H.—ll

XII

Summary of Strikes in New Zealand since inception of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act (189b) t0 31st March, WIS. Number of strikes coming within scope of the Act ... ... ... 35 Number of strikes outside the Act... ... ... ... ■■■ 63 Total number of strikes ... ... ■ • ■ 98* Number of disputes included in total which may be classed as trivial or important ... ... ... ... :•■ ■•• •■• 43 Men fully successful in ... ... ... ... •■■■ (cases) 25 Employers successful in ... ... ... ... ■■■ (cases) 42 Compromise effected in ... ... ... ■■• ••• (cases) 281 Average duration of all strikes (trivial cases not included) ... (days) 23 Total number of strikers (trivial cases not included) ... ... ... 3,686 Total number of men rendered idle by strikes (trivial cases not included) 8,380 Approximate loss in wages to workmen concerned (average £33 155.) £283,206 Approximate loss to employers concerned ... ... ... £160,414 Total amount of fines inflicted on strikers ... ... ... £1,917 Total amount collected to date (80 per cent.) ... ... £1,532 Total number of strikes from year to year— 1894 to 1905 ... ... ... ... ... Nil. 1906 ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 1 1907 • ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12} 1908 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12 1909 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 1910 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 13 1911 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 21 1912-13' ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 35 98* Average per year ...» ... ... ... ... 5. During the year the provisions of section 4 of the 1911 amendment to the Act, in regard to the making of an award to apply to more than one industrial district, have been given effect to by the Court, which has made a Dominion award affecting typographers, and another covering letterpress machinists, in the four chief industrial districts. In the cases of bakers and other trades it was found that the procedure provided for to obtain Dominion awards was complicated and lengthy. The idea was therefore abandoned, and on the advice of the Court the associations concerned arranged with their unions in the various districts to have local disputes filed in the usual way. The Court then made awards of a similar nature in each of the four chief industrial districts in each of the following trades : bakers, drivers, and iron and brass moulders. Associations of workers in other trades are taking steps to have uniform conditions fixed throughout the Dominion in a similar way. In eight instances recommendations of Conciliation Councils with which no disagreement had been filed by any of the parties concerned have, in accordance with the provisions of section 7 of the 1911 amendment, become awards. The Arbitration Court has, however, ruled that, owing to a defect in that section of the Act, these recommendations are not enforceable or binding on the parties in any way. In order to remedy this it is proposed to bring down a Bill during the next session of Parliament, which, when made law, will validate these recommendations, and its provisions will act retrospectively. A noteworthy feature during the year was the increase in the number of awards and industrial agreements that have come into force in the smaller industrial districts, particularly in Taranaki, Marlborough, and Westland. During the year a question was raised as to the effect of the 1910 amendment of the Shops and Offices Act on the Wellington Hotel Workers' award. This award, which came into operation before the passing of that Act, provides in clause 14 that if any change should be made by legislation in any of the conditions fixed by the award, the award would thereafter cease to * Of this total, thirty-one strikes were of slaughtermen—consisting of two separate sympathetic disputes spread mostly over the whole of the Dominion. Six were within the scope of the Act and twenty-five outside it. f In three other eases the employers were not involved. % Slaughtermen only.