CLOTHING TRADE DISPUTE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13518, 15 February 1906, Page 2

CLOTHING TRADE DISPUTE

MANY TAILOR-ESSES OUT OP WORK. THE GOVERNMENT TAKES ACTION. EOTII SIDES OF THE QUESTION. Although comparatively little is heard of Ihe dispute between the Tailoresses' Union and the clothing manufacturers there is considerable ferment among the parties more immediately concerned, especially among the workers, quite a number of whom are, and havo been for some weeks, receiving monetary assistance from their union.' The union's funds are limited, however, and the aid cannot be continued for an indefinite period, consequently some of Ihe girls have agreed to accept an offer of work that, lias como it) them from the North; others are inquiring for work in the city in tho hope that an avenue of employment will open to them before long, preferably at their own trade. About 88 girls have, within the past few weeks, been informed by their employers that it would he necessary for them to obtain permits at underrate wages. Of this number 51 have made application for, and have been granted, permits, and all, with the exception of 10. havo been re-engaged, and are now working at a lower rate than the "minimum" of 25s fixed by the award of tho Arbitration Court. Of the remaining 47 workers a dozen or so have intimated to the secretary of tho union (Miss Hale) that lliey are prepared to take up the employment- offered to them in Wellington. Thus 35 girls are still on the books of the union as recipients of monetary aid at the fate of 10s or 12s 6d a week. STATEMENTS BY WORKERS. .A number of the girls called at. llie Tailorossos' Rooms in Bowline; street the other day to receive their weekly allowance, when Miss Hale selected eight of tlioin to state their case.s to a Daily Times reporter. This, in effect, is w-lwt the girls 6«id:— No. I.—l have been employed in trou-ser-finishing for nine years, and consider myself i journcywoman under the new award.- I luve lately ken getting £1 a. week, but under tho award I am entitled to 25s a week. Three weeks ago my employer told me to get a permit to work for £1 0s 6d. I have not applied for a permit, and do not intend to do so. No. 2.—1 am a coat-hand. I have Jieop at the trade for six years. Under the award I am a journcywoman. having served my apprenticeship and improvership, and am entitled to 25s a week. I havo been getting 22s 6d, and my employer told mo three weeks ago to get n permit to work for 22s 6d a ■week, but I really cannot do so, as I am .worth 25s a week. No, 3.—For seven years I have been al Ihe tailoring trade; I am a vest hand. My wage.* were 22s 6d a week. My employer asked mo to get- a permit to work "for 22s 6d a week, but, as I am entitled under tho award to 255, being ns I consider, a competent hand, I have 7iot applied. I havo been out of work for thrco weeks. No. 4.—1 am a trousor hand, and have licwi seven years at tho trade. I had been getting £1 a week for a year, but three weeks ago my employer asked mo to get a permit to work for 22s 6d a Week, though, as a qualified worker, I am entitled to, and am worth to my employer, 25s a week. I was one of a "loom" of seven whoso week's work at log prices was worth £8. but our wages were these—Two at 22s 6d, one si 20s, two improvers at 12s Gd each, two apprentices—one at 10s and one at ss: total. £5 ss. No. 5.—1 am a coat hand. I have been five wars at Ihe trade. Mr wages were 17s 6d a week. My employer wanted me to get a permit to work for 20s 6d a week, but 1 have not done so, as I consider 1 am a journcywoman under the award, and worth 25s a week. I have been on coats for five years constantly, but I li»70 been six years at the trade. No. 6.—T am a coat hand. I have been gelling £1 a woek for over a year. Under the award I am entitled to 25s a week, which I am worth to my employer, lie wauled me to get a permit for £ 1 Oi 6d. but I have no intention of applying. Nos. 7 and 8 made statement's simil-.ir fo No. 6. The. young women all slated that- they supported file resolution proposed at the meeting of members of the Tailorefses' Union to the effect, that, competent- workers would not. make application for permits. If they applied for permits now thoy would simply he stultifying themselves, and tills tliev have no desire to do. They "greed, 100, that when they said they wore worth 25s a week to their employers they meant that their-earnings would averago considerably above Hint. sum. MISS HALE'S VERSION. Miss Hale, secretary of the Tailoressos' Union, points out that tho trouble is found iu factories in which it was the custom to pay the hands, or tho majority of them, a weekly wage. In these factories in which the girls had been kept on piecework, as in Mr Seclyc's establishment, there had been no difficulty. The watjes of the girls for the preceding six months bad been averaged, and wages paid accordingly. Some of the girls are now getting 22s 6d, and others lower, while some get 255, and a few as high as 30s. In those factories in which ihe girls have been paid weekly wages it is not fair to the girl?, says Mi=s Hale, to judge their capabilities by the work they have been doing in tho last- six months. Their lime had been broken. They had been kept waiting for-one thing or