ARBITRATION COURT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 53, 26 November 1919, Page 5

ARBITRATION COURT

BOOT TRADE OPERATIVES

/SEEK HIGHER WAGES

Hie Court of Arbitration continued its Wellington sessions yesterday. His Honour Mr. Justico Stringer presided. Tho assessors were Mr. W. Scott (for the" employers) and Mr. J. M'Cullough (for tho employees). Tho New Zealand Boot Trade Em-' ployees( male and femalo) asked the Court to amend their awards upon the following grounds:—"An increase in the cost of living, as declared by tho Government Statistician's figures; an increase in tho cost of commodities other than those dealt with by the Government Statistician; and the unheallhiness of the trade." The amendments sought were as follow.:— •Male Operatives' Award: Except where otherwise provided the minimum rate of

pay to all workers within the scope of this ward shall not bo loss than Is. 7Jd. per hour, and 2!d. bonus; The regular hours of work shall be between 7.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Jive days of tho week, and 7.30 a.m. and 12 noon on the recognised factory half-holiday. An ordinary working week shall consist of 41 hours. Any time worked beyond theso hours shall bo paid at the rate of time and a half. i Female Operatives' Award: Tho regular hc-urs of work shall bo between 7.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on five days of Hie week, and 7.30 a.m. and 12 noon on the recognised hell-holiday. Except where otherwise .provided, the minimum wage of females working <it the boot and shoo industry, and having 6erved five years and upwards, shall be J!2 2s. Gd. per week computed by the hour; for .hot-wnx-thrend machinist, ,{2 10s. per week; and if not worked continuously for that period, to bo paid per hour at the same rate. An ordinary working week shall bo deemed to consist of 44 hours. All time worked in excess of the ordinary hours in one day shall be deemed overtime. Mr. C. A. Watts (Auckland) appeared for the applicant association end era-

p'loyees, and Mr. B. Mapnlebeck for the New Zealand Hoot Manufacturers' Association of Employers. Mr. Watts said that the present minimum rate for male workers was Is. (id. per hour, and that was not a living wage under present conditions. In the past, the industry had had to meet outside competition, hut it was now practically free from that. Mr. Watts presented a statement of wages increases granted in other trades ainco 1912. He also smhmittod a comparison show'ng that Australian rates of pay in. Hie boot trade were higher than New Zealand rates. The workers were asking for shorter hours, and experience elsewhere had shown that a reduction in hours did not

necessarily mean a reduction i.ll output. Shorter hours were necessary in the interests of the employees' health, a 9 the trade was an unhealthy one. The union aimed at the reduction of overtime, and for that reason it invited the Court to increase tho overtime rates. The present practice was to take 45 minutes for n meal, and the union neked that a full liour bo granted. In America "the shoe manufacturers- hud agreed to give the workers a 44-hour week. While Australian male bootmakers' wages had risen from Is. 1 l-3d. per hour to Is. 82d., the Now Zealand male wages had risen from, Is.' 2d. per hour to only Is. Gd. per hour. Since 1914, there had been an increase of 48.13 per cent, in the cost of living; hut boot operatives' wages had increased only 28.57 per cent. Mr. P. M. Bnbson (secretary of the Federated Boot' Trade Asso-ciations-tendered evidence purporting to prove that tho trade had an injurious effect upon the health of the workers engaged in it. The average ago of death for male operatives was shown, upon a return compiled .for the years 1905 to 1914 (both years inclusive) to be 44 venrs. Out of '40 deaths shown, 20' had been due to consumption. One of , the principal menaces to health lay. iii tile amount of dust caused by certain operations. The evidence bore, in the view of the

union, upon the question of shortening the hours of work. Mr. Mapplebeek contended that the present rate of earnings of bootmakers

w*s very little short of the rate apnlied for 'by the union/ The average bootmaker was earning £i a week and over. The trade was going to he severolv handicapped if it t had to pay high rates to (he unskilled workers it employed. The trade was increasing its employment of unskilled labour, as more machinery was being introduced The employers were prepared to assert that outside two or three departments, the trade was an unskilled one, and. the time for a reof employees had arrived. Mr. Watt: Wo are asking for an increase on account of the cost of living. Other natters should'stand over till the

time corn?,? for making a new award. Pursuing ire contention regarding unskilled labour in the trade, Mr. Mapplebeek said that the Court had fixed the basic wago for the unskilled worker at Is. 6d. per hour. Ho believed that tho rates actually paid to bootmakers compared favourably with those paid in any other ,trado. ; Though the-trade did not have fore-'gn competition to meet at present, that competition was liable to return with the restoration of normal conditions, in other countries. He wVis not going to'suggest that an increase in tho wages pa : d- to female employees would not be- justified.

In reserving decision, His Honour observed,: "It is understood, of course, that whatvor we do with regard to this application will become operative throughout the Dominion.

BAKERS'DISPUTE MAKING A NEW AWAED. In the aftornoon, the Court considered the bakery trade dispute for'the Wellington industrial district. The demands of the union, which comprises the operative bakers and pastrycooks and the htLourorn engaged in the trade, have already been pu'hlished. Mr. 0. J. V"oale (Auckland) appeared for tho union, and Mr. W. A. Grenfell for the employers. Mr. Vealo said that tho union-'had ■Inst-approached the Cour.f in May, 1810. The present wages were .£3 10s,, M, and £1 10?. Ho contended, that the journeymen bakers were entitled to increased wages on three accounts: the value of their services to their, employers, the increased cost of living, «nd the ability of tho .master bakers to pa v. "He believed that the Board of Trade had given the master bakers an ample margin for a fair profit. There was a good deal of camouflage, he submitted, in the master bakers' assertions regarding tho cost of raw materials.and the prices received for their commodities. The journeymen bakers lind long suffered, disadvantages by comparison with other tiadesmen. Not the least of these disadvantages was tho practice in tho trade of working very long hours. 'Che union asked that the hours be. reduced to 44 per week, and that bakers should not be ci-ked to start earlier tlinli 4 a.m., or pastrycook's earlier than 7 a.m. linkers wero ent : tlod to a skilled worker's wage, Mr. Vealo submitted. Mr. Grenfell said that the m-aiii point of the case was wages. The Wellington employers were willing to be placed in .the same posit : ou as the employers in other centres who had come under recent decisions of tho Court. Although they were asking that the wages be limited to a certain amount, it was a fact that ninny workers were actually receiving nioro than that amount at present. Tho general conditions that had obtained in tho trade during the past few years had been the result of an agreement between tho employers and the employees: and he submitted that the Court should not alter those conditions without very good call's.- An alteration in the hours of work would 1m detrimental to the trade. Tlic employers would like to see in the award a provisioi for the employment of youths in unskilled work. The Court reserved its decision after hearing the evidence of several witnesses.