"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1166, 29 June 1911, Page 8

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

| CARPENTERS' CASE.

[ LIVELY moments in court,

|' JUDGE AND ADVOCATE.

sTho Amalgamated Society of Carpenters pd Joiners was represented at- the irbitration Court yestorday\by Mr. W. laddison (president), while on the other Ido Mr. W. Grcnfcll, appeared for tho Wellington Builders' and Aspciation, and had associated with him Ir. W. 11. Bennett aid Mr. Alexander jampbcll, who were among tho parties [ted. •

[The principal demands of tlie union |ere as follow: —Wages,.ls. Bd. an liour. ' full week's work of,five days, to conist of forty hours, to'be worked between [a.m. and 5 p.m.- No'.piecework. Overfme to be paid time and a half imtU 10 |.m., and thereafter double time. Satidays and holidays, doublo time, nub■rban work to be uny w«rk more than a jilo and a quarter from Te Aro Post feice, and travelling time outside such a irele to be paid far. ' Apprentices to bo laid not less than 10s. per week for tho, jrst year, 12s. Gd. for ' the second year, fs. Gd. for tho third year, ,£1 3s. for tho bnr.tli, and ,£1 13s. for,'the fifth; proporion not to exceed one apprentice to five burneymen en a three years' basis, [ward to be limited to a circle with a adius of 25 miles from' Te Aro Tost Of(ce. .No exemptions.. Preference: "(a)- Any employer, when mploying a journeyman, shall ' ascertain rhether lie is .a member of the-workers inion, and if not, ho must becomo a (lember before ho starts work, (b) All purneymon at present working for an nlployer, and who are not members of ho workers' Union, shall become memjers within ono week of tho time of this .ward coming into . operation." Sublauso (c) provides that unfinanciftl members sliall not be eligible for preference. ! • "Quite Serious." | Mr. Maddison, in opening, 6aid that the ■ whole of the demands zero in dispute. The position at tho Conciliition Council was that when any attempt (•as made to come to an agreement, Mr. jrenfell objected. Tho consequence was hat the union went back on tho work liat was done for fear that they might Ind their hands-tied before tho C'oilrt. fhe only matters that .need occupy much if tho time of the Court were hours, fages, preference, and exemptions. In •cgard to wages. Is. Bd. an hour was iked. : , _ i His Honour: Is that put forward as a erious demand? . ;Mr. Maddison: Yes, your Honour, quite, erious. 'His Honour: Yon ask the Court to mrease the wages by -Id. an hour? ).Mr. Maddison: Yes.' I.shall.show,.that he demands iuado by the union are-quito-ustified by tho condition of the trado in Vellington. . 'Continuing, Mr. Maddison said tho demand for, a forty-hour week was put forward on 'purely economic grounds. Ho eferred to the casual nature of tlie work, lid'the amount of unemployment. Tho educed hours would make the, work moro egular. Slightly increased wages, for apirenticos and a limitation of their num<pi* were asked for. Tho old preference /as not by any means satisfactory, and ho proposed one did not go so far as it houlcl to make it workable in tho mterSts. of . employers and workers, but ho [quid ask the" Court to;make verbal alIrations in it; | Was It a Promise? iThe demands nowmado as to the hours Ind wages were'thei same-as were made, a June, 1901), when the Conciliation Jouricil decided. that owing to tho then 'ondition.of. trade the, demands could not. je granted, l but they 'added in a ' signed ieinorandum... ~. ; 'It is to bo-understood that had the ' ! ordinary conditions of trade obtained, . [and having regard}£3'.tho cost of living jin Wellington as.compared with other [.chief centres in tho Dominion, there, s,would have been no objection raised (by the employers' representatives on 'tho council to give favourable con- | sideration to' both the items afore- • mentioned;-. !Tho union regarded - that as it distinct jromisf, and they • had believed that it. wuld be . redeemed. t.llis Honour: Whom does that'agreement iind? Tho assessors have no power to [take an agreement. It seems to bo the irevalent impression that they aro to bind he employers* Thitt.is not'so. .They.are here to induce the parties to agree, and f they cannot do that, to mako a rccomaendation^_,. _. ;Mr. Maddison:,Wa consider it morally, finding. ~ • ;His ITcrhour: What does it say? •Favourable consideration." . If. they JJered you a half-penny an ■ hour more, fould you' say they had given favourable ionsideration ?

