FIVE DAYS A WEEK.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1021, 10 January 1911, Page 5

FIVE DAYS A WEEK.

NEW AWARD SOUGHT. ' THE CARPENTERS' DEMANDS. The Carpenters' Union, according to Borneof its officials, has not hitherto been remarkable for aggressive tactics, but in demands that have just bean filed for an award to replace that now in existence the ,union has broken new ground and given some of its companion 1 bodies an unmistakable lead. . . , Prominent in the new demands is a provision, that .the full working week shall consist of five days each of eight hours. The, hours of work are to extend from 8 a.nii to 5 p.m., with , the usual break of an hour at midday. The minimum wage demanded for all journeymen carpenters, joiners, and carpenters and joiners is Is. Bd. per hour. At this rate the week's work of 10 hours would entail a payment of .£3,65; Bd. Minimum wages now paid in various branches, of the building trade in Wellington are as follow:— •

: The highest •minimum wage received by carpenters in New Zealand is Is. 41d. per hour which is,paid under an award* lately made at Timaru. , The union asks that, piecework shall bo absolutely prohibited,.'and that no work shall be let labour only. Under the existing award stair-building is exempted from the operation of. the clause forbidding piecework. - Overtime. . - - The point chiefly remarkable in the new demands concerning overtime : is a provision that all time worked ":o)l' iJ SatuHlb'i" fchall be paid for at the rate of "double time. ' This' would cover. the' hours now worked on Saturday at ordinary time, and follows upon the . demand'of the union' that Saturday , shall be a weekly whole holiday. . Outlying Work, Under the present award work is defined as suburban which lies outside tho boundary of the Town Belt and insido a radius of ten miles.from the General Post Office. ■ In the' new. demands suburban .work is specified as lying outside the radius;, of ono inilb and : a. quarter, and within' the radius, of ten miles from Te Aro Post Office, Wellington. : Travelling time is to be allowed, as in the. old award, at the rate of .three miles per hour. The provisions regarding.., country work are practically the same as in the old award. The clause relating to apprentices, 'in addition to providing, as in tho old award, that any employer taking an apprentice to learn the trade shall uo doomed to undertake the duty which he agrees /to. perform as a duty enforceable under the award, provides that the apprentice shall be legally bound.. The only alteration made in. the provisions regarding payment of apprentices'is that a payment of 10s. per week during the first year, instead of Bs. as at . present, is demanded. Tho union demands, further, that the proportion, of apprentices to journeymen shall not exceed one to every five journeymen on-a three years' basis. The proportion permitted under the existing award is one apprentice to every three journeymen or fraction of three. . Preference. ' Tho union demands rules relating to preference which, if granted, will place it on a similar footing to that now held by the Painters' Union. The demands r.un as follow (a) Any employer, when employing a journeyman, shall ascertain whether he is a member of the Workers' Union, and if not he must become a member before he starts work. (b) All journeymen at present working for an employer, and are not members of, the Workers' Union, shall become members within one week of the time of this award coming into operation. (e) The secretary . of tho Workers' Union shall, notify employers when. any man becomes -uijfinancinl within the meaning of the rules of the union. Any man becoming,so unfinancial shall 'not be entitled to the provisions of this award with regard to nreferene-e until payment of all sums due by him to the union. (d) -No employer shall place any. obstacle inlthe way of any.representative of the Workers' Union in the collection of moneys due. . ■ It is demanded by tho union that there shall be no exemptions whatever from the operations of the award. The scope of the Award, it: is snecified, ehall cover employers carrying-on business i.n the city and suburbs of .Wellington, and within a radius of twenty-five miles from the Te Aro Post Office. ■ Tho Conciliation Commissioner/ (Mr. P. Halley) has appointed January 20, 1911, as the date upon which ho will hear the views of parties concerned in the carsenters' demands..

...: v ' ■ per hour. s., (1. Stonemasons X 8 Plasterers 1 7 Bricklayers 1 7 Plumbers 1 5 Carpenters .....: ' 1 4 Painters 1 3 Seaffoldors 1 2J Builders' labourers 1 l|