SHIPS' OFFICERS' PAY

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1412, 12 April 1912, Page 5

SHIPS' OFFICERS' PAY

AUSTRALIAN AWARD-ALL-ROUND INCREASES GRANTED. Uj Tciceraph-I'rees Association-Copyright Melbourne, April 11. The Federal Arbitration Court award in the enso of the Merchant Service Guild against the steamship owners provides for mi all-round increase in the wages of captains and officers on inter-Slate passenger and cargo vessels, an eight-hour day, overtime payment, increased holidays, and one month's notion or pay after three months' service when officers' articles are expiring. The president reserved for further consideration the question of whether the award shall apply in its entirety, or to what extent, to the boats of the Union Steam Ship Company, the Huddavt-Parker Company, and a number of other companies trading outside Australia. The award has a proposed currency of iivo years, operating from May 1. The Guild expresses satisfaction with the award. Shipowners in Sydney question the power of thp Court to deal with vessels trading to ports within one State only, and predict that the increased cost involved will ho disastrous to tho shipping trade, which will bo driven into the hands of big foreign companies; otherwise, all increases must 1m passed on to the public, as the shipowners cannot bear them.