THE CATERING TRADE

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1070, 8 March 1911, Page 3

THE CATERING TRADE

AWARD SOUGHT. EARNINGS OF THE WORKERS. EMPLOYERS' TROUBLES. The ilispule'between tho Wellington Cooks and Waiters and tho local oyster saloon-keepers, restaurant-keepers, lunchcon and tea-rcom proprietors, and private hotelkcenors came on for hearing before tho Arbitration Court yesterday afternoon. Mr. K. .1. Carey represented the union, and Mr. W. Grenfell the employers. Tho Wages Demanded. ■ The union asks that the following shall bo tho minimum weekly rates of pay in private hotels-.—Kitchen department l.malc or female workers)— Where five or more hands are employed in the kitchen and scullery: First "hand, M 10s.; second hand, £2 j.55.; third hand, 305.; other.-, 275. fid. Where four hands are employed: First hand. £3 155.; second hand, £2 55.; third hand, 305.; others, 275. (Id. Where three hands are employed: l-irsi hand, J;3 10s.; second hand, £2 2s. Gd.; third hand. 30s. Where two hands are employed: First hand, £2 55.; second hand.'flOs. Where one hand is employed, £2. Provided that in a private hotel where only one hand i= employed, and sncli hand'is a female, such worker may be paid a minimum of 30s. wc?kly. Din-ins-room workers—Waiters, M 12s. fid. Head waitress, 255.; others, 20s. Housemaids, 17s. (id. Pantry hands, males 305.: females, 205." Porters: Night porters, 305.; day porters, ,-Sl ss. General hands, .SI ss. Laundresses, £1 3s. Where board is not provided the worker shall be paid 10s. nor week in addition. Where lodging is no"t provided the worker shall Ijo paid as. per week in addition to the wages prescribed. In the other establishments affected, the union asks for the following minimum weekly rates of nay:—Kitchen uepartmeut (male or iemale workers): Where four or more hands are. employed in the kitchen and scullery: First hand, ,£3 155.; second hand, £2 10s.; others, 30s. Where three hands arc employed: First hand, JM 55.; second hand, £2 55.; others, 30s. Where two hands are employed: First hand, £2 155.; second hand, ,£1 12s. 0(1. Where only one hand is employed, £2 ss. Provided that in establishments where only one hand is employed, and that hand is-a female, *ke niav be paid a minimum of 30s. weekly, Dining-room: Waiters, J!2; waitresses, XI ss. Pantry hands: Males, 335.; females, JEI ss. Oyster openers, £2; housemaids, 225. Gd.; general hands, .£1 10s.; laundresses, .CI ss. There are also stipulations as to meals. The other principal demands are mentioned below. At the request of Mr. Carey, Mr. Grenfell sai'l ho had brfn instructed by the proprietors of the Grand .Central Hotel, the Arcadia, Doss's Hotel, and Day's Bay IIou;;e, and by J. H. Ilinton, Gliiiznce Street. The other proprietors of private hotels had not asked him to act for them. The Workers Affected. Mr.- Carey, in liis opening, said that in other centres better conditions than those awarded by lisa Court here had been obtained by mutual agreement, but it seemed impossible to come to a settlement outside the Court in Wellington. Three hundred and fifty employees were concerned in' the present" case, and twothirds of them were women; 150 of the total were employed in the 14 private hotels cited. The demands were for a fuller preference clause and increased wages for the lower-will classes of workers. The demands were not extravagant, and represented rises of 2s. Gd. to. ss. on tiie pre.-.tmt va-cs. They i were based on (lie rises secured for the workers in licensed notfls whim last before the Court. The Cm.:t had on a former occasion increased Uie woges of s.cullerymen by 2s. fid., and another 2s. Gd. was now asked, making 275. Gd., because tho union thought more should bo paid for that sort of w.ork. Equal pay for equal work would "niean an addition to tho but they thought that when a woman did praciically the same work as a man. though the hours were shorter, she should , bo naitl the same. A sixty-hours week was" asked for male workers and 52 for females. Court ard Legislature. His Honour: The hours arc fixed by statute now, are they not? llr. Carey: The maximum hours arc. His Honour: What are they? Mr. Carey: Sixty-two for males and 52 for females in the places sought to bo covered by the award. His Honour; Ought the Court to further reduce the hours, just after the Legislature has fixed them? Would