OTAGO LABOUR COUNCIL

Otago Witness, Issue 3419, 26 September 1919, Page 46

OTAGO LABOUR COUNCIL

For some considerable time the Otago Labour Council has had under consideration the appointment of committees to deal with various matters. At a meeting of the council on the 18th inst. a number of committees were set up and their duties defined as follows :

The Food, Fuel, ana Clothing Committee shall inquire into the production, exportation, importation, distribution, sale, prices, and all other questions connected with these necessaries of life.

The Building Committee shall inquire into the local production and importation of all materials connected with the building and furnishing trades, and all other conditions affectmg the erection of dwellings and other build;ngs and production of furniture. The Transport Committee shall inquire into the conditions operating in connection with all the means of transportation, such as horse vehicles, tramways, motors, trains, and shipping. The Factory, Shop, and Hygiene Committee shall inquire into the conditions affecting the safety and health of workers in factories, shops, and offices. The Statute and Labour Laws Committee shall examine, as far as possible, all statutes affecting Labour industrially or joli tically, and report to the council tho necessity for amendment or repeal ot' any Buch statutes that may injuriously affect the workers. The committee shall also watch all Bills before Parliament, and shall hrvo power, with the consent of the executive, where prompt action is necessary, to ask for the alteration of any measures bf r ore Parliament that may adversely affect the workers.

The Econcmio and Industry Comm.ttce shall inquire into all industrial questions that fall within the scope of political and economical science, also all questions i.ffecting th? economic working of trade u.uicns; the committee shall also report on all proposals now before the people on ' e reorganisation of industries, such as the Whitely National Guilds, the Sovier. end other schemes that may be suggested. Tins committee shall present all their reports to the council, who may make any public pronouncements consistent with that report.

The Library Committee shall have full power to organise a circulating library that shall be available to all members t.f trade unions or political labour bodies, and appoint its own librarian. The executive further recommended that all unions and political Labour bodies be notified of the sotting up of the above committees, and asked for their w-tive cooperation.