H.—ll.

Registration op Industrial Associations and Unions. The usual statutory return (to 31st December, 1941) giving a list of associations and unions 011 the register at that date, together with the membership thereto, is appended hereto. Employers' unions number 270, as against 269 last year, with a total membership of 11,802, compared with 11,169 last year. Workers' unions number 428, compared with 432 last year, with a total membership of 231,049, as against 248,084. Arising out of stoppages of work referred to elsewhere, registration of the Auckland Abattoir Assistants and United Freezing-works' Employees' Industrial Union of Workers was cancelled, first in respect of that locality which comprises the area covered by the abattoir established and maintained by the Auckland City Council, and later in respect of that locality which comprises the area lying within a radius of twenty-five miles from the Chief Post-office in the City of Auckland. Industrial Disturbances during the Year. There were 111 industrial disturbances during the year, compared with 49 last year and 70 the year before. These absences involved lost time equivalent to 45,759 working-days, compared with 24,082 working-days lost the previous year. Of these disturbances, 52 were in the mining industry, 11 in the shipping and waterfront industry, and 36 in the freezing industry. Details of the more important disturbances are as follows : —• One thousand two hundred employees at the Westfield Freezing-works ceased work on 9th April, 1941, over a proposal to speed up operations in the preserving department, the output of which had fallen by some 17J per cent. Work was resumed after three days, following conferences with the management under the chairmanship of the Conciliation Commissioner. At Glen Afton, 198 coal-miners ceased work when the employers refused to grant an increase of 6d. per ton for machine-hewed coal. Work was held up for a period of six days from the 28th April, 1941. After a secret ballot the men returned to work following an agreement that the dispute be referred to a Disputes Committee. The Committee ruled that an allowance of 4£d. per ton should be allowed in bords and 2d. per ton in headings in future. The miners and employers in the Dobson district were assuming that the conditions of the 1940 West Coast Mines agreement would be adopted as their agreed working-conditions, and were in fact observing them, though actually the formally-agreed terms then current were introduced in 1938. A clause in the 1940 terms provided for calculation of the minumum wage on a weekly basis, a weekly measure-up to be required only in places which appear likely to be minimum-wage places. An opinion on this clause, given by an accepted referee, was misread by the employer as requiring a weekly measureup for all places. The employer gave this for four weeks, but when the union also asked for a weekly calculation of pay the employer declined to continue to give the weekly measure-up and reverted to the 1938 formally-agreed conditions. As a result a strike lasting seven days and affecting 155 men occurred. It was settled by decision of the Coal-mines Council, a body established under Emergency "Regulation. The decision took the form of applying the terms of the 194-0 West Coast Mines agreement to the Dobson Mine. The claim for a weekly payment was disallowed. One hundred and twenty coal-miners at Wallsend and 160 at Dobson ceased work on the 28th August, 1941, over the question of the non-appointment of a doctor to the district. Work was resumed two days later after discussions with the Minister of Mines, which resulted in a medical practitioner being appointed on the sth September, 1941. At Mangapeehi Collieries 62 miners struck as a protest against the system of allocation of State houses situated near the mines. Work was resumed three days later following discussions with the Under-Secretary of Mines, when it was agreed that future allocations should be made to workers in turn governed by the length of employment. One hundred and forty miners ceased work at Waiuta Gold-mines on the 22nd September, 1941, as a protest against obstruction of work by trucks and timber blocking one of the levels. A. dispute developed later over demands for payment for time lost by wage workers as a result of the stoppage. Work was resumed at the end of three and a half days on it becoming known to the employer that the enginedriver had been knocked oft' work by the employer's agent. This man was then paid by the employer and the claim in respect of two braceman and two chambermen who had ceased work with the miners was withdrawn, although they received payment for two hours each. One hundred and thirty-three cool-store-chamber hands at the Auckland Wharf Cool Store declined to work 011 Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 1941, at the reduced rates set out under the Overtime and Holidays Labour Legislation Suspension Order 1941. One thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine waterside workers ceased work on 29th January, 1942, for half a day when a dispute occurred over the action of the Waterfront Control Commission in transferring Napier workers to Wellington without consultation with the union. A settlement was effected as a result of negotiations between the union and the Waterfront Control Commission, the Commissioners agreeing that in the meantime local workers should receive preference on overseas ships. One hundred and forty coal-miners ceased work on 2nd March, 1942, at the Millerton Mine when a dispute arose over a demand by the workers for wet-time payment for horse-drivers engaged in taking mine horses from the mine-mouth stables to the settlement, and vice versa. Work was resumed three days later following an agreement that the dispute be referred to a Disputes Committee. The decision of the Committee was that the drivers should be paid wet-time money for those days on which they got wet through taking the horses to and from the mines. Following the dismissal of a union member, 160 gold-miners at Waiuta ceased work on 6th May, 1941, for a period of three and a half days, alleging victimization of the worker concerned. This case was referred to in last year's report in the paragraph dealing with contract rates at Blackwater mines. Prolonged stop-work meetings in connection with the re-employment of a worker and payment of chain workers which were held at Thos. Borthwick and Sons freezing-works at Belfast on 25th, 26th, 27th February and sth March, 1942, resulted in proceedings being instituted against 76 butchers for taking part in illegal strikes. The charges were later withdrawn and the matter referred to a disputes committee. Thirty-eight carpenters employed on the construction of new cool stores at Horotiu Freezing-works struck work as a protest against one of their number being promoted to the position of charge hand,

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