LABOR NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2657, 12 November 1909, Page 3 (Supplement)

LABOR NOTES.

(By Unionist.)

The constitution of the American Bakers’ Union is printed in 11 Languages —English., German, French, Span. j,«h, Italian, Bohemian, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, and Hebrew.

The bakers of Westland, who recently resolved upon forming a union, have registered under the Arbitration Act. The organisation commences with a membership of 16.

During the year 1908, twenty-five new unions were formed in New South 'Wales, making a total of 153 organisations in existence at its close. The State Registrar computes the total fnembersliip of these unions at 113,918.

For tho first time since its organisation, the East Coast Trades Council was represented at tho annual conference of councils, which sat last week. Its representative was congratulated on the fact by several delegates.

According to the Forestry Department’s annual report there were 7139 hands employed at the 423 New Zealand saw mills last year. These produced over 432 million feet of timber, ail increase of about 11 million feet over the output of the previous year.

This year’s conference of delegates from the New Zealand Trades and Labor Councils proved the largest that has yet been held. Credentials were accepted for twenty-eight representatives, in accordance with the numericalstrength of the respective councils taking part in the gathering .

Starting with a capital of £BO, twelve months ago, "the "Wanganui Co-operative Bakery lias grown at a remarkable rate. There are now four bakers and half a dozen delivery carts fully employed. The bakery is owned and run by workers of the district, and in the working class portions of the town the oppositions bakers have bi'en run off the rounds.

Mr. R. Bre en, who was elected president- of the Trades Council Conference by seventeen votes to six, has been connected with trade union movement in New Zealand for the past seventeen years. Prior to his arrival here, lie had been an active unionist in Victoria. Mr. Breen is the permanent secretary of the. Otago Council, and is also secretary of the Dunedin Hotel Employees’ Union.

Mr. E. Howard, ex-president of the Canterbury General Laborers’ Union, informed the “Wellington Meekly Herald” tho other dav- that the laborers are the moving spirits of Canterbury unionism at the present time. Branches have been formed at- Timaru, Ashburton, and other secondary towns. It has been found necessary to put the South Canterbury towns- under the charge of paid secretaries, and the membership is growing daily.

The report and balance-sheet presented at the half-yearly meeting of the Wellington Cooks and "Waiters’ Union last week shows that the organisation continues to prosper. For the period covered by the report, the receipts totalled £lßl 18s lOd. and . the expenditure £169 13s sd. The total assets of the union now amount to nearly £2OO. During the six months 123 new members were admitted; S 9 males and 34 females.

At the next sitting of the Arbitration Court in Wellington tlie Builders and Contractors’ Association will apply, in connection with the bricklayers’ dispute, to have the carpenters, painters, electricians, and others declared to be related trades. Considerable opposition will be shown to this proposal by the Painters’ Union. The painters are working under an agreement, and their week’s work is 44 hours. The other trades arc- working 45 hours, under awards made by the Court.

During the dicussion at the Trades Council Conference last week, on the subject of State control of industries, Mr. G. R. Whiting, general secretary of tlie Bootmakers’ Federation, stated that his organisation was prepared t-o loan the Government £2OOO for the purpose of starting State boot- factories. “If State factories were established, ' continued Mr. Wanting, “it would mean a saving of 3s or 4s per pair on every pair of boots purchased by the general public. But even allowing that the saving was only Is per pair, this would be a reduction of £55,000 a year on the cost of our shoe leather.”

The members of the Auckland Grocers’ Assistants’ Union last week decided to forward a protest to the Minister of Justice against the strictures passed by Mr C. C. Kettle, S.M., in delivering his judgment in the breach of award brought against Dir. John Morrison by the Auckland Hotel and Restaurants’ Union in September. Several oilier unions have passed similar resolutions of protest against secretaries, who are merely instruments carrying out the behests of their unions, being stigmatised as “meddlesome agitators,” and these protests have- all been forwarded to the Minister of Justice. This matter was also brought- under the consideration of the annual conference in Wellington last week, and th,e result of their' deliberations lias been laid before, tin.- Minister.

Considerable discussion took place at the last meeting of the Auckland Trades and Labor , Council over the action of the Government in revoking the concession of free passes to delegates attending- the annual conference, and ultimately the following resolution was carried, and ordered to be forwarded to tho Government: —“That the secretary lie instructed to write to the Minister of Labor, expressing the thanks of tlie Council to the Government for tlie concession of ' free passes to the annual conference jn past years, but regret the fact that in this—the year in which a Dreadnought, costing over £2,000,000, lias been freely offered to tlie Home Government- by the Prime Minister—-tile' Cabinet in their system of parsimonious retrenchment have decided to discontinue a privilege that lias existed for 18 years, and that was instituted liy' a previous Government for the purpose of obtaining tlie mind, of tht,. workers upon mucli-needed legislation;”