The labor world., 1903-10-24


~ - -zS-I-:z-
putes, although the preponde derance :5of
| wages <xsllsputes was less marked III
the plsrefFding four. .years.szThus OF the
total Az disputes '267, Of so per cent:
IaroseSunder this head; There wass:a*
marked decrease insthe;. four years in |
the number of persons directly affect
ed byEdisputes having advances Of
wages for their object, and a: cores
ponding increased in those: resisting re-
ducti0ns. Of wages Disputes as to
hours of labor. were, in 1902, of COM
paratlvely little consequence, but al
large number of workpeople were en-
gagged in disputes arising out of re-.
fusals to work. with, non-union men
and other questions SO involved being
21:3 per cent of all those directly en-
gagged In the whole of the disputes of
the year.
The number of workpeople directly
engaged'>in disputes in which they
were successful (36,917) was larger
than the number of those engaged In
disputes in which they were entirely
unsuccessful (35,515), while the num-
ber directly affected by disputes which
resulted in compromise (41645) was
larger than under either of the other
two heads the proportion of work.
people involved in disputes which
were settled on terms not equivalent
to a decisive victory for either side
E26,O53, or S3.44 per cent? in the case
of those in which: resistance was Of
ferea to- proposed reduction of
Taking all; the disputes Of the year
without distinct Jon Of cause lis found
| that the proportion, Of workpeople who
| were successful was 31.e0 per cent
If, however, disputes between different
classes of workpeople (e. e., -unionists
and non -unionists) were excluded and
the calculation confined to disputes
solely between employers and employ
4 cd, the proportion of successful work.
! people would be materially lower than
| this figure
| So far as concerns the proportion of
! the total number of persons involved
I in industrial disputes who took part
| in contests which found settlement
! by means of arbitration the percent
age was, In 1902, only Its, as against
4.65 per cent in 1900. With respect to
conciltat the " figures for 1902 also
| show a. considerable though a smaller
decrease (2.78 per cent as against
AID. The great bulk of the disputes
of the year We're (as was the case in
other years) ultimately settled by di-
rect negotiation between the parties
| he
Thus. of the total OF Az disputes
31e, or IT'S per cent, were SO settled.
and these embraced 86.7 per cent Of all
the persons involved In the disputes Of
1902, as against 80 per cent IN 1901.
Apart from. the building trades, in
which success and failure were almost
Ievenly distributed between the contend
ing parties, but with a slight prepon-
derance in favor of the working peo-
pie, :the only group in which the per-
centage of those who were entirely
successful was that Of mining and
quarrying. A very large proportion OF
those in this group who were directly
affected by the disputes in 1902 were
involved in quarrels between union
list and non-unionist workmen.
In the printing and allied trades
there were five disputes, affecting ZIG
workpeople directly and two Indirectly
the aggregate duration Of these trou.
bles in working days being 6,30S
(which includes time lost by. those in
@t'directlya affected Of these disputes
& four resulted in favor:of employers and
one was compromised.
Much Importance is attached to the
work Of the boards of conciliation and
arbitration. The most important func-
tion of these boards is not the ending
of strikes and lockouts, but the settle
ment Of questions which might other
wise lead to a stoppage of work. The
| total number of cases known to have
been considered by 81 permanent boards
in 1902 was 1,462. OF these, I'll cases
were Withdrawn or settled independ.
entity of the boards and 73 were still
under consideration at the end of the
year. The remaining CTS cases were
settled, 514 by the boards or commit.
tees, and 1854 by arbitrators or umpires
The 678 cases varied greatly in import
ance. For example, one determined by
the Cancellation board for the Goa
trade of the federated districts of Eng.
): land and Wales affected over 100000
workpeople, while 34s cases settled by
the Durham committees affected il
most instances only a few workpeople
!: Of 20 strikes and lockouts 13 were set
tied by conciliation and 16 by arbitra
! ton.
The following comparative table
covering a period of five years, show:
the percentage numbers of workpeoplt
directly affected by disputes which re-
49, -
the employer or which were comprom
ised: -.
\ ocAlo -