THE World of Labour

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 698, 6 May 1916, Page 12

THE World of Labour

TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL HALL. Ml'.l 'I INCS l"()H •!|!|' WT.I.k. SA'l'l i; I)A V lulled Millers" Union. Typographical Cm I Special Meeting). SUNDAY -('.lirlstadclphinns' Mission, 11 ii.iu. Public Lecture iu Social Hull, :i and 7 p.m. MONDAY Amalgamated Society of Car praters' Union. Amalgamated Society of Knginccrs, No. 2 lirunch. Aerated Water Workers' Union. TII'.SOAY General Labourers' Union. Bricklayers' Union, (irneer.s' Assistants' Union. W HI INKS DAY Unoliimkhs' C nlllee. Public Lecture iu Hie Social Hall, X )>.m. Till HSDAY -Dancing Class in the Social Hull, 8 p.m. I'HIDAY Genera! Labourers' Uiuanec Com luittce. 7 to N.::il p.m. LYTTELTON WATERSWERS. WHAT THEY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED For the sake of all parties concerned, and particularly for that of the men themselves, I am very glad that the trouble on the wharves at Lyttelton has been settled, and that the men have ie ceil ed an increase In wages. il will be remembered thai some months ago a national conference was held between the newly-formed Waterside Workers' Federation and the representatives of the \ minus shipping companies, when an increase w:is conceded by the employers, conditional on the men agreeing to work after 111 o'clock at night, when the employers considered thai course necessary. The Lyttelton men, however, refused to commit themselves to the agreement, despite the pressure brought to bear upon them by their own federation, the result being that I hey wvti' ex.-luded from the benefit of increased wages secured by their fellow-water.siders throughout the count rv. The whole incident, in my judgment, reflected the greatest ■•rcdil upon the Lyttelton men. For a qua iter of a century the bugbear of waterside work, the prime grievance of those engaged in the occupation, has been the midnight shift, and during all that period the time of its abolition has been looked forward to with expectancy and hope. Night-work is bad from whatever angle it is viewed. 1 have on precious occasions iu this column quoted the opinions of eminent medical men and captains of industry, showing that it produces a physical strain that is not attendant upon work done in the daytime, with the consequent result that both man and employer suffer. The iu.au suffers in health', the employer in his pocket, the latter because he is pay-

A Column for Workers

Conducted by D. G. SULLIVAN

iug in overtime rates ;i higher price for :in inferior article. Position Summed Up. Speaking broadly, that is a correct statement of the position, although, as regards waterside labour, the financial equation is different for the employer, (localise, having to pay port charges, it is desirable, from his point of view, that the ship be got away as (piickly as possible, and I suppose the larger number of trips the vessel is aide to make the more profitable will she be to her owners. It is this fact that is responsible for the endurance of the late-work system on the wharves, but the men submit that the mere financial advantage of the employer is not an adequate reason why they should continue to submit to it. Then there is that other aspect that appeals so strongly to decent men, the desire to spend the evening hours at home with wife and little ones. This feeling against midnight work has gathered force and intensity during the last year or two, until at the latter end of last year waterside workers throughout the country practically refused to work the midnight shift, except in such necessary cases as getting away of transports, vessels carrying tied Cross goods, and so forth. It is to the particular credit i»l the Lyttelton men that they refused as a collective bodv to barter their light to knock off at 10 o'clock for an increased scale of wages, and it is even more creditable to them that they scorned the advice tendered them from a certain quarter to sign the agreement. ■vet the wares, ami then refuse to work after ID. Once again 1 assert, both on "th'u-al and utilitarian grounds, that Labour must nlwavs honour its word and stand fast to its verbal or written agreements. Terms of Agreement. The agreement now concluded between the employers and the Lyttelton I'nion increases the wages for ordinary time (up till ■"> p.m.), for general cargo work, from 1/,1 per hour to 1/8; for 5 p.m. to Id p.m., from L'/2 to 2/(i, ami after 1(1 from L'/;; to 2/!>. I congratulate the union and its officers on what they have accomplished, by loyal adherence to principle, wise concern for the interests of their members, and rational administration of their union. Let every watersider reflect on all that his union lias accomplished for him, and then consider how be can make it more useful still. The iield of constructive union work has scarcely been scratched in this country, and there is much to do. For instance, now, why should the Waterside Workers' Union confine their activities merely to getting increased wages.' Would it not be possible for a union of such large numbers to tackle

