INDUSTRIAL AFFAIRS

Otago Witness, Issue 3509, 14 June 1921, Page 19

INDUSTRIAL AFFAIRS

THE COTTON TRADE. LONDON, June 5. The Ministry of Labour has invited the cotton masters and men to a conference on June 7. ENGINEERS’ WAGES. LONDON, June 5. Tlie engineering wages dispute has reached an acute stage. The Ministry of Labour, replying to the men’s appeal for intervention, said that the previous negotiations had not exhausted the possibilities of a settlement. It was desirable that the parties confer further. The parties again met on Saturday, but did not reach an .agreement. The employers will post notices on Monday intimating reductions in wages of 12s weekly for time workers and 15 per cent, for piece workers. One million and a-half men are affected. THE RAND MINES. CAPETOWN, June 6. A conference of trades union representatives at Johannesburg carried a resolution “ that there is no justification on tne part of the Chamber of Alines giving effect to the proposed reduction in wages.' 1 STRIKE FOR HIGHER PAY. ROAIE, June 7. All the civil servants in Italy struck for increased salaiies. This action developed from an agitation among the lower division of the Treasury, who demanded increases similar to those conceded to the railway employees and other workers. STRIKE IN NORWAY. CHRISTIANIA, June 9. The general strike has been declared off, and the workers are resuming. Alediation in the case of the seamen, engineers, and transport workers is progressing. The newspapers welcome the defeat of the general strike, which is the first since the workers’ political organisations became Communistic. The Labour leaders prepared the workers for a- climb down, the general strike having proved a complete fiasco. The tram service has been restored. SEAMEN’S UNION. MELBOURNE, June 11. At the request of the Federated Seamen’s Union the Federal Arbitration Court has convened a compulsory conference of representatives of the shipowners and the seamen for June 16, with a view to reaching finality on the question of the seamen’s claims. JUNIOR LABOUR. SYDNEY, June 11. The Board of Trade has commenced a discussion in regard to a scheme to control junior labour. The scheme proposes that no member under 14 shall be admitted to any occupation, and the number of apprentices shall not be more than will maintain the supply of mechanics.