Unemployment as a Factor. ' Mr. Maddison next nrguwl that the hanges that had taken place in the style f building:! in tho city had reduced the Imount of work for carpenters, and made t moro prccarious. .-, The,-.least possible bsa of time, tho - worker could expect luring the year, was as follows:—Holidays,: 3 days; unemployed time, s 11 days; wet feather, 8 days; total 35 .days, which ieing deducted, from - ..the.,313 ;week-days in he year, left 278 days' work. ' Tlio records. >f 10 men on .the .unemployment book howed an average, loss of 29.02 days per pan in 17 months.-,- ' • : His Honour: Ought wo to take tho question of unemployment into account in ixing a minimum wage? Tho result will ie that there will be a. great accession to ho ranks .of carpenters, and then .< tho proportion of unemployment will be very huch greater. You can then come back ind say, "Look at. all this unemployment, i jive us 2s. an hour." j Mr. Maddison : That is not our point of •iew. , i.His Honour: Is it not the .common? ense point of view. Mr. Maddison: I ask whether tho workng man is to'be-put under worse,, con-, litions thhn his employer's horse? ' ; His HonourWo 'are 'not hero to provide insuranco for unemployment. That s, within tho functions'of the Legislature, it is not a. matter 'for a.humble instituion like the Arbitration Court. : Mr. Maddison: When a horse has to vait & few days between jobs woiild you ;ay he is not to be fed and clothcd and loused? Is it a fair thing to put tho vorker oil.a lower basis than a horse? . Proceeding, Mr. Maddison said tho average earnings of eighty-six workers, deleting five who'were earning more than ihe minimum wage, were ,£2 Bs. l(ld. per reek. Forty per cent, of these workers jarncd J62 Bs. a week or less, averaging inly -£2 2s. 9Jd. "Peeling Between the Parties. i Mr. Maddison. also mentioned Tecent in.Teases in 'tho wages of plasterers and bricklayers. , His Honour: Did not the employers lonseht to those increases? '■Mr. Maddison: Yes. ! His Honour: Then perhaps you don't Handle them well. . Mr. Maddison contended that tho conlent of tho employors in the trades men-' ;ioned showed that higher wages wero justified in similar trades in Wellington. Dthor unions had full preference, but tho employers tried to prevent carpenters jetting any preference at all. That went lo show that it would be of little uso to ivait for tho employers to give the carpenters better' wages. Of late tho minimum wage for carpenters had becomo the maximum, and there was therefore no incentive, for the men to improve. Many had left for Australia, where employment ivas plentiful.

Mr. Justico Higgins Quoted. ; Mr. Maddison also quoted tho remark of Mr. Justice Higgins in the Commonwealth Arbitration Court—"l cannot conceive any terms to be fair and reasonable which do not at tho very least allow a man to live from his labour, to live as a human being in a civilised community." His Honour mentioned a case in which ■Tuclgo Higgins had granted only 7s. a tlay. . ~ , i Mr. Maddison: ."But, ho said he ted ho could not make it more." He then submitted an estimate of the cost of living for a married worker by Mr. Justice Higgins, .working out at'.£3 Bs. a_ ; v.'oek.

After Mr. Maddison had discussed this subject at somo length, his Honour remarked that upon this showing tho union should be asking for 2s. nil hour instead of Is. Bd.

Mr. Maddison said they 'would have asked for 2s. if they had thought they would get it. They might, after wjiat his-Honour had said, come, again another time! Proceeding, ho submitted statistics of tho cost of providing for the patients in hospitals. In regard to preference, the old form had been abused. A man could get a job and immediately go to the union, offor ss. for membership, and state that lie was working for So-and-so at Is. 4d.- an hour. • Tho employer might dischargo. him next day as incompetent, but he would still be a member of tho union. Evidence for tho union was then called. Preference. George Blathcrwick, carpenter, Wellington, and secretary to ono of tho local branchre of tho uniou, said it was part of the Amalgamated Society, which was a world-wide organisation. It had nothing in common with a close corporation. Under its rules any man of good character who had worked five years at tho trade could not bo refused admission. Tho further . evidence i'of this witness on tho question of preference was interrupted by his Honour, who remarked that it was "as plain as tho nose-on your face" that the union's demand on t'nis point : (as above) went in the direction that Mr.-Maddison, by tho evidence ho was leading, was condemning, and went further than what he was condemning. The word "compel'entr did not appear in the proposed new clause. ■

Witness next referred to the large proportion of non-unionists in tho trade in Wellington and the precariousness of employment and the points dealt with in Mr. Maddison's opening. He also gavo figures as to the numbers that had recently left for.Australia. His Honour: If a sufficient number go away, you will get Is. Gd. an hour without an award. X'ou ought not to grievo about' that. Mr. Maddison said he was leading this evidence to show the state of the trade. James Barras, carpenter, Wellington, said the work was-much more casual than it used to be. Boxing Day was a recognised holiday in all other trades. Mr. Bennett: Your Honour, we've no objection to Boxing Day. Put it in and done with it. Witness said tho workers were obliged, for cheapness,- to live in suburbs, and they almost always had a long way to go to their work. \Vitnes3 was an officer of the union, and it was not a close corporation. The work was moro casual than formerly. The Cost of Living. Ivor Hazell, carpenter, Wellington, also gavo evidence. Ho considered that living cost him 100 per cent more here than it had cost him in England. To Mr. Grenfell: During the last 1G . weeks lie had been travelling organiser '"for the Amalgamated Society. Henry G. fisher, Charles Bell, William Smith, Samuel Bcere, Percy Sawyer, and Ernest .Kocks, carpenters, also gavo evidence as to wages and cost' of living. ■.-..William-Allan, of the firm of Veitch and. Allan, .drapers, said that his firm gave tlie Hon. Dr. I'indlay, in 1908, a statement showing that boots and cloth'ing 'for a worker, his wife, and three children for one year would cost £22 10s. The cost of clothing had increased somewhat' since 15JUS. This concluded the union's case, and the Court decided to hear tho employers' side this morning. Exemptions Applied For, Applications i'or exemption were then taken. ' William■ George Smith, applied, for the Union Steam Ship Company to be exempted from the award. He said t'lie company employed ship carpenters only—ten of them, at Is. 4d. an hour, and their earnings averaged £3 lis.' a week. Weather did..not aifectythe.work. ■ George.'Blatherwick,' recalled by. Mr. Maddison,'stated that soiho of tho fittings in tho Union Company's now building were made in, its own shop.'V Tho Court reserved itsi-decision on tho .point.■ '~■■• 4 ' Mr. 'Lodder" asked for exemption for tho Gear Company, and the Meat Export Com•pany. i . ' .... .. .... f> .. ,• Mr. Maddison, in'the'course of stating his objections, said that-all exemptions wero illegal. .' . , His Honour:■ That's your opinion?.Sir. Maddison: Yes, your Honour. ~ ; : llis llonour: And you give it for whit it is worth, ,1 suppose. You had better: confiuo yourself to matters that you know something about, and not talk about the legality of exemptions. It is a piece of impudence for you to como here and talk about the legality of exemptions. Mr. Campbell said -tho builders wished that' the meat companies, if exempted, 'should pay the same wages, etc., as tho builders for builders' work. Mr. Lodder said; they: did.pay the same for now work. . C . ■•■_ : "Tlie Court reserved its decision as to the meat companies. The Court decided to exempt slnp, wharf, : and bridge-building from the award. ■ Decision as to the Hospital Board was reserved. The case will be continued at 10 o clock this morning.