it' not bo a reflection on the wisdom of Parliament? Mr. Carey: I don't think so. Parliament 01117 fixes the maximum. His Honour: That is all the Court can do. Sir. Carey, proceeding, said that in 190G the 52-liour week for females was granted by tho Conciliation Board in Wellington, and was subsequently embodied in an award. The present demands showed that the. union rccoiiniscd the stand taken by the Court. The employers might take the ground that as Parliament had reduced the hours the union should not now ask for higher wages, but he submitted that a man or a woman should bo able to earn a living wage in the hours prescribed, and to make provision for matrimony and old age. The best paid worker affected by the demands was the chef at the Hotel Windsor, who got Is. 6d. an hour, and' tho next got Is. an hour. Others received 7d. to 9-\d. The union had .carefully selected the private hotels to be cited, in view of previous Court cases and the attitude of this Court. A Sore Point. Preference was a very soro point with the union. Other unions could get preference, but not, apparently, tho Cooks' and Waiters', It had just been conceded to tho 'wool and grain store employees. Non-preference virtually meant preference to non-unionists, - and made it extremely difficult to keep the union together. Tho union had had 217S members from tho start, but had only 3G3 last year. There was 11 large number of migratory workers owing lo Wellington being a port, and these should at least pay ss. a year, as against the ss. Gd. of the resident members, who were the backbone of the union. During tho ouo year that the union had preference, they enrolled 400 lady members, whereas in tho other four years they only enrolled 231. Many of the i'cmaie employees in the hotels had gained 2s. Gd. a week through the union, but would not give 3d. a week to keep tho union going. The Sunday half-holiday now asked for had been voluntarily granted in Duncdiu. The fact that Mr. Grenfell only represented four private hotels out of U indicated that the others were prepared to leave the matter to the Court, in regard to preference, Mr. Carey thought the Court might at least grant the Hawke's Bay clause, which merely required an employer to notify tho union if he took on a non-unionist. Evidence for the Workers. Mr. Carey then went into the box, and gave evidence as secretary of the union, Rivini; further details of the matters touched on in his address. He estimated that if the union's demands were granted, the wages-sheet of the Hotel Windsor would bo increased by only 17s. Gd. a Alexander Harry Telfer, clief of tlic YMC. \., and president of the union, had had many years' experience. Ho was married, and lived out. His v,-a"es were <£2 10s. a week. The second cook had £1 10s., and lived out. There were ten hands. The conditions at the Y M.C.A. were practically those of an hotel. There were thirty boarders, and Hi-cro were also lunches, etc. He got every second Sunday oft', except an hour in the morning. . Henry White, porter, etc., said lie had just left the Albert Hotel, where ho received £2 2=. Gd. n week as second cook. The work of cooks and porters was the same in a private hotel as in a licensed James Bryant, chief cook until recently at the "Ctiliiinbia Private Jtolel, said hi's iny was -E3 10s. a week, and he slept out. He was a married man. The second cook started at £2 i<. Gd.. and (jot an increase lo £2 55.. and the seulleryman I In; same. There worn twelve on the stall'. The work wa= the same as in a licensed hotel. The tariff was g<. a day, 25s a week. Gecrgc Grilhot, late: twoud cook in the I grill-robin at the Wind&ar. switl tis wases

I hero were 305., ;iml lie sh-pt in the !ioiis:\ Jn his -iiiiiivp countrv of Fr.ni'.-.! every hotel worker hatl one 'clvar ilay off every <»!;, Here, when lit the Urisi'.ri, he hail si lialf-diiy oft' every othtr .Sunday, iukl at tlit- WimUor every other Sunday was ii whole holiday. John liradlny Walters, kitchen li:r.ul at the 'JYcradji'O. snid lie uas one of Aye. The wages were i'ls. a week antl .«!('!■;) in. ][is at the Arcadia recently were 2is. Gd." The Employers' Complaint. i Mr. Cirenfell .-aid that iluriiig Hie last few years 110 vc»t had boon allowed the. employer.