Talloresses' Union.

Otago Witness, Issue 2202, 14 May 1896, Page 36

Talloresses' Union.

TO THE EDITO*.

! Bi&, — The publio is probably wondering whj? the grave charges made against myself in con.* neotion with the carnival funds have not been refuted or answered up to the present ; but, Sir, until the meeting on Monday night no tan* gible or direct charge had been made against! me, and I thought it unneoesiary to t»ke any notice of tha outrageously absurd and untrue statements made "at street corners," emanat* ing as they did from a committee the majority of wLona wen not well disposed towards myself. My connection with the Tailor"»se»' Unioa since it* inception is pretty gf>- -\ly known, but with yoar permission I »ili lewew briefly the history of the union and render an account of my Stewardship during tho time I have been ite secretary. When the union started in 1889 I held the position of vicapresident. At that time the clothing trade was iv a bad state. No logs existed, and the tailorea«es had to work long hours for smnll pay. Mr J. A. Millwr waa secretary of tha union at the time, but having no teohnio»l knowledge of the trade, I, as vice-preoident, assisted hipa in fighting for the establishment! of logs, which logs increased the pay of the girls from 12jt to 40 per cent., and whioh have b»:en maintained in face of the fierce and unrestricted cutting competition which satiated in the north, and which tho Dunedin manufacturers bave lud to contend with, — 'a, ut*to of things ' geu» rally known. Mr Millar, finding his time so fully oconpled with other things, and recognising that the union was likely to euffar in consequence, engaged nae to take upen myself tho duties of stcratary for the remaining six months of his term. Tho uniou be : ng satisfied with my work, I wa» afterwards elected to tha offico, since whioh time I have rsiaviaed the pottitiuo. I netd not say that vhat energy and abiiity I poaseaiod wa* given up to tha interests of the union, Anyone conversant with the working of trades unions will acknowledge that the mere routing work represents only a *m*U portion of the tioaa that the secret ary has to devote to it, especially guch a uaion as the Tnilor«jse»' f which has alw«.y» been a difficult unioa-to nmnsge. In 1891 I nw the neoewity of providing some medium for recuperating tha strength of girls who had been ill, and mooted the subject of a convalescent home to the committee. The matter was tnkaa up, but, owing to a difference of opinion aftsr a good deal of squabbling amongst the jirls, ended, as Mr Sprang describes in jour issue nf Thn''"'%v, in a fiasco. Sh./rfcly after I beoamo secretary it was decided that the union be teginleted under tho Trades Uaion Aofc, and I baliova the m*tter was, left in tho hands of myeolf and Mr Pinker* ton to accomplish. In due conrsa the applioa< tion was made to the registrar, and the rules were foiwarded, whan it transpired that under the Trades Union Aofc registration no girl could join the uuiem until »hn was sixteen (16) years tt age. Girls, however, frequently completed tfetir apprenticeship at H£ years of ago, and then became mombors'of the union. Under these circwoifvtanees it was regarded as weaken* ing the union to beoome jegiatored, and it would have led to complication with employers and friction anaopgjit the girls. I interviewed the Hoa W. D Stawart in the matter, and ho piuwjisu'd to en«k-B,vour to introduce an amending act, eliminating the clause relating to age. In the meantime the elections of 1890 hail taken piuoe, and a portfolio of Labcitr was created, I wrote to tho Minister, and he informed me that an set called the Conciliation and Arbitrntion Act would be introduced, under which ,the union could register, and ths neceutity of auses rdin^.the Tr*dea Union Ac 1 ; «vn»}d no longer exiat. (Correspttndeuco to ibis effect should bo in the uuion's office.) Aft&r the aofc came into for.cc steps were at once taken to have tha union registered. The reaion for going so fully infco thie aaatter will be apparent when it is known that statements have bjen mode fch»>t I wilfully avoided having the union registered in order that no l«*fjai pr«ceedrnga could be instituted against myself. These f*cts were perfectly well known to Mr Pnrchos and to a number ef Mie members, wbatevflrmay be said to ,tha contrary. In 1892 the trade iri Auckland was found to ba in such a disorganized state and competition was so keen as to affect tha trade is Duuotiin to a oonsiderablo extent, and it was resolvtd that I nhould proand to Auaklaad aud endeavour to reMisnttata an altnoet defunct union. I need aft recapitulate tho history of the struggle, it having appeared pretey fully in tho pres* at th& time. I need only say txat after a protracted struggle of iiavan month* I suce»dea in re-establishing the union, and thereby increased the t&ie of wages to tha level of the Dunodin log. Toll preserved the Dunedin union from threatened colKiwiO. Nothing of inapartauca trauipired in c.nn<H»f.ion with um'oa affairs until the end of 1691, up to which tiree, and in the face of tho very depressed stste of trade, the fiuandftl asueob of the union had progre»eed very favourably. About thia time it occurred to me fch»fc a very grrot w«rjt would b« «upp!i«d if a small library and luncheon room weru provided for tha use of EK'ftiV.ri), and with this obj-cfc I aaggeeted that tui^blt rooms should be found *«d tha scheme IfeS on foot. With very great exert i«a, but with ev*ry encouragnasrat, I iuoowded in procuring for the union a library coasiofciog of a good stock of well-seleot&d books, periodicals, &o. ; also furniture, picture, and, in fact, the whole furuisbiDga of library, reading room, scolal hull, kitchen, <fco. ; — all gift* to the uaioa, which, with cbn?.!ionß of money, repn-H»vtfd a considersble sam. A piac-o als > (valued as; 70g«) is now the property of the uniou, having br.eu paid for partly out of money raised at various entertainments (got up by myself) and the balance out of the carnival fund. Early in '95 two picnics wer.f luld, b»th of which, owing to tbo unpropitioui aUte of the weather, resulted in loss. Ai this time the »»ouut to tho credit of the current account a.% the bank was found to be too simll to work upon, ovrinj to the 1 receipts from contributions being unusually small and the fundi of the union having been placed at fixed deposit. There wan lyisg to th« credit ofthe bentfit aoconnt the sum ef £14 or £15, and I w»i initructed by the president to draw upon this account to wips eff aa far as ib would go the defloienoits of picnics. Perhaps, Sir,. tho public will ask what hiu all this to do