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SYDNEY PAINTERS' STRIKE

O-—,

A PECULIAR POSITION,

Press Associafioti.-By Telegraph-Copyright. SYDNEY, May 11. The strike of pamtens, which continues, (presents soma rather i unusual failures, .owing to the triangular nature df the tight. The master builders took a hand in the dispute, and the master painters resented the interference between them and their men. The result is that tho 'builders have been carrying out their own painting work by day labour. The painters, therefore, although on strike, have been at work, and at a rate of wages above that paid by the master painters. The painters' strike- commenced on March 23, when some 500 men left their employment owing' to.tho employers having refused to adopt a code of now rules which was passed by a meeting of the men on January 31 last. These rules provided, among other things, for an increase in wages from Is 2d to Is 3d per hour. Until July last the men were working under an award of the Arbitration Court, prescribing tho conditions of employment and tho wage to be paid. This award was Adhered to up till January, when the union adopted a now code of rules, which they claimed was justified by altered conditions now obtaining in the trade. Early in February an informal conference was held betwcyi employers and employees, but nothing definite resulted, the employers considering that they were not competent to settle a question affecting such a large number of men. On March 10 the employees again met, and it was agreed that they should put the new rate of pav on their time-sheets at the end of the week. The employers, however, altered this to tho old rate. During tho following week the men belonging to the union again held a meeting, and resolved to call a mass meeting of painters, l>oth union and nonunion. This .meeting took pkoe on March 21, and it was agreed that the men should go to work as usual on March 23,' and if the now rules were not adhered to by the masters they would not commence work. The employers decided to refuse tho men's demands, and the latter immediately ceased work. The President of the Master Painters and Decorators' Association (Mr A. J. W. Drayton), when interviewed, said that whilst tho masters generally did not object to the increase of wages, they had very strong objections to the iniquitous working rules the men sought to impose upon thorn. They wore prepared to pay Is 3d per hour to competent men, but they found that a large number of small employers outside tho association, who did not conform to the recognised conditions, were competing against- them. If these outside employers were brought tip to the standard of members of the association tho latter would 1)2 quite prepared to grant the increase. Unfortunately the tade had sunk to a very low level, and owing to the absence of a system of training apprentices there was really no standard of work. Whikt the previous award had been in existence, and since it had expired, members of the association faithfully adhered to it, but a large number of the outsiders never conformed to it, with the result that those who did wore badly handicapped. The master pa inters < also considered that whilst they could pay Is 2d per hour to first-class workmen, tliev should have the right to pay less competent men at tho rate of Is 2d or Is Id per hour.' 'Hie men, however, demanded a uniform rale. At a meeting of master painters the following resolution was unanimously agreed to:—''That the existing working conditions of the irado lie adhered to, or, in other words, that the employers eoutinue to carry on business under the same conditions as those. Tccogiiiscd in the past, and which were fixed by the award of the Arbitration Court." According to Ihe men, the strilte was not engineered by the union, but bv the wiiolo of the painting operatives of the County of Cumberland, including- unionists and non-unionists. The result of tho movement has been that the union has gained a largo influx of new members. The men objected to the large amount of boy la.bour and cheap labour in the trade, and the fact that there had been a number of firms paying low rates and under-cutting the better clnw of employers.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19080512.2.42

Bibliographic details

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14211, 12 May 1908, Page 5

Word Count
726

SYDNEY PAINTERS' STRIKE Otago Daily Times, Issue 14211, 12 May 1908, Page 5

SYDNEY PAINTERS' STRIKE Otago Daily Times, Issue 14211, 12 May 1908, Page 5