TRADES AND LABOUR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12604, 6 March 1903, Page 5

TRADES AND LABOUR.

THE CABINETMAKERS' LOOK-OUT. BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION. (From Our Own Correspondent.) , AUCKLAND, March 5. The lock-out in the furniture trade is only a partial one, but affccts about 100 men. The award of the Arbitration Court raised the minimum wage from Is Id to Is 3d. The employers, taking united action, liavo dismissed all they think unable to earn this wage. In explaining the matter one employer said:—"The position is quite simple as far as we are concerncd. The men who are worth tho wage fixed have been retained, those whom we consider rot able to earn the wage have been dismissed. It is just a matter of will it pay? We have docided that oertain men cannot earn that wage, and wo have dispensed with their services. It iij not a lcclo-out, because the men who can cam the money liavo not been disrr.iVeed." All tho principal furniture manufacturing firms in the city have acted together in this matter, including the D.S.C. Company, Tonson, Garlick, and Co., Winks and Hall, and T. and H. Cooke. Their contention is practically that the award of the court was not warranted in the present state of trade, and that therefore they eaunot pay it. It is also asserted that the award is equal to an advance of about 18 per oent., and that tho wages paid previously wero equal to those rulinsr in the 60uth and in Australia, and were therefore generally speaking, satisfactory tp the men. This latter assertion is. however, oontradicted by tho union leaders, who naturally contend that if the men were satisfied they would not liave appoaled to the court. Another manufacturer when interviewd said "We contend that while some men . are worth the wages fixed by the court, others are not. In most cases we have given the rise because the men wero getting within a penny of it before, but in a few instances where men just out of their time were not considered to be worth, tho Is per hour demanded wo have parted with them." An important- factor at the moment is the depressed state of tho furniture trade in Melbourne, whioh enables articles to bo imported at very low rates. Referring to this, the manager of one firm said:—"l can show you suites of furniture in the store here now that we liavo imported from Australia and paid tho duty of 25 per cent., yet the laid down cost is considerably less than what- it would bo to produce the same articles here at the increased rate of wages. The position is a more serious one for the workers than for the manufacturers, as orders havo already been given for consignments of Australian-made furniture, because stocks can be speedily replenished a* prices that leave a larger margin of profit for the importing than is possiblo at present when manufacturing." All the employers express the intention of standing firm and seeing the matter out to the bitter end. An endeavour has aho been made to enlist the co-operation of sc-Ulern manufacturers with those in Auckland.

THE MEN'S SIDE. The Secretary to the United Furniture Trades Union (Mr S. Tyson) eaj's:—"The union demands that the men in Auckland should receive the same pay as in other parts of the colony, whioh I hold to be only fair. In Wellington the rate .of pay for cabinetmakers, polishers, and turners, is Is 3d per hour. In Christchureh and Dimedin cabinetmakers get Is 3d per hour, polishes and turners Is 2d per hour. In Auckland prior to this award the pay was Is Id per hour. In spite of this award lam in a position to state that cabinet work is still made in Auckland and sent south. Another matter is that many men who were receiving £2 15s per week have now been taken ®on at the minimum rate of pay by the award. In one or two instances the rates fixed in the Auckland award arc still below those in the south. Tho men now dismissed are now called incompetent workmen, although prior to this award, they were receiving the minimum rate of Is Id per hour. Of course it is not a complete lockout, beoause the employers have kept on what may' be termed the foremen. The branches of the union atfeoted so far are cabinetmakers, upholsterers, turners, carvers, and polishers. The union has no wish to force matters. If a man is incompetent he cannot expect full pay. What I complain of most is that men who have been trained in one factory for seven years, are now dismissed 02 the plea that they have not learned their trade enough to enable them to earn the minimum rate of pay. I mean to say, there is samething wrong in the system of training when you see a number of audi cases in one firm, or elso the plea is not a fair ono as far as the men's earning capacity is concerned.