I he problem of getting cheap goods Cor their members, either by establishing a co-operative store of their own (buying in large quantity they would be able to buy much more cheaply), or by making special arrangements with business houses.' Would it not be possible for them to devise some means whereby the vast amount of time now necessarily wasted by the men on the wharves in waiting for jobs might be profitably utilised '. Study and observation have convinced me that Labour's best hope lies in learning and applying thoroughly the doctrine of self-help in all its possible manifestations. We will get there quicker by the adoption of this course than by concentrating our attention and efforts entirely on the political (ield — as witness the comparative failure of Labour's political activity both in Australia ainl Germany despite the large numbers of Parliamentary representatives which the working class has in those two countries. 1 am not suggesting that Labour in this country should weaken in its political activities: Labour representation is altogether desir able, ami 1 want to see a Labour Government running Nlis country, and running its municipalities, but the best results, I am convinced, will come from self-help. Sydney Labour Conference. The cable reports indicate that there has been a great deal of acerbity in the discussions that have taken place at the New youth Wales Political Labour Conference. Below I publish a report taken from the columns of the Sydney "Sun." The reference to the referendum discussed by Senator J'earcc, Acting Prime Minister, had to do with the decision not to take the referendum this year on the question of extending the powers of the Commonwealth, and because of the compact entered into between the State Premiers' Conference and the Federal Government, whereby the former undertook to voluntarily surrender certain powers to the latter. The other principal matter dealt with in this report was the effort io exclude Parliamentarians from the executive, the feeling among a seel ion of the conference being that the Parliamentarians had too much power and influence in directing the affairs of the Political Labour League. Tin 1 "Sun" report is as follows: - - Progress was slow at the Political Labour League Conference, which commenced its annual sittings at the Oddfellows' Temple, Klizabeth Street. Mr •I. I). Fitzgerald, M.L.O. (president), presided, and there was a large attendance of delegates from all parts of the State. The feature of the proceedings was a trial of strength between the purely political element represented by the league delegates and the industrial section, whose advocates come from the trade unions. The industrial section lost on division, because they sought to alter the constitution, and could not muster the necessary two-thirds majority for that purpose, but they won easily on numbers, and will have to be reckoned with in the future as a new aggressive element iu Labour politics. During the morning session Senator Pearce, the Acting Prime Minister, attended, and delivered a short address. Other prominent figures in the hall were the Speaker of the House of l>epresentatives (Mr McDonald), Senator Grant, the State Premier, Mr Cann (Minister of Works), Mr Hall, Attorney -

General, Mr Ashford, Minister of Lands, iir Black, Chief Secretary, Mr lloyle, Minister of Railways, Mr ,1. C. Watson, Mr West, M.H.8., 'Mr Toombs, M.L.A., and Mr Robertson, M.1,.A. Lieutenant Carmichael and Mr G. ('aim, M.L.A., both in uniform, were interested visitors. Senator I'earce explained the position that had arisen in regard to the referendum, because of the inability of the State Governments, with the exception of New South Wales, to pass the Transfer of Powers Bill. He hoped that two more of the States would be able to induce their Parliaments to keep the compact, in which event the Commonwealth would have the authority of two-thirds of the people for the change. lie defended the action of the Federal Government in fixing the prices of bread and Hour, and intimated that his Government intended to amend the Arbitration Act to facilitate the hearing of cases, and to overcome the congestion that had occurred. After a good deal of formal business, which afforded delegates an opportunity of displaying their capacity for wasting time, conference settled down to serious busi ness. There was a strenuous tight over the question of excluding members of Parliament from the B.L.L. executive. The western branch of the A.YV.B. sent, along a motion, and it was supported on the ground that members of Parliament influenced the executive, and sat in judgment on their own actions. Mr Cann's Plea. Mr Toombs, M.L.A., declaimed that, he was a good unionist, that he had organised a union, and was still secretary of the union, without, pay. Mr Cami, Minister of Works, one of the oldest trade unionists in the State, said he had been called out of the mines to represent his fellow-workers in Parliament. Was he. because he got into Parliament, to lose the privileges enjoyed by trade unionists.' That Was what the motion really meant. It was plainly a battle between the industrialists and the leaguers. The unions taking an increased share in the politics of the party did not approve entirely of the leagues' methods, and their declaration was a desire to improve the status and condition of the Labour movement. Mr Meagher was afraid the issue was being confused bv a number of delegates who were dissatisfied with the present Government. There were a number of motions of censure on the Government, and this looked like an attack on the first barricade. It appeared to him to be a conservative attempt to create a little niandarinate. The industrialists won on the figures, the voting being: For 77, against 50. The chairman ruled that the question involved an amendment of the constitution, and that,- as any such amendment required a two-thirds majority, the motion was not adopted. This did not complete the contest. The next motion was to limit the number of members of Parliament on the executive to four, submitted by the Mascot League. Upon this Ro/.elle delegates submitted an amendment to limit the number of members of Parliament on the executive to six. Both the motion and amendment were defeated, as was also an amendment by Mr Lamond to provide that the four members of Parliament should be elected —two by conference and two by the Parliamentary Labour Partv. The vot-

iug for tlie main motion was 84 to 48, the majority not being sufficient to carry the question. Mr King O'Malley, Minister for Home Affairs, and Mr' Webster, Post-master-General, visited the hall during the evening. Mr O'Malley made a characteristic speech.. He said the Allies were going to win the war for certain. If for 18 months the Britishers and the leaders of the Allies had been blundering and were not able to lose, what would happen now that they were out to win? He hoped his audience would live long and prosper, and some day he would see them all in heaven. Mr Webster promised to attend conference while motions affecting his department were being discussed.