THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21981, 16 June 1933, Page 3

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES By J. T. Paul. Socialists talk of Capitalism as a disease to be,cured, or a poison to be exuded; but it is_no more possible to abolish capital than to abolish the weather, and since capital must always exist, capitalists must always exist also. Who are to be the capitalists? Private individuals or _ public bodies, and if public bodies, will they manage so “Veil ag private individuals? That is the question. That is almost the whole question.—Rt. Hon. H. A. L. Fisher, warden of New College, Oxford. RECOGNITION OF JOB DELEGATE. Considerable surprise was expressed at the last meeting of the Heathcote County Council when a letter was received from the officer in charge of the Labour Department stating that complaints had been received from the men on relief works to the effect that the foreman in charge would not recognise the job delegate as approved by the Unemployment Board. The council was asked to look into the matter so as to obviate any cause of unnecessary friction between the relief workers and the employing body. Members of the council declared that they had not heard of any such complaints, and to clear up the mystery the matter was referred to the responsible officer for inquiry. BRICK WORKERS’ AWARD. The parties in the industrial dispute between the brick, pottery, pipe, tile, and clay workers and the employers in Canterbury have failed to arrive at an agreement. The dispute was adjourned on May 18 last because the parties had failed to agree oyer the hours of work and wages, and it was these questions which caused the breakdown in the negotiations for a new award. At the previous sitting the employees asked an adjournment to consider the final offers of the employers, which were:—-Hours worked for week, 48. Wages —FI angers, moulders, and stickers, Is 8d an hour; drawers and setters, Is 7d; all other workers, la 6>}d. When the Conciliation Council reassembled Mr D. I. Macdonald (employers) said that the employers could not go beyond Is 6Jd an hour for all other workers. This rate, he contended, exceeded by id the rate offered in any other centre. if the union could not agree to it the proceedings need not go any further, as the employers would not make an increase. Mr H, Worrall, secretary of the union, said that there was such a vast difference between the employers’ - offers and the offers the union was prepared to sign that he could not see any possibility of an agreement being reached. Mr Macdonald suggested that the employees, who wanted Is 7d, should meet the' employers halfway, and accept Is 6Jd. The parties separated, and on resuming the council Mr Worrall said that the employees wanted Is 7d an hour. , would not agree to lees. He moved that the dispute be referred to the Arbitration Court. ", , , The motion was lost, and the present award will lapse within 30 days unless the council is reopened.

TRADE UNION ORGANISATION. The first meeting of the Canterbury Workers’ District Council, which aims to bring about closer unity amongst trade union groups, will be held on Wednesday next. The council has been formed as the result of recommendations by the Industrial Conference of 1932 and a series of conferences held in local industrial circles. Immediately the new council begins to operate the present Canterbury Industrial Workers’ Association will go out of existence. A provisional committee was set up at a conference of unions a few months ago to draw up the necessary machinery for the District Council, and its report will be submitted to the meeting on Wednesday. It is anticipated that at the outset the council will have the support of 27 unions, including the Waterside Workers’ Union, the Hotel and _ Restaurant Workers’ Union, the Seamen’s Union, the Drivers’ Union, the Engineers’ Union, the New Zealand Workers’ Union and the Freezing Works and Related Trades Union. Other unions which have not promised support are being invited by circular to affiliate. A VOLUNTARY LEVY ON WAGES. Part of the method adopted to raise a sum of £25,000 to relieve distress in Christchurch is a proposal for a voluntary levy of 3d in the pound on wages. The Mayor (Mr D. G. Sullivan) addressed the City Council’s employees and said he hoped that they would set a standard , in the effort to raise funds. The people of Christchurch would appreciate such an example. He suggested that employees could give more than 3d in the f. He hoped that they could see their way clear to give 6d in the £. No pressure was being brought to bear. The men must decide amongst themselves. One employee said that in view of the facts that thej were now paying Is in the £ wage tax, if they decided on a levy of 3d in the £, it would give the Government an indication that they could pay more in the-way of wage tax. He objected to a levy, but was prepared to give a straight-out donation. They should try to force the Government to do something for the unemployed. The Christchurch Times reports the discussion in the following terms:— “ Over what period will the levy operate?” queried another man. • “ The committee proposes five months,” replied the Mayor, “ but there is no reason why a straight-out donation could not be made.” ,

