THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20702, 27 April 1929, Page 22

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES,

By J. T. Paul.

THE TIMBER SLUMP. It is reported from the North Island that the timber trade is in a bad way. The following letter from a mill owner in Hokianga to the secretary of the Auckland Thnberworkers’ Union throws some light on the position of the industry;— “We have been compelled to close our mill for an indefinite period, throwing out of employment a number of men, and as matters stand now, we cannot see that we can give them any assistance till after the winter. We have commenced the manufacture of butter boxes to assist us for the slack season, but we find that* the majority of dairy factories are booking up large quantities of boxes milled and manufactured by foreign labour. Added to this 1 — it is absolutely the truth —the new factory at Moerowa is being built entirely of foreign timber. I am appealing to you to do your best on behalf of the workers to urge the Government to stop the importation of foreign timbers and give the New Zealand worker a chance to share in the profit gained from the principal product of our country—that of butter.” COMMUNISTS AND MINERS IN GERMANY. The annual elections of Branch Committees in the German Miners' Union have just been held. They show that the influence of the Communists in the union is waning. Communist lists were put forward against the supporters of the I.F.T.U. in only 190 of the 1460 branches. And the Communists were successful in securing the return of their lists in only* SI of the 190 branches which they contested. LABOUR MEMBERS REBEL. At a meeting of members of the New® South Wales State Parliamentary Labour Party, it was decided not to pay the levy of one-half per cent, on salaries imposed by the recent New South Wales State Labour Conference. It was contended that there were already too many calls on the pockets of Labour members. Labour Leader Lang and Deputy Leader Baddeley opposed the levy on -principle, declaring it was 1 neither just nor equitable. What action the Labour Executive will now take, in view of the decision of the parliamentary members, remains to be seen. CHILD LABOUR IN RUSSIAN FACTORIES. At the recent Congress of Soviet Trade Unions, held in Moscow, it was stated that children were working on an average six hours in the iron mines, 4.28 hours in the food industry, 4.6 hours in the leather industry, etc., In these occupations 36 per cent, of the children worked on an average six hours instead of four. Out of 40,000 young persons 10 per_ cent, worked at night. In undertakings where the seven-hour day was in force this proportion rose to 27 per cent. Out of 4000 children subjected to a medical examination, 19 per cent, were found unfit for work. This large "proportion was partly due to the ' living conditions which prevailed during the years-of civil war, but also to the fact that young persons took too active a part in political, trade union and other activities, COAL CRISIS IN GERMANY. ' Although German coal production has increased from 132,000,000 metric tons in 1925 to 153,000,000 metric tons in 1927, the number of miners employed has been cut down from 698,000 in 1924 to 580,000 and even those employed have suffered loss of the eight-hour day, wage cuts and almost all working conditions. The German coal interests have been competing with British coal interests for the market in Italy, Holland, Scandinavia and elsewhere. German interests claim they have sold so cheaply in. these foreign markets that they have lost £8,570,000 up to April 1, 1928, but fail to state that by boosting the price of coal used in Germany all this and more has been made up. THE FUTURE OF ARBITRATION. In the course of his recent policy speech the Premier of Queensland devoted some attention to arbitration as a method of settling industrial disputes. Mr McCormick said:— Two clearly defined groups in the industrial field are engaged upon a campaign to destroy the system of settlement of industrial disputes by arbitration. Certain selfish, rapacious employers desire to abolish this system so that they may thus have a clear field to starve the worker into submission, well-knowing that their control of , economic resources must invariably bring victory to them. On the other hand,- the Comnmnistse are actively engage I in discrediting arbitration with' the avowed object, so they say, of creating sufficient misery to enable them to bring about an industrial revolution. Arbitration may not have accomplished the millennium, nor do we believe that' any system of dealing with such wide and varied interests as the conditions governing employment can be made perfect, but we are of opinion that arbitration _ fairly and properly enforced must continue to be the policy in this country. The_ Queensland Government stands inflexibly for the arbitration principle and for the enforcement of awards of the court on both employers and employees. We have been criticised' by sections in this State for our action in carrying out the law without fear or favour, but we believe that in doing go we ■ have the support of the great majority of the working people in Queensland. THE LIVING WAGE. . Some interesting evidence has been piven_ before the New South Wales Inclusfcrial Commission. At a recent sitting Mrs Brennan (for the Australian WorkeJ's Union) gave evidence regarding clothing. She said a man should have one good suit at £9 9s every three years. Than he should have a cheaper suit at £6 6s to last three years. There should be a 25 s best hat every year, and a couple of working hats at 15s each to last twp years. Two pairs of best socks, two pairs of knitted socks, arid four pairs of working socks would be needed yearly. Two tics at 3s 6d would last a - year, and two pairs of braces, 4s 6d and 2g Ud, would last two years. Three shirts at 7s 9d would do for a year, but five better shirts at 12s Gd would last three years, three pair s of pyjamas at 8s 6d would last two years.

Every working man should have a £4 IGs overcoat, and it might be made to ast four years. In addition, there should raincoat at £2 and an umbrella at 12s ud. In footwear, there should be one pair of beet boots at 35s Cd, and two pairs of working boots at 16s Gd a pair, and a change pair at 21s 6d for evening wear. Slipperg were a comfort after working all day, and these cost 8s lid a pair. The total clothing cost for a man would work out at £2l Os' sid, or 8s i The total cost of a wife’s clothing would be £3B 4s 5d per year or I4s BJd a week. Mrs Brennan said that her calculations had been, made at the irreducible minimum. Cheaper clothes were neither economical nor comfortable. QUEER ACCIDENTS. Tlie International Labour Office of tho League of Nations has published in its quarterly publication, “Industrial Safety burvey, some very interesting details from the German factory inspectorate’s annual report. This is all the more interesting because accident prevention is corning up for the second time at the international Labour conference next May. It is expected that a convention will be made setting up a minimum safety standard to be observed in every country for such operations, amongst others, as marking the weights of packages and sacks or loading and unloading ships. During the year under review, the report states, there was a considerable increase in the number of accidents. Many causes have contributed to this; nationalisation and the getting used to new machinery, the increasing electrification of plants, overtime and extra hard work lest the worker should be sacked owing to trade depression, etc. In the building trade especially, the number of accidents was large. This is accounted for by the introduction of ferro-concrete work and tho large amount of iron work that is

done above ground and the insufficient safety measures that are taken, especially amongst persons who are too poor to pay for a thorough job. High tension cables appear to exert, a peculiar fascination upon .German ch.iliren,Cii'?lie)' are , always tampering with the fittings, and, through playing with them, electrocuting themselves. One fatal accident was caused through tho escape of a kite held by a thin metal wire. The wire, dragging behind the kite, caught on some high tension wires and a workman, whom it - was hindering in his work tried to remove it and was, of course! tilled. In another ease, children threw stones at the insulators and smashed them. The current flowing through the brackets set fire to the pole, and this fell and caused the fences nearby to catch alight. Carbide caused many accidents. Oil casks are highly explosive, especially when empty. Evgh jiftcr they hfivc been cleaned several times, a naked light causes 3. me, and several fatal accidents were caused in this way. The most curious of all the accidents under the heading of " Explosions,'’ was one that concerned toy pistol caps. The particular variety in question was a chlorate percussion cap When the lady behind the counter was going to serve 1 child, the box exploded and hurt and burned her severely. The factory inspector concerned recommends the abolition of chlorate caps fo. toy pistols as they are so dangerous and are fraught with peril - for the children who use them. He even suggests that their manufacture should be stopped internationally through the International Labour organisation of the League of Hations,