SHEARERS' WAGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 239, 9 October 1928, Page 10

SHEARERS' WAGES.

FIVE-YEARS AGREEMENT.

SPECIAL LEGISLATION.

RATES BASED ON WOOL PRICES.

(By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. An amendment to the Industrial, Conciliation and Arbitration Act was introduced by Governor's Message in the House of Representatives early this morning. It is designed to overcome a limitation in the law, which prevents agreements extending bevond three years. The Prime Minister explained that the Sheepowners' Federation and the shearers had come to an agreement for five years, with wages based on a sliding scale, dependent on the rise or fall in the price of wool. Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, expressed approval of the measure, and Mr. T. M. Wilford remarked with gratification upon this evidence of the success of conciliation. The Prime Minister, replying to a question, stated that the shearers' wages would be based on the average of the last five years' prices, while in future years the wage would be adjusted in accordance with the previous vear's wool prices. "Hie bill, when circulated, showed that it is capable of general application where both parties to an industrial agreement wish to make an agreement up to five years.