THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20290, 24 December 1927, Page 18

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES. By J. T. Bail. EIGHT HOURS AND PRODUCTION IN PRANCE. A series of reports issued by the French Ministry of Labour on the extent to which conditions of production have adapted themselves to the Act on the eight hours day in France is summarised in .the weekly publication of the International Labour Office. These reports relate to a great variety of industries, including boot and shoe manufacture, cotton spinning and weaving, rubber and oilcloth manufacture, foundries, wire and tack factories, agricultural machinery works, the manufacture of paper, cardboard, and china clay, sawmills, brick and tile works, etc. In every case investigated it was observed that, after a temporary set-back following immediately on the introduction of the eight hours day, output rapidly returned to its normal level, while in a number of industries the stimulus given by the Eight Hours Act to efforts at reorganisation resulted in a higher output than was attained under the 10 hours regime. Generally speaking, this result has been achieved by the introduction of more modern machinery, the improvement of existing plant, and a more effective utilisation of the technical capacities of the workers.

It should be added that the reports summarised in Industrial and Labour Information are based on information collected by the factory inspectors, supplemented and corrected, where necessary, by the firms to which they relate. They are published with the permission of the undertakings concerned.

AMERICAN’ SEAMEN’S DEMANDS. Reforms which will enable the American merchant marine to expand and render efficient service are outlined by the International Seamen’s Union in a programme just submitted to the Shiping Board. Foremost is the. demand for Government discharge books to free the seamen from the sharp practices of private companies which now control his livelihood through their control of his “working card,’’ which lists his working record from the time he begins his sea life. Abolition of laws aimed to encourage American shipbuilding and repair work is suggested. Shipping Interests should be freed from the necessity of purchasing only American-made ships and the tariff against repairs made in foreign yards and on supplies purchased abroad should be eliminated with those levied on shipbuilding materials.

Co-operation of shipping companies with the union is urged to develop skill among seamen. Other demands include: Barring Asiatics from employment on American ships; forbidding the practice of working seamen from 12 to 16 hours, a day in port; one year training course in the navy for qualified seamen; greater compensation to the companies for the transportation of mail; conccllation of contracts made_ by railroads giving preference to foreign-owned shipping lines. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONSHIPS. Increasing attention has been given of la to to tho problem of the relations between employers and workers in industry. It is hardly necessary to ratal! to our readers fsays Industrial and' Labour Information) that in tho United States the subject of “ industrial relations ” has assumed particular importance. In the United States, owing to a number of circumstances more or less peculiar to that country, tho need for establishing closer contact between employer and worker is being increasingly felt. There the movement has principally taken the form of establishing representative committees m the enterprise to confer with tho management on matters affecting the shop. In Europe the problem of industrial relations has also engaged much thought, but here It takes the form less of a question of tho relations between tho employer and the worker than of a question of the relations between organisations of employers and those of workers. As a result of the general economic depression, and of tho consequent desire to avoid the waste which is caused by industrial disputes, this question would appear to have come to the front in certain countries, and especially’ in Great Britain. It will bo remembered that at tho Trades Union Congress last September it was stated that no section of the community was moro desirous of collaboration for industrial peace than the workers. This declaration was made by a congress which represented more than 200 trade unions with an aggregate membership of over 4,000,000. The National Confederation of Employers’ Organisations, the principal, national association of organised employers in Great Britain, has now responded not unfavourably to this declaration, by a resolution of which wo hope'to publish the terms in our next issue. In the meantime, it may bo noted that in individual industries tho initiative is already being taken towards a belter organisation of industrial relations.

APPRENTICES ACT. The assurance that the Arbitration Court was endeavouring conscientiously to administer the Apprentices Act was reiterated at a sitting of the court last week in Auckland by Mr Justice Frazer. His Honor said that, while he was aware he had said the same thing previously, every now and then someone thought that he did not mean what he said, or that he did not understand what he meant. His Honor at the outset issued a mild rebuke to the Employers’ Association, which was represented by Mr S. E. Wright. He said there was always a discussion over the Act, and on the evening the court had arrived in Auckland a member of the association had delivered a diatribe relating to the court’s attitude towards apprentices. “We probably know more about apprentices than Mr Spencer ever knew, but we want everyone to get into his mind_ that the court is aware of the difficulties in regard to apprentices,” he added. The principal trouble was that boys wanted to get into the two, three, of four popular trades, even if they did not practise them. The Act also provided that the court was to fix the proportion of apprentices to journeymen, and they had to obey the Act. “The Act insists that we shall fix the proportion, whether district or individual, and we have to look around for some principle; and the principle upon which we have acted has been reasonable, and the only principle upon which the court could honestly act.” The court had also to ascertain the particulars of the number of journeymen in the trade, the average length of time that apprentices continued in the trade, and the wastage that occurred. Having considered all those factors they had to fix the proportion in order to cope with the expansion of trades. They always tried to allow a little over the margin. While the court knew there were always some incompetent journeymen, it did not see that because a man happened to be a journeyman he must bo found employment even if he was a “ dud.”

Touch ins; on the question of the tendency of lads to rush popular trades, his Honor pointed out that, on the other hand, there were employers who absolutely refused-to have apprentices at any price. That was where the thing might he straightened out. If every skilled trade had its fair quota then it would be fair to say that every boy who wanted to learn a skilled trade should have the opening he desired. However, they had not arrived at that stage yet. The court was not antagonistic to any section ot the employers or unionists, but they wanted them to see the difficulties with which the court was faced. Before the court'granted any increase in the number of apprentices it would have to be satisfied (hero was a reasonable chance ot the extra lads being passed through as journovmcn and finding employment afterwards

His Honor further gave the assurance that the court would not restrict the opening providing for apprentices unless it was satisfied that there were too many lads going through the door and the trades were not able to absorb them. The unemployment that had existed during the year was no excuse for closing the door further, for the position would ad-