds of -the Dominion press: At Wellington, R. TTarmah and Co., boot manufacturers, were charged by the Inspector of Fac- , tories with. not complying with the award m, not paying employees , ' within five , minutes of ending work. For the defendants, who employed 22 G hands, it was contended that it was. Impossible to pay In the time allowed. s The Magistrate. agreed that strict compliance was impossible. • He im- j posed a nominal fine of five shil- j lings. The Impression given by the perusal of \ the above is that the action m question really amounted to vexatious litiga- i tion. In fact. one of the Wellington j papers declared that the case should j not have been brought ; into court. ] The whole muddle arose from the fact that the Labor Department inspector who was responsible for the prosecu- • tion did not make himself familiar with the union's side of the case. The lawyer representing R. Hannah and Company said that only five minutes were allowed for payment of 226 employees, and the Magistrate agreed that "it was Impossible to pay m the time allowed," and a nominal fine > of five shillings was imposed. It seems to "Honestas*; that an appeal should lie because of misdirection of the Magistrate — not wilful, perhaps, but, nevertheless, misdirection. The fact is that not "five minutes," but twentyfour hours and five minutes is the time allowed for paying employees and surely Hannah and Company's ''ghost" could visit every one of the 226 employees within that period. It is done m other factories. In fact, there is no other boot factory company m New Zealand that finds it impossible to pay Its workers within the legal time. Talk about vexations litigation! It is not the litigation, vexatious or other, originating m the complaints of the union or the , uninspired actions of Labor Department inspectors that is to blame, but the union officials claim that it is the pin-pricking policy of' the Fqpnp>i factory management towards the union that is the trouble. The terms of the . Boot Operatives' award state that employees of boot factories must be paid wHhin twentyfour hours after the closing of their week's work. This means that the "ghost" has to "walk" during working hours, as he does m other factories. Apparently the TTnnnah Company grudge , the loss of a few seconds' working time per employee which such a system entails, and so they keep them standing round after the day's darg's done, waiting their turns to grasp their not too weighty envelopes. Under such ' circumstances an information ought to be laid every time a breach occurs until the Hannah Company management are taught that thawnnesa breenges back. . ■• * • "J.J n M a scribbler m the London "Duly Mile," m speaking of the training of naval firemen and trimmers, gets this chunk of wisdom off hia chest: He labors m a bunker — a sort of deep steel pit — where space Is limited and m which the danger of explosion Is ever present. For tolling thus, hours at a stretch, m a rolling ship, he gats la 8d per day

and no war bonus. Think of that, ye munition workers! Yes, think of that ye munition workers; but not after the manner m which this dod-gasted gitterer would, fain have you think. Of course, the inference is that the munition workers have no reason to growl, because are not the firemen and trimmers worse off by far? The hornswoggled scribe can't see that such a condition of things, instead of making the underpaid, over- worked munitioner more contented, is apt to. or ought to, get him on the raw, m that he not only has to kick for himself, but he must needs kick for his less fortunate workmate. But it was ever thus with our "masters and betters." They always have tried to make the worker ;feel what a lucky fellow he is m not being just as badly oft as he might be. These "J.J.'s" of the day-lie press never point the workers to the following interesting tid-bit given m sassiety sheets that circulate only among the bon-tbn: Lord Cuckolder presented Miss Phylis Risque, of the Histrainian . Follies with a diamond tiara said to be worth £10,000. At a freak dinner held m his Lordship's barn all the guests arrived dressed as beggars. The viands were served on gold and. silver plates. ; The dinner cost £2000. The "J.J.'s" of the "Mail" and other Plute papers never advise the workers to "think of that!" If they did, the working "jays" might want to have a cut m at those freak beggars' feasts, or it might set them to thinking not only of "that," but of how best and quickest to put an end to, the system that makes such a scandal possible!