another. Therefore, it is impossible 'to calculate any girl's capacity as a worker under tho old piece-work system. If a manager wanted to arrive at the true estimate of the capabilities of a worker let him put her through a test. That wolud decide the question al, once. Miss Halo points out that, at present, some girls, who have been locked out, are better workers than others who have been kept on. The union. Miss Hale further states, has never opposed an application for a. permit when the application was justified. Some girls, it is recognised, are physically incapable of earning the minimum wa*;e of 255, and in a ease of lhat, kind the application has actually been supported by the union. ■ "The employers," continued Miss Hale, "seem to labour under .a misapprehension regarding tho under-rate clause. They havo wrongly applied the conditions existing under tho old award to the new award now in force, and through this misunderstanding on their part the present lock-out-lias occurred. Under Iho old award there was no under-rate clause. The workers were graded into classes, and the employers had the sole power of determining the status of any worker entirely in. their own hands. But under the new award all that, is changed. The minimum wage for a journeywoman is fixed at 25s per week, and the under-rate ciause, now inserted for the first time in the clothing trade award, stipulates lhat any worker who considers herself unable to earn tho minimum wage prescribed in the awaid shall apply to the union for a permit to work for eueli less sum, and if the union refuses she must app'y to ihe chairmar of the board, whoso decision is final. The employer, therefore, has no voice in the matter of under-rating, and if the three firms Interested had perceived tk altered conditions, no lock-out would have taken place. The manufacturers have the sole right of determining what if to be the measure of capacity in a minimum wage worker, and that gives the employer all the power to drive his worker as fast as he chooses, but in addition to that right t.liey wrongfully claim the right- to under-rate Ihe worker, and have accordingly locked out a.large number of hands. While tlie.v remain in this frame of mind the employers in question are solely responsible for one of the most sordid'lockouts in the history of New Zealand's industries." WHAT TIIE MANUFACTURERS SAY. The manufacturers' story is also worth hearing, The manager of a large factory stated to our representative that in the oase of. one worker whe bad been asked to apply for a permit, the girl had earned in the nreceeding six months an average of about- 22s a week. The girl bad l*en through her apprenticeship and improvership and was enlitlcd under the award to 26a a week. But was the factory going to give her more than she earned? Why should it? As a business transaction, therefore, the girl was requested to get a permit fo work at under-rate wages. The other girls who had left tho factory were in tho same position. Tho wages lx>ok was prot'urcd. and over a period of six months it was evident that the girl had been earnin? less than 25s a week, though pretty congtantly employed. " said tho manager.- ''T am the judge of the girls eaijaJjfe If §&r£ 25e a jvecjf;

why tell the chairman of the Conciliation Board she is a qualified worker—a journeywoman? Of coursc, there is this point, to bo considered: Some girls, no matter how long they have been employed, are slow at their work. Others are smarter, and deserve to be rewarded. We have a number of hands upstairs now who tire gelling tlieir 25s a week." This gentleman--also said that when the girls left their places were kept open for I hem for 10 ilaye, but as only a few of them returned the vacancies had to lie filled. The other places were filled from fresh applicants, and several apprentices were taken _ on. He considers that the action of the Tuiloresfes Union in virtually compelling its niemliers to refrain from asking for permit* is very cruel to the girls concerned. Another manager impressed upon our representative thai there is realy no lockout. Workers who are jonrneywomeu cannot. be employed at less than the minimum wago unless thoy possess n permit, and in the, majority of case.s in which they have obtained permits they have been taken oil to work again. The manufacturers also contend that the at titude taken tip by I lie girls in in defiance of the award of the Arbitration Court, in that the award specially provides the machinery under Ihe under-rate clause of dealing with the wages of any worker when. the wages ore dispuloil by party. The worker-:, in stating that thoy arc confident anil tliaf they will not appij for a-permit, take the law into their own hands, as the award stales Hint the ease has to be inquired into by the chairman of (he Conciliation Board, and he is to lw the judge as to whether it is a case for an under-rate permit or not, If the girl or worker takes up this position she sits 111 judgment upon the manufacturer, or her employer, antl usurps the functions of the chairman of the Conciliation Board, and in doing so endeavours lo defeat the express intention of the court and the under-rate clause. If a worker places her own value upon Iter services she is finite entitled to do so, but lias no right to quarrel with an employer who cannot see his way 1o engage her at her own figure. If there is any question of a lock-out, it is on the pail of the worker in refusing lo work tor c;s than the value she herself phicee upon her services. With regard lo No. 4, the employers look upon Ihe statement concerning the work of a team as an absurd one. In the first place, they contend that it IS impossible for many of the employers, let alone a worker, to correctly work out prices under the log, and that, the values placed upon a team by members of that team are. about as unreliable as any thing it is possible to conceive. Further, according to this statement, employers would make a profit of 50 per cent, on the work, whereas, as a matter of fact, some ol the largest factories are losing money- so far as the workrooms are concerned. It was stated during the course of the dispute before tho court in August, last that some of tho factories had eliown a loss, ilie whole trouble has arisen through the workers over-riding the under-rate clause and fixing their own wages instead of submitting their eases to the tribunal fixed by the award. The manufacturers also point out that so far a great, many permits have been granted in the north without friction or trouble. GOVERNMENT INQUIRY INSTITUTED. Mainly at the instigation of the Olago Trades "and Labour Council the Government has decided to thoroughly investigate the actual position of affairs. A few weeks ago the council passed the following resolution: — "That this council considers tho action taken by some of the Dunedin clothing manufacturers in locking out a large number of tailorossos is a direct attempt lo defeat the provisions of the Arbitration Court award, and by such drastic and inhuman action to ultimately defeat the good intention of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act: and this council urges tho Government lo make immediate inquiry inlo tho whole circumstances of the present lock-out in the clothing industry in Dunedin, with n view to preventing threatened lock-outs in other centres; and this council asks , all workers to render assistance to the Dunedin Tailoressos' Union, to enable it to resist this unjust treatment to a large body of women who have served their employers well in the past, and who are able and willing to continue lo do so in.' the future under fair and just working conditions, such as are now embodied in the new award." On Tuesday Mr Hroen. secretary lo the Olago Trades mid Labour Council, received llie following reply from the Right lion. Mr Seddon, Minister of Labour:--In reply In your letter of the 2nd iiist.. containing a resolution passed at a meeting of the above council re action taken by some of the Dunedin clothing manufacturers in practically locking out a large number of lailore-ses. also your request to make immediate inquiry into the whole circumstances of I lie present lock-out in llie clothing industry in Dunedin. 1 am directing the Departinenl of Labour to make exhaustive inquiries into the mailer, and immediately on a. report- being present.-nl lo me I will again communicate with you. Mr Lomas, inspector of factories, and Mr. Hally. assistant inspector, were engaged yesterday in making inquiries in factories in Dunedin, and to-day they will continue their investigations. These officers will oblnin statcmenls from toth parties-employers and employees.—ami submit them in a report to the Minister of Labour. •LEGAL ASPECT OP THE CASE. INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT. The compiling act of last year explains when llie dismissal of an employee is lo be regarded as a breach of the act. The following sections are relevant: — 108. Every employer who dismisses from his employment any worker by reason merely of the fact that the worker is a member of au industrial union or who is conclusively proved to have dismissed such worker merely because he is entitled lo tho benefit of au award, order, or agreement, shall he deemed lo have committed a breach of tho award, order, or agreement, and shall bo liable accordingly. 109. If durincr Ihp currency of an award any employer, worker, industrial union or association, or any combination of either employers or workers, has taken proceedings with llie intention to defeat, any of the provisions of the award, such employer, worker, union, association., or combination, and every member thereof respectively, shall bn deemed lo have committed a breach of the award, and shall be liable accordingly. In the amending act of last year provision is mado for dealing wilh cases of strike or lock-out. Scction 15 is as follows:— Any industrial union or industrial association, or employer, or any worker, whether a member of any such union, or association, or not. which or who shall strike or create a lock-out. or take part in a strike or lock-out, or propose, aid, or abet a strike or loek-out or a movement intended to produce a strike or lock : oul, shall be guilty of air offence, and shall bo liable lo a fine, and may be proceeded against in the same manner as if it or ho were guilty of a breach -of an .award. Provided that, tho fine shall not exceed one hundred pounds for any such offence in the case of a u.nioii', association, or employer, or len pounds in the case of a worker.