41

H.—s

Charles Woodham examined. 1058. I am a baker and cook, and am now out of employment. 1059. Igo every day to labour-agents, and I find their terms vary from ss. to £1 and over. I will not pay these charges, as I consider them too high, and that there should be set prices. 1060. At Mr. Parker's and at Mr. McDonald's I was asked a fee of 10s. for obtaining a situation, and they would also get a fee from the employer. I did not pay that sum, and did not get the situation. 1061. They asked 10s., and guaranteed to get a situation; but if there is no situation the applicant has to wait till there is one. 1062. There are notices in the offices saying that the booking-fee is 2s. 6d., and they get that and as much as they can afterwards. 1063. I would suggest that labour-agents should be licensed, and all their fees fixed. They make all sorts of prices, and I have known them to get as much as £2 out of a young man for getting him a situation. James McDonald examined. 1064. I am a labour-agent. 1065. The old system was to make a charge of 2s. 6d. for booking-fee to persons seeking situations. One hundred might apply, and only two or three of these might succeed in securing a situation. 1066. I have therefore adopted a different system, and only charge those that obtain a situation. I make no charge now for registration. 1067. I charge for a man who gets a permanent situation from A per cent, to 2 per cent, on his annual wage —that is, for a good permanent situation. As much as 2 per cent, is very rarely charged. 1068. I myself am the judge of the class of situation, and as to the rate to be charged. 1069. I have all these notices as to my charges posted up in my window. 1070. With other labour-agents, I believe, the custom is to charge a booking-fee. 1071. If the applicant does not get the situation I return him his money. Francis Samuel Parker examined. 1072. I am a tailor by trade, and President of the Tailors' and Tailoresses' and Pressers' Union, and President of the Trades and Labour Council. 1073. During the last fifteen years there has been a Tailors' Union, except for an interim of about three years. 1074. We then observed the evils—the excessive employment of boy-labour and the employment of females —creeping in. 1075. One establishment that then employed nine men has three now and upwards of fifty girls. It is a tailoring establishment. Another that employed twenty-three men has only now five men and five boys, and two improvers. 1076. There are some establishments in which part of the work is put out and part done on the premises. We hope under our new Union rules to remedy these evils. 1077. In connection with the Kaiapoi Factory, a strike took place about three months ago. The average rate of wages for weekly hands was 15s. 9d., working every day of the week. This does not include overseers or table-hands. Two hundred pieceworkers, average rate 10s. 2d. per week; and thirty-five pressers, average rate £1 9s. 6d. This was before the strike. The strike lasted three weeks, and was terminated by the adoption of the rates and log of our Union. 1078. Pieceworkers now earn 30 per cent, more, and the weekly hands earn 12A per cent, and the pressers from 2£ to 15 per cent. more. 1079. I disagree with Mr. Meers when he says that the factory-hands should be allowed to remain indoors during meal-hours, as it would be conducive to their health for them to leave the premises, so that the factory could get thoroughly ventilated, and it would also prevent the employers' having any opportunity of working their hands during meal-hours. 1080. I consider that a dining-room should be provided in the factories for the hands to take their meals in. 1081. The Union disapproves of work being taken home. The Union thinks that all the work should be done at the factory during factory-hours, as when work is taken home girls work up to 2 o'clock in the morning. I know of one case in which, working five nights ranging up to 1 and 2 in the morning, and including the day-work, the wages amounted to only 15s. per week. The Union has put a stop to this sort of thing. 1082. All the tailors and tailoresses and pressers, except in one or two small establishments, are now within the Union. They would all join, but their employers threaten to dismiss them if they do so. In one establishment there are one man and twelve boys employed. The boys go back to work at night, and work from 7 to 10 and 11 o'clock at night. The boys are over fourteen years of age, and do not work more than four and a half hours at a stretch. 1083. We have a strike now with Messrs. Parker and Tribe. The Union called them out. Strikers are receiving from the Union 75 per cent, wages as strike-pay. We are trying to make the firm accept the tailors' Christchurch log. 1084. I have been to Dunedin and have inspected the Dunedin log, and have been over the factories, and noticed the mode of work, aud I am personally satisfied with their log, as I find that they are even making more wages than are received in Christchurch for similar work. Although the work done there is, in my opinion, inferior to Christchurch work, they make more wages. 1085. I think it would be advisable for the Kaiapoi directors to take into consideration the adoption of the Dunedin or New Zealand log.