TRADES AND LABOUR. LONDON, December 20

Otago Witness, Issue 2493, 25 December 1901, Page 25

TRADES AND LABOUR. LONDON, December 20

The secretaries of 15 of the chief British trades unions deny the charges that their members are practising skulking with a view to causing a reduction in the output, and that they are' resisting the introduction of machinery. NEW YORK, December 19. A conference of leaders of capital and labour in New York elected a committee, with Senator Mark Hanna a*- chairman, to try to harmonise their interests to avert strikes and to resort to arbitration when boih sides are agreeable. SYDNEY', December 20. A notice is posted at the Broken Hill Block 14 mine that the directors jire sorry that owing to the prices of lead and silver falling to such an extent they have no option but to cease working the sulphide ores on the 21st, when operations below the 200 ft level will cease. They will shut down until prices improve. About 300 men will be thrown gui of ejuplovnient.

' A number of the street-sweepers who struck work were dismissed, whilst others resumed at the old wages. THE QUESTION OF APPRENTICES. AUCKLAND, December 21. The Arbitration Court sitting at Auckland yesterday heard a dispute in the ,'ronmoulders' trade. The masters agreed to 47 hours per week, but said the state of the trade would not warrant the payment of Is od per hour asked by the union According to the evidence, one moulder in Auckland receives lls, and wages range from tha' to Bs, most of the men getting 9s. The court reserved their award in accordance with an understanding till after hearing the dispute in Duneclin, set down for February next. In the course of the case Mr Justice Cooper made reference to two important point?. Mr Hall (of Chri&tchurch) , representing the employers, submitted that employers should have uncontrolled power to fix the rate of wages to be paid to incompetent men. His Honor said if that principle were admitted by the court, then i..award would ha^e any effect, as it would be a farce for the court to fix a minimum wage for competent men and leave employers uncontrolled power to pay what they liked to men whom they called incompetent. The .fixing of a minimum wage under such c.rcumstances would be valueless. There must be some machinery introduced in the award by which the wages of incompetent men .might be fixed at a lesser amount than the minimum wage by the introduction of some third impartial person. The clause providing for this had been introduced by Ah* Justice Williams, followed by Mr Justice Edwards, and inserted in awards made since the constitution of the present court. Ifc had been asked for and accepted by employers throughout the colony, and had been, found to work in a satisfactory "manner. That clause provided that the wages to be paid to incompetent men should, if lhe amount was not agreed upon between the employers and the secretary of the union, bo fixed by the chairman of the Conciliation Board. The court had never ordered employers to employ incompetent men at the minimum wage. — Mr Hall questioned the advantages of trade unionism. — His Honor said it was too late to argue that the organisation of the workers was not beneficial to the men and masters alike. It was generally admitted at Home that combinations of workers had raised the status of the men, and had been largely beneficial to the employers. WELLINGTON SEAMEN'S DISPUTE WELLINGTON, December 21. The recommendations of the Conciliation Boai'd in the two seamen's disputes are identical. The wages per month for stamen are fixed at £7, firemen £9, greasers £9, donkeymen £10, lamp trimmers £7, boatswa n £3. lamp trimmers and A.B.s £8, first-clas* ordinary seamen £5, second class ordinary seamen £4, trimmers ■(working/ six-hour watches) £8. greasers (working six-hciu* watches) £10, firemen (working similar 1 hours) £10. When the stokehold and engine room are manned by three firemen only, one shall sign as fireman and donkeyman (£10). In the foregoing cases the donkeyman shall be paid schedule rates for all ove?'tisne worked beyond eight hours. The overtime clause provides that in the deck de^ partment able seamen, boatswains, and lamp trimmers be paid overtime at the rate o£ Is 6d per hour. Boating cargo in bays and roadsteads in May, June, July, and August, Is 9d per hour. Boating cargo in January, February, March, April, September, October, November, and_ December, Is 6d; ordinary seamen, overtime, Is per hour. Boating cargo in May, June, July, and August, Is 6d ; other months, Is 3d. AH overtime in stokehold to be paid for at Is 6d per hour. Detailed decisions are given on other points