FREEZING DISPUTE

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 73, 20 December 1920, Page 6

FREEZING DISPUTE

| FEDERATION REJECTS OFFER A SERIOUS POSITION The offer mado by tho employers to tho meu in the freezing industry has been rejected definitely by the representatives of tho Freezing-Workers' Federation. The first conference failed, and another conferenco was opened on Friday and continued on Saturday. The federation delegates stated on Saturday that they would not accept the offer, and the proceedings terminated. The award under-which the compnniea aro now working took eft'cct-as from April, 1919. In February Inst a cost-of-living bonus of 10 per cent, for hourly workers and 71' per cent, for pieceworkers was givon by toe employers. This, it is stated, coincided exactly, with the cost-of-living bonus awarded by the Arbitration Court covering, tho period to October 31 last. Then, in October last, the companies met tho men's representatives, and offered a further all-round increase of 12J per cent., making the total increaso on the award rates 22i per cent, to time workers ; and 20 per cent, to pieceworkers. This oiler, according to the employers, was based on the cost-of-living statistical information since proved to have been on a wrong "basis. In effect, they contond, the employees are entitled only to the bonus of 3s. per week or jd, per hour recently made, or approximately Si per cent, increase in the pa.y of the lowest paid rato as awarded by the Court; but, seeing that the offer had been made, the representatives of the freezing companies decided to reinstate it. The rates of pay actually offered by the companies and declined by tho -workers' delegates -are as follow:—Mutton slaughtermen, J:2 2s. per 100; cattle slaughtermen, 2s. 8.4 d. per hoad;'ordinary gonem! labourers, 2s. ljd. approximately per liour, or 17s. I.Bd. per day of eight hours; freezing labourers, 2s 'lid. approximately per hour. The ljonus applies to all overtime worked. Briefly, it is argued, the* men were entitled According to the Court to a ri§o of 3s.''per week. The companies offered them the! eqtiivalent_of 10s. per week and upwards, according to~Eho various rates ot pay. The position now is serious. The sheds are idle, and. the men state that if a snttlement is not reached they will not resume after tho holidays. The difference between tho offer of the employers and the demands mado by the men is not very great, but the companies consider that the demand is unfair, and that they cannot reasonably go further than they have done already. POSITION AT WAINGAWA I ~~ i VIEWS OF BOTH SIDES STATED :By T«le(friph.—Speoltl Oorreipondent. Masterton, Docember 19. At) a big meeting of tho Farmers' Union on Saturday, Mr. J. C. Cooper (managing director' of the_ Wellington Meat Co.) and Mr. G. M'lCay ■ (president of the local branch of the Freezing Workers' Union) wero invited to 6tate their respective views concerning the present dispute between the freezing workers and their employers. ' Mr. Cooper said he wished to emphasise that there was actually no disputo between _ the directors of the Waingawa Meat Works and tho employees; there hover had been. But tho local union was controlled from Wellington, and despite tho existing good feeling had to conform with the instructions from l'oadquarters. This was the first, time in the history of the works liiiat ho had had to oppose his men, but he had seen tho signs of. depression in other parts of the world,, and therefore had- reluctantly to admit that) lie could noil see eyo to eye with tho mon regarding their present demands. He felt that the unemployment manifesting itself in other industries throughout tho world must inovitably make its appearance in the freezing industry unless conditions altered for tho better in the immediate future. The whole trouble seemed to hinge on the question of , a minimum rate. Tho federation was. demanding 18s. per day, and the companies were offering 17s. 2d.-' Personally, Were prospects brighter he would bo the first to advocate conceding. the men's demands, but -as things were now ho thought tho employers' offer a vory fair one. Ho would lie sorry 'o see any action takeji that would tend to estrange tho men and. their employers in this district. "I can't help concluded Mr. Cooper, "that if a committee of farmers and men- were to pet together, an amicable settlement could be arrived at. The present disputo has arisen' because the freezing employees are demanding a living wage from those who under present conditions are not earning a living wage themselves." Mr. M'Kay said that, ns president of the local branch of the Freezing Workers' Union, ho was supposed to bo ■in touch with iiho terms of the dispute. As a matter of fact, ho knew no moro than what Mr. Cooper had told ; them. Throughout New Zealand the freezing workers were organised in disiirict unions, which wero but branches of tho headquarters .union at Wellington; this union in turn was affiliated with the Workers' Federation. The present dispute was in the hands of the federation to arrange .terms with the emloyfere, and until ii) was referred back to this district unions, individual branches could neither dißCUss the matter nor take a plebiscite, as Mr. Cooper had suggested. Just as the members of his audience, as farmers, had to support the Farmers' Union executive, so were individual unions obligocl t'o support the federation. Very few men had been dismissed from tho local meat works, and. those who had been had already found employment elsewhere.' When the works reopened thero might be a difficulty in getting the men bnck again. They had an example in the fact that of the fiftfecn carpenters i dismissed recently, every one hnd found new nnd more lucrative employment on the following day. He did not mean to infer that they hnd not been satisfied nil the works, but it. was unlikely that they would return to their old employers after having received higher wages elsewhere. Considering i|hnt tho local men had to pay ss. per week bus fare, or else purchase a motor-cycle or ordinary bicycle, ho thought the federation' 6 demands were not unreasonable. No doubt prices wero going to come down, but tho purchasing power of the sovereign was still low, and so in tho meantinie wages had to be kepi commensurate with the cost of living. In conclusion, Mr. Mnclcay stressed tho' fact that most amicable relations had always existed, and did still exist, between Mr. Cooper and ilie local freezing employees. Only tho other day, when a welcome home was given to Mr. Cooper, 150 out of 200 freezing hands wero present. • If others had Bhown tho eamo interest as Mr. Cooper, the dispute would not havo arisen. In reply to a question regarding tho price that vlie works' employees paid for their meat, Mr. Cooper said that it was not fair to take these concessions into consideration. This concession• cost tht> oompany nothing, and. ho felt it was only a duty to supply it at cheaper rates to employees.