GAS DISPUTE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 122, 17 February 1920, Page 8

GAS DISPUTE

BEFORE CONCILIATION COUNCIL COMPANY'S OFFER NOT ACCEPTABLE Hearing was continued before the Conciliation Council yesterday morning oi the Wellington Gas Company s dispute with its employees: The Commissioner (Mr. W. Newton) presided, and the .-..-sensors were;— For the company: Messrs. A. Dougiill. T. Jngerton, and A. Morne-Tny-lor;"for the union: Messrs. D. Delaney (president), T. Burns, and K. Ilreiuinii (secretary). Mr. W. A. W. UrcnfcU appeared ns agent for the company, auu. Mr. L. Glover for the men. _ At the outset Mr. Doogall objected to foremen stokers being included in the un'on's amended claims, stating Hint he would not proceed any further so long rs they were included. He added: I told tho union very distinctly my views on the subject some months ago, and that is the portion. These men supervise the stokers' work and only do stokers' work them»elves when other stokers, who are members of the union, fartlo turn up. I strongly obiect to their being included. Thev would be ir, the position o, taking the'r instructions from t! >'' >">">n instead of the company." It was suggested by Mr. Mover Hint the. difficulty might be got over by stipulating that the foremen stokers should not. do stokers' work at all. Mr Dougall. in stating that he eoulrt not a»ree to the suggestion, pointed out, that if the foremen stokers had to oo stokers' work it was purely through the failure of the union stokers to turn up. Mr Glover submitted that if this point wero'conceded the position _ would be created of un'on stokers having to work with non-union labour. T.hcv did not mind the foremen being out of the union, provided they did not do stokers work.

"Two Masters." Mr Donsall remained firm on the point, insisting that the foremen be rot connected with the union. Mr. Gronfell: The position, in that the company is carrying on fin essential industry ■ ... Mr. Glover answered that that vas exactly why the union was there, Mr. Grenfoll: The position is that no man can serve two wasters. According to Mr. Glover the foremciv stokers had been members of tho union in the past', find there- had been no diffiCUlt}'. ~ l M ■ L Mr. Bo.igall rejoined that the point wa* that these men 'would not perform such and such a thing heenuso tliey (aid Iho union would not allow them to. do so. Mr. Grtiifell said the principle was recognised bv tlie Arbitration Court that foremen should De excluded from the op-rations of an award. Eventually the union's representatives retired to consider the question, and on their returning Mr. Glov?r said they found that in the old agreement, no distinction was made between stokers, and thev failed to see why any such distinction should bo made now. Ultimntely it was decided to strike out tho word "foreman" before stokers, nnd to reopen the question of foremnn rtpkers doing emergency stoking work before the Disputes Committee, which the union's later proposals provided should be set up. Hours. The question of hours was then dealt with bv the council. It wns agreed that stokers', pipe-jumpers, pitch-pan men, firo cleaners, and men employed in coaling and coking tho retort-bouse f>ball not work more than one shift of eight hours in anv one day at ordinary rates, and six shifts of eight hours shall constitute an ordinary week's work. Each man is to be entitled to a full day off each week, such holiday to be fixed by the company as in the past. T.f required to work on this day off, double tiinn is to be.paid.

Question of Wages, Coming to the question of wages, Mr. Glover said the company was asking for the same rates as at present, with the exception of a reduction of Is. in one case. The company sought 15s. 9d. per shift for stokers_ and pitch-pan men and 14s. 9d. for pipe-jumpers. For firecleaners Its. 3d. was.asked. The. union lumped stokers, pipe-jumpers, and pitchpan workers together, and asked for 21s. per shift for them. An examination of tho company's last annual balance-sheet showed that it had made a profit of ,£50,000, and in addition had purchased fame 11 acres of land. The men did not object to the company mnkimr a profit. Tlie company was not there"for the good of the community, though incidentally it served tho community. Under the circumstances the men submitted that they were entitled to something over and above what they were getting at the present time—something more than would he given a horse or a donkey just to keep them alive. Ho had quoted the company's balaiiccTshiot, which showed that it was doing well; he would now quote the balance-sheet of one of its employees. This employee's balance sheet showed receipts ,£207 Bs. and expenditure .£219 6s. 9d — a wholly different position to that of the company which ho worked for. Tlie men sought the increases they asked for on account of the fact that their work was shift work, and tho big increase that had takjn place in the cost of living.

The Company's Attitude, Mr. Grenfell, in reply, said the employers approached tho position from the point of view of whether they were paying the men a reasonable wage, and whether that rate contrasted favourably with the rates. paid elsewhere and in similar industries. He submitted that the wages paid by the company were commensurate to the work performed, and, further, that they wero higher than those raid elsewhere. Since the war tho comDiuiv had increased the rates paid to stokers bv 38.9 per cent., and those to labourers bv 45.7 per cent. In Christchurch, where, the agreement being worked under recently expired, the rates paid, with war bonus, only amounted to Is. 65i1. per hour, vftilo in Auckland in December last 15.;. per shift had been agreed to bv the men. Mr. Glover contended that the existing rates were not enough. In nearly all industries the workers were being compelled to ask for more on account of the cost of living. It was pointed out by Mr. Brennan that the conditions in Auckland were whollv different to those in Wellington, and could not be properly compared. After further discussion the council adiniirncd till the afternoon. On resumption the proceedings were conducted in committee. Finality was not reached, and in the evening the council adjourned till Wednesday.