LABOUR CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA
The increasing number of immigrants arriving on Australian shores is
an eloquent witness to the fact that Australia is slowly winning a
reputation “at home” as the “working man’s paradise.” There are always
a few malcontents in every community, and amongst the immigrants there
is no exception to this rule. Some come out expecting to find slabs
of gold awaiting them in the streets, and they are disappointed when
they discover that they will be required to work hard, especially if
they go upon the land. But the majority show every sign of contentment.
From a large number of new-comers I have heard practically the one
comment: “We would not return to the old conditions; we are more than
happy under the Southern Cross.” To cite a few cases. A boot operative,
who at Kettering had earned on an average only 18s. 6d. per week for
the last twelve months, came out a short time ago. Within two hours
of landing he obtained a billet at a pound a week, plus board and
lodging. He has practically the pound clear. This is his start. He will
soon double or treble that amount. He is not yet in his own business.
Indeed, for the sake of his elder child he desires to go on to the
land, and his present situation is a kind of apprenticeship to his
future career.
Domestic servants, who at home earned only £14 or £16 a year, start
here with £30 or £35 per annum. The domestic problem is acute in
Australia. Hundreds of people are unable to obtain maids at any price.
Good domestic servants are always in great demand. Girls in service
have a large amount of liberty. “Slaveys” are unknown. Other cases
known to me are those of a commercial traveller who had the offer
of three situations within an hour of landing in Adelaide; three
carpenters who obtained places immediately at a wage double that
they had received in England; two engineers who obtained employment
in the Newport works within a day of landing, and many others. Now,
nearly all the men I encountered from the Old Land told me that the
utmost ignorance prevails at home about labour questions in Australia.
They said: “Why do you not enlighten people a little more concerning
the conditions of labour in Australia?” To this they frequently add
the remark that, while Canada seems an easy distance from England,
Australia seems so far away as to frighten people from attempting to
emigrate. This, of course, is easily understood. Eight or ten days
from Liverpool takes one to Canada. It is five times eight days from
Liverpool to Australia. If a man goes to Canada, and discovers that
he has made a mistake, he can easily return home; but it seems very
different when the case is Australia. He has got to the uttermost
ends of the earth, and the frightful expanse of water, covering 13,000
miles, lies between him and “home.”
Now, I venture to think that this is a mere bogey. The distance looks
worse on paper than it is in reality. When once the trip has been made
the mystery of distance is solved, and the traveller can intelligently
think himself back over the seas, and in doing this the terror ceases
to exist. It is the unknown that troubles one. But if a man is certain
before he starts out that he is doing right in coming, that is, if he
takes reasonable precautions to inform himself concerning his chances
of employment here, he has nothing to fear. He will not desire to
return. Australia will become his home. The Old Land will not disappear
from his horizon; it will rather lie before him from afar, spread out
in true perspective. He will better see the Old Land from here than he
saw it at home. How, then, shall he take these reasonable precautions?
I advise any prospective immigrant to see the Agents-General in London.
Each State has its Agent, and from him all particulars can be obtained.
To be quite frank, there is no place in Australia for ne’er-do-wells,
for loungers, for lotus-eaters, for men who have no kindly feeling
towards honest work. But for real workers, in nearly all branches,
there is abundance of room. As against Canada, Australia has the
advantage of being sunlit all the year round. There are no rigorous
winters. In the north there are no winters at all. Men having sons do
exceedingly well in Australia. There is a great shortage of boys.
To begin with wages. In practically all departments wages are
higher--much higher--than at home. The high wages represent an
evolution. They are the result of the working of Trade Unionism. The
unions first fought the battle, and now legislation has fixed the
terms of employment. One great institution in Australia is the “Wages
Boards.” A word is necessary concerning these. It is not every trade
that has its wages board, but as things look at present it will not be
long before wages boards are universal. This system of fixing wages
dates from the year 1896, when one or two trades fell under the rule.
In 1900 it was extended to other trades, and in 1907 to yet others,
including shop employees, carters, and drivers. Both wages and hours
are fixed, the minimum being, in many cases, much higher than the
maximum in England. In 1897 the system was applied to outside women
workers in the clothing trade, with this result, that whereas in that
year the average wage of women workers was 12s. 3d. per week, in 1908
it rose to £1 2s. 4d. per week. The wages boards are formed upon the
application of masters and men. A chairman is selected--generally an
outsider and an impartial man--and regular business is transacted. A
minimum wage is fixed, not always to the employer’s liking.
The system has many advantages, and some disadvantages. It does not
always work fairly, and it does not always discriminate between the
genuine worker who is worthy of his salary and the idler who shirks
his work. But, taken as a whole, the system has been a boon, and has
done much to reduce sweating. In the present troubled condition of
labour in England it might be advantageous for leaders to examine the
Australian system, and to adopt its best points. Not only are wages
fixed; the hours of labour are rigidly fixed also. The eight hours day
for the majority of trades has been in operation since 1855, when the
agitation took practical shape. In factories the working week is one
of forty-eight hours, distributed in such a manner as to allow of work
ceasing on five nights of the week at five o’clock, and on Saturday at
noon. Shop hours are similarly fixed. As previously mentioned, shops
close at six o’clock at night and one o’clock on Saturdays. Exceptions
are made in the case of fruit and bread shops, as well as tobacconists,
hairdressers, restaurants, and the like. The chemists are compelled
to close at 8 P.M. There is a ridiculous side to this at times. One
evening I entered a newsagent’s shop to purchase a top for my boy. The
proprietor sold toys as well as books and papers. The hour was a little
after six. I purchased my evening paper without difficulty, but the
top was refused, although it stared me in the face from a shelf in the
rear. It was useless to plead. “It is after six,” the proprietor said,
“and I dare not sell you the top.” You will see at once that there is
secured abundant leisure for the vast majority of the population.
A recent increase concerns clerks. It had been urged upon the board
by the Western Australian and the Victorian branches of the Federated
Clerks’ Union that a minimum wage of £4 a week should be paid, the
working week to consist of 38 hours. This log, however, has been turned
down. The decisions arrived at were as follows: Wool clerks to work for
37 hours a week from March to September, and 48 hours from September to
March; clerks in shops, factories, mills, etc., 48 hours a week; all
other clerks 42½ hours. The scale of pay was fixed as follows:
Clerks 21 years of age and over, 48s. a week.
Under 16 years of age, 10s.
Commencing work at 16 years, 12s. 6d. for the first six months, and
15s. for the second six months.
Commencing at 17 years, 15s.; with one year’s experience, 17s. 6d.;
with two years’ experience, 20s.
Commencing at 18 years of age, 17s. 6d.; with one year’s experience,
20s.; with two years’ experience, 22s. 6d.; with three years’
experience, 25s.
Commencing at 19 years of age, 20s.; with one year’s experience, 22s.
6d.; with two years’ experience, 25s.; with three years’ experience,
27s. 6d.; with four years’ experience, 30s.
Commencing at 20 years of age, 25s.; with one year’s experience, 27s.
6d.; with two years’ experience, 30s.; with three years’ experience,
32s. 6d.; with four years’ experience, 35s.; with five years’
experience, 40s.; and thereafter the minimum wage.
The principle has also been established _of equal pay for both sexes_.
Now, this sounds magnificent on paper. But the question is, will it
finally work? This rate, however, may be compared with the rate of pay
for labourers, who get as much as 9s. per day as Government servants.
Another interesting thing concerns seamen. The eight hours’ day is in
operation throughout the Commonwealth in nearly all departments of
labour. But until recently seamen have not come within its provisions.
For some time there had been an agitation amongst them, and as a
result of conferences between the masters and the men, the matter was
submitted to the decision of the Arbitration Court, with the result
that seamen on the Australian coast were placed on an equality with the
workers on land. The judge, in giving his decision, referred to the
“meagre pittance” received at present by able-bodied seamen. The award
has restricted the hours of labour in port for seamen to eight hours,
and in daylight, excepting on days of departure. At sea, stokehold men
and deck hands are also placed upon the eight hours’ footing. The week
consists of six working days. If a ship remains in port on Sundays or
holidays, the seamen are to be free from labour. When a ship departs
from a main port on a Sunday or holiday each seaman is entitled to
an extra day’s pay. If Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day,
Good Friday, or Easter Monday be spent at sea, the seaman is to be
compensated by receiving either an extra day’s pay for each holiday so
spent at sea or an extra day off on shore. Overtime is to be paid for
at the rate of 1s. 3d. or 1s. 6d. per hour. The new rates of pay are
fixed as follows: Boatswain, £9 per month; lamp-trimmer, £9; A.B., £8;
ordinary seaman under eighteen, £5; over eighteen, £6; donkeyman, £11;
fireman, £10--all per month, plus food.
British seamen will rub their eyes at this list. Few in Australia
regard it as other than just. The lot of the seaman was, not so many
years ago, hard and inhuman. It has gradually been ameliorated. In
the Old Land there is still abundant room for improvement, both in
the matter of hours and wages. Australia is certainly setting a fine
fashion and a fair pace in these things.
But with all these privileges there is a good deal of discontent in
the labour world. There are too many strikes, some of which seem to
the ordinary beholder to be stupid. It is serious when a thousand men
strike because one of their number has been dismissed for a violation
of the rules of the establishment. And there is a good deal of friction
between Union and non-Union men. The goal of many of the foremost
Labour men is avowed State Socialism.
Christmas is a favourable opportunity for observing the working of
the Labour Laws in the colony. In the Old Land, the fortnight before
Christmas Day is a period of rush and pressure and working overtime. On
Christmas Eve, in particular, the shops are open until midnight, and
even beyond. In Australia matters are very different. Two years ago
Christmas Day fell on a Sunday. In the previous week the shops closed
as usual each evening at six o’clock, and on Christmas Eve, being a
Saturday, _the shops were all closed at one o’clock midday_. Is it not
enough to make the average English shopkeeper gasp with astonishment
and envy? Festival or no festival, the Australian workman observes
the law as to hours of work; and he does not exceed his measure. On
Christmas Eve of that year the final postal delivery was, as usual
on a Saturday, at noon. Boxing Day being a general holiday, it was a
holiday also for the postmen. Thus no letters were delivered for three
days. Australia is called the “Workers’ Paradise,” and the name is well
merited.