“Are we going to keep the freezing works free labourers, who will be out of work soon? ” another employee asked. “ I’m not going to starve the women and children, whoever they are,” said the Mayor.— (“Hear, hear.”) Mr Sul]jvan made it clear that there was nothing compulsory about the weekly contribution. The men decided to allow the office to deduct the contribution from the wages each week. One man handed a fl note to the Mayor. THE WORKING WEEK. The 40-hour week provision embodied in the No. 10 scheme for relieving unemployment by granting a substantial bonus on certain building work is being viewed with considerable apprehension by the master builders of Wellington. One of them who has occupied the highest position on the Master Builders’ Association, stated to a representative of the Dominion that a great deal of uneasiness was being expressed at the decision of the Unemployment Board making the 40-hour week a condition in connection with the subsidy. To many of the master builders, he said, this movement appeared as the thin end of the wedge to undermine the 44hour week, which the present award provides. It was considered significant, too, that the provision now made had for years been advocated by at least one member of the Unemployment board who had openly advocated the five-day working week. “What will it mean?” said the builder. “It will only • mean that the men will have a full day away from work, apart from the Sabbath, which may not be in the best interests of the men themselves or their families. I know that there are many good men who may use that extra half day wisely by working about their homes, and endeavouring to improve them in one way or another; but, on the other hand, there are many who, perhaps, have no homes of their own, who do not think it worth while to improve the property of another to whom they are rent. If the principle becomes general, as the result of this move on the part of a Government board, it will lead to all sorts of complications that to the master builders are as plain as a pikestaff. A lot of the men will probably want to work on the Saturday morning, as there is nothing particular on then, and, possibly, the builders and contractors will want them to work, so it will be a matter of paying overtime. “There was no need for the board to have done this. I have no doubt that the scheme will result in a good deal of building activity which would have been deferred indefinitely were there no subsidy, but there was no particular call for the board to interfere with the hours of work per week, especially as there are awards in operation which for the saine class of labour provide for a 44-hour week.”

PROPOSED RELIEF SCHEME. A relief scheme for unemployment which has been drawn up by a member of the Lower Hutt Chamber of Commerce is being broadcast throughout the Dominion by that body with the suggestion that it will be of general interest. It is claimed that the scheme conforms to the following basic principles^ — 1. The work is of a productive or of a national character. 2. The work provides at least sustenance for the workers and their dependents. _ 3. The work is additional to that which would be carried out in the near future. 4. Provides for full-time payment to all workers. ■ , „ 5. Provides for equal rates of pay toi equal work and no pay for no work. The scheme proposes that concrete reading should be put in hand, the reasons for concrete reading being that practically all the materials would be of New Zealand origin, that no costly plant would be required, nor would it be necessary to employ a great deal of skilled labour, while there are many places in New Zealand where extensive concrete reading would be of the greatest assistance to the community. Other work of a national character is railway extension from popular suburbs, the building of bridges, and the raising of river stop-banks. It is pointed out that such work is purely local,’ and that no doubt there are many other works which could be done throughout the Dominion which would be of permanent improvement. The payment of the wages on all three works should come out of unemployment levies collected, and the payment of the materials required should come out ot loan moneys allocated to the particular district in which the work is done and repaid over a period by rates or other means. , , In order that all workers should receive the same wages, it is suggested that as well as wages family allowances should be paid and unemployed should be classified in accordance with the scale accompanying the scheme. THE LEGION AND LABOUR. There is an erroneous impression that the legion is specially hostile to the Row Zealand Labour Party,” said Dr K. Campbell Begg, at a meeting at Wellington. “ The legion is opposed to all party forms, but not any existing party as a party. It is opposed to certain courses of action that involve the State in - liabilities and burdens which weaken its substanoe to the advantage of selfash territorial and sectional interests. Jne legion seeks to end the exploitation of the State to ignoble self-seeking ends, and is opposed to every individual and every group that would perpetuate this evil The fact that it has not held political power protects the Labour Party against an accusation of responsibility for the actual mis-snending of the public funds and consequent misfortunes. Neither is the legion necessarily hostile to the Labour Party’s fundamental principles any more than it is necessarily hostile to the principles of other parties. On the contrary, the legion will provide those holding Labour principles with a hitherto unknown opportunity of meeting in a common organisation of people attached to other interests and having those principles moulded by common agreement into a form that harmonises with national welfare and capacity. The purified State which the legion strives to realises will have no difficulty in admitting liability to assist the helpless and depressed sections of the community. In other -words, such a State will strengthen itself by extending to wage-earners—an integral part of the State —protection against all forms of exploitation and social injustice and in presenting them with real opportunities of social advancement for their class through industries collectively or privately owned. It must not be overlooked, however, that in thus extending the wage-earner’s opportunities to a richer share in the nation's life, the State has the right to call for a full recognition of reciprocal obligations towards the State by all who share in its beneficent citizenship. “ But the legion state will not tolerate the class war doctrines and advocacy of violence preached by Communist propagandists. Against such doctrines it will relentlessly set its face. Inside the legion and the State at whose realisation the legion aims there is no place for the devotee of Lenin's doctrines of violence. But a warm welcome awaits the Labourite seeking to advance the wage-earner’s cause by honest constitutional means: Such a one should receive protection for his status as a full citizen of the State and the best wages that the community can afford to pay.”