THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19258, 23 August 1924, Page 18

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES. Br J. T. Paul. AUCKLAND TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL. The trade unions in Auckland are ot present discussing’ the draft rules for the formation of the Trades and Labour Council. The first meeting of delegates has been fixed for .September 4, when it is expected that unions will have returned their answers to the invitation to join. bo far it is reported that the replies to hand are very encouragin','', and there appears no reason to doubt that at the inaugural meeting the new council will start with, a good membership. THE APPRENTICES ACT. Although Auckland was the first centre in the dominion to apply for working conditions for apprentices under the new Apprentices Act, which was duo to the tact that this was the first centre visited _ by the Arbitration Court after the coming into force of the Act in April (says “Industrial Tramp’’ in the Auckland Star), there has been a lull in operations in this direction, which will probably last until the arrival of the court again in a few weeks’ time. Since 'April the court has visited the •southern centres, and there does not appeal to have been much greater headway made there. In Auckland the application made by the Painters’ Union, for apprentices’ conditions has been held up until the southern jointers have made their application, and the Auckland plumbers’ application was rot fornfally before the courv at the April sittings. I notice that, the president of the court has congratulated the electrical workers at Wellington 0.. being the first to secure a set of conditions for apprentices under the new Act. When the Act was passed by Parliament last session it was hailed with enthusiasm,by both employers and workers, but when it dawned upon the minds of both parties that the provisions of the new enactment were not only revolutionary, but entailed serious responsibilities on all parties concerned, the enthusiasm died down somewhat, and this was not confined to Auckland, but is general throughout the dominion TRIALS OF A LABOUR PREMIER. At a stop-work meeting of Queensland railwayman Mr Theodore and his Labour Cabinet were strongly criticised. A motion was carried which demanded among other things the restoration of the 5 per cent. reduction by Mr Theodore and his Cabinet, and instructs the Queensland Anti-wage Reduction Committee to use every available means to secure a minimum basic wage of £4 ss, and declared that Mr Theodore no longer represents the workers, and calling upon him to resign. Speaking in the Queensland Parliament, Mr Theodore referred to the crisis in tho Labour caucus, and said it was true that ho had opposed a proposal that tho Government should increase the wages of public servants and give an immediate 44liour week. They should seek improvements where they were practicable. To legislate for a 44-hour week would have the logical outcome of affecting the whole industry of the .State detrimentally. They should carefully consider economic facts, such an alteration in the working week would cost the Government departments £160,000 a year. They had very carefully to scrutinise any proposals which placed charges in their revenue. That was why a 44-bour week was impracticable during this financial year, at any rate. In regard to the basic wage, the Government took the same stand as in 1922. He could see no valid reasons why Government employees should bo on a,better basis than outside workers. Ho had always resisted the view :bat the Government should merely provide higher wages for a class. Dealing with his resignation, and the report that when his bluff was called ho caved in, Mr Theodore said he did not offer to resign in any spirit of bluff or to browbeat, his colleagues. He did so because he could not bo a party to an attempt to carry out what he considered was impractio'.able. There seemed to bo disruptive elements in the Labour movement. Their desire seemed to he to bring about tho disintrogation of the movement. Ho did not know whether some members were blind to it, hut to him it was as plain as a pikestaff. They discredited the leaders of the party, and by sneering at it brought it into disrepute. The Communist Party had come in to boro from within, and would destroy tho movement if not stopped. He was satisfied that that was part of a well-devised plan. A few of these destroyers got into a union ami a branch of the A.L.P., and finally decent men left * '■'-’-oh, and left it to the destroyers, bo brought discredit on tho movement, fin would be failing in his duty if ho did not state what was Ixsing done by this small filibustering section. Unless action were taken, tho movement would crumble and disappear. Tho enemy of Labour was not National ism. Nationalism as a policy and party was dead. Tho real enemy was within tho movement. JOTTINGS. Reference was made in tho Arbitration Court in Wellington last week to tho starving poor in Russia. His Honor Mr Justice Frazer: “Wo are awfully sorry for the unfortunate poor in Russia, but we have a few of our own.” According to a new regulation issued by the New South Wales Labour Executive, any member of a union affiliated with the A.L.P. or any member of a branch of tho A.HP. who criticises the Labour Daily will be liable to be expelled from the movement. At the Arbitration Court in Wellington this week Mr Bromley and other representatives of the Engineers’ Union protested against a remark made by Mr Scott in tho previous week in which he referred to moulders as “roughios.” Mr Justice Frazer said he rather thought the remark was intended to refer to the nature of the work rather than' the man. Mr W C. Prime said ho was sure that Mr Scott had meant no offence, and would regret that his remark had hurt their feelings. He thought it had reference to tho nature of the work A new 1 scheme of old age pensions for seamen has been proposed in Sweden. According to the proposal the premium is to bo 2i or 3 tier cent, of the monthly wages for oh! age and invalid persons, lj> per cent, for life insurance, the latter premium to be paid half by the Government and half by the employing shipowner. All persons in Argentina who have laboured for 25 years are promised pensions to the extent of their present salaries, as the result of a now pension law President Marcelo T. De Alvenr has officially announced. The workers themselves, however, must supply half the pension fund by donating to it s*per cent, of their salaries, tko other half being supplied by their employers, who also donate 5 per cent, of the" amount of their pay rolls. The Sydney Water Board is trying out tho dav'labour system as against contract in connection with operations on the building of underground - tunnels. Compressor and winding houses erected by day labour cost £431, as against tho lowest unaccepted tender of £785. Thug the Water Board had saved £354, and had done the work 45 per cent, cheaper than by contract. Two important changes of policy wore made at tho recent thirteenth annua! convention of tho Japanese Federation ol Labour. The delegates voted to work for universal! suffrage, thus dropping their antipolitical attitude ; and they decided to send representatives to this year's conference of the International Labour Office of the League of Nations, something they had previously refused to do because _ tho Japanese Government docs not officially recognise the unions. A conference of Russian workers resident in Australia was held at Sydney from April 18 to 27. As a result of the conference there is now one united organisation of Russian workers, known us tho Australasian Association for Economic Advancement of the Union of Soviet Republics. A central office has been established at Sydney. The conference carried a number of resolutions in favour of economic aid for Soviet Russia. It was also decided to send a tractor to Russia, and to ‘take ©barge of 30 children in one of tho children’s homes of Soviet Russia. Tho Labour Department proceeded against C. W. Martin (Mr A. Blair), at the Magistrate’s Court, this week, for on alleged breach of tho Wellington Plumbers’ and Gasfilters’ award, in that he had failed lo notify tho union secretary of the employment of an non-unionist within throe days. At the conclusion of evidence. Mr E. Page, S.M., imposed a penalty of £2. and costs, judgment for which sum was entered against the defendant Unemployment in Wellington has at no time during this winter been so serious a problem as during several past winters. The number of applications for employment made at the Labour Department’s Bureau for the third week this month was 147, the total being mainly made up of labourers 74, hotel workers 16, clerical workers 12, storemen B,' seamen 7, and drivers 4. In each of 13 other trades there was only one application.