WOOLLEN INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 284, 25 August 1921, Page 9

WOOLLEN INDUSTRY

EMPLOYEES SEEK NEW ' AWARD « APPLICATION FOR ACCUMULATED , BONUSES.” The Court of Arbitration yesterday heard the claims of the .Dunedin and Mosgiel woollen Mills’ Employees’ Union for a new award. In answer to the president, it was made clear that it is hopefl/that the new award -will operate throughout the Otago, Southland, Canterbury, Wellington, and northern industrial districts, thus being, in effect, e. Dominion award for the industry. Tho employers had rejected the union’s claims and offered the continuance of the present award. Mr. Justice Frazer presided, and had associated with him Messrs. J. A. M'Cullough (workers’ re presentativo), and W. Scott (employers’ representative). The assessors for the union were Messrs. AV. H. Hayward, ft. C. Revell, and R. M'Keen. with Mr. R Breen as advocate; and the employers* assessors were Messrs. ’.Charles Grey, W. L. Wood, and T. R. Le’ithhead, with Mr. A. S. Cookson'as advocate. Mr. Cookeon is tho secretary of the Millowners’ Association. / 'The Claims.

The union claimed many concessions, among them tlio folio-wing:—Forty-five hours to constitute., a wedk’s work, provided *it sltall bo competent!' for tho workers in any mill or a section of such workers' to arrange the hours of work with tho mill manager in such a way as would ensure a whole holiday on Sat- ' urday. Overtime at the rate of time and a half for tho first three hours and double time thereafter, until tho recog. , nised starting time next morning: work done before or after the recognised, starting or finishing times to be paid for at overtime rates; double time for all work on Sundays. and prescribed holidays. There were four clauses relative to tho employment of under-rate workers. The union asked that tho period of permission for such 1 workers be reviewed by the Inspector of Factories at tho end of six months in each. case: also that it bo tho duty of the union to give notice to the inspector of each agreement, and the duty of the employe' to examine the permit. Tho union, asked that "flue-cleaning" should be paid for at tho rate of ss. an hour, or by contract, and that the wages for female V adult workers who had served four yearn end upwards should bo J?2 10s. a week. Wages for adult male workers were asked as follow, on the- general principle of Is. Bd. per hour-.—Minimum wage for wool-sorters, wool-scourers, warpers, pat- . tern weavers (hand lobm), spinners, chain-minders, assistant carders, assistant combers, pressers and tuners. 2»an hour,with a bonus in all cases, of 3Jd. an hour. Tho worker to be entitled to be paid only for time worked, except on holidays, for which payment was asked Wages for girls-were asked as follow: — First .year, 20s. per week; second year 05s. per week; third year, 325. Cd. per week; fourth year, A2 per week; and thereafter £2 IDs. per week. Wages for boys and youths were asked as follow:— Fourteen to fifteen years, XI per week; fifteen to sixteen years, 255. per .week: sixteen to seventeen years. 325. Gd. per week; seventeen to eighteen years, X2 per week; eighteen to nineteen years, £2 103. per week; nineteen to twenty years, Is. 3d. per hour; twenty to twentyone, years, Is. Gd. per hour; and thereafter the minimum wage for adult ma.c workers, plus bonus The union askr< that each revised piecework log should be based on at least 10 per cent, more than the’ wages prescribed for timeworkers, and that until such log was . compiled, present piecework rates, plus ’ 95 per cent.,- to bo recognised; any piece, worker who did not earn the minimum wage in any week to have his or her wages made up to tho minimlim amount; picccworkenv? employed overtime to r>e paid in -addition to their earnings a sum equal to half the amount of thei* earnings for the first three hours and double time thereafter. It was asked that when one weaver attended to two looms he or sho should receive the ful. amount of their earnings, and . that workers should bo paid the mmimjim rate of wage for all time lost through waiting for work 'at the mill. ' • “Accumulated Bonis.’’ I

■ Prior to the opening of argument on, the case proper there was some question as to the status of a "tenterer" and his skill. The employers' advocate .contended that a 'tenterer” was an ordinary worker, and,.not a skilled man. In opening the case, Mr. R. Breen (secretary of the Otago Woollen Mills Employees