-; in the catvrins trade, 'i'uers had bcL-ii Parliamentary action and proceedings iu this and "other Courts. It was hoped that the award of 1!!97 would moan finality, but even while it was psiuling the Legislature was approached. The new Act had whittled away the hours and imposed unworkable conditions, and on the top of it the union now came along with fresh demand?. The IS hours could not be worked becaiu3 ot other restrictions. Overtime rates were tixed in the Act, and holiday provisions and daily hours were al.-o included. The employers felt, they were entitled to have the continual harassing to which they v»re subjected brought to a termination.,. He asked the Court to refuse to grant an award, and thus show its disapproval of the tactics of the union in sea-sawing to and fro between the Court and Parliament, with tho avowed object of getting a 42-honrs' week. Jlr. Carey had stated in the Court on a previous occasion that that was the objective of the union. If the Court now issued an award, there would be no rest to long as that objective remained, and this was amply evidenced by the action of the union in making these demands immediately after the passing of such an important measure as the Shop? and Offices Act, 11)10. Domestic servants were now getting higher wages than formerly, though they had no award, 'i'ha treiid'in all employments was towards higher wages, and if the Court did not fix the wages in this case by award, the employers would give fair wages. If the demands were granted, some of the employers would be driven out of business. There had been bankruptcies in the business, and some, of their, were duo to tho restrictions imposed on the employers. The private hotels wero handicapped by the clause in the new Act, which made the hours of their female workers five hours shorter than in hotels. The cmployars also ware subjected to injustice in that they had been compelled to roduce the hours from 05 to t>2, but. had had to go on paying wage's assessed on a C 5 hours' week. No Award Wanted. In order to put a stop to the harassing tactics of tho union, he asked the Court not to make any award. If the Court could not altogether refuse to make an award, he would still urge that no award should bo made for. private hotel?. The Court had recognised that it was not fair to subject certain employers to an award, while leaving tho proprietors of competing establishments exempt. lie pointed out that the Zcalandia Hotel, tho Clyde Court Hotel, and others were omitted from tho citation, and the clause that the award "shall be binding on all the private hotelkeeper? cited in reference and on their immediate successors in business only" would prevent (ii adopted) the subsequent addition of other parties. If the Court made any award, , ho would ask that the matters fixed by tho Act should not be affected by the award. Tho union had not shown any reason for a change since tho last award. 111 - . Carey said' the Clyde Court Hotel had been omitted by a printer's error. Daniel O'Connor, Hotel Grand Central. Cuba Street, said he was paying tho ISO 7 nward rates. 110 paid all tho female hands .£1 a week. Witness handed in a statement as to the financial bearings of the demands. The hearing of the. dispute will be continued at in a.m. ts-dxy in the Magistrate's Court. Messrs. Baldwin and liayward, palent agents, Wellington, report that they have recently filed the following applications for patents in New Zealand:—G. W. Uurchin'cn, Waiknlo, improved sparking regulation for internal combustion engines; 1Y F. Lyons, Diinedin, improvements in hatpins; F. Doimel, Berlin, air igniter acting through a spark produced by friction; 1 , . H. Bowden, Xireaha, an improved combuj-tion for closing punctures in pneumatic tyres; H. "\V. de Montalk, Auckland, improvements in building construction; M. ,1. N. Jl'C'arthy, Wellington, improvements in the manufacture of brushes; 11. if'Bonnhl. Auckland, improved means of locking nuts or bolls. Oh I 800 that poor man with a corn, i™, , . 0 , 1 ' how ho hobbles, forlorn; PKOSANDRA will ease him, IT mi P > ??, do hot leaao him Hell bo hko a now baby born , Baurac^°Snl ( r E gandba An interesting figure has passed away in Madame Le Breton, who nas died in a home at Vesinet at the age of 81. As cantiniere she took part in every French war for the last 50 ycais, including tho Crimean, Italian, Mexican, German, and Moroccan campaigns. She was wounded and taken prisoner iu both the FrancoCierinan and Moroccan wars. She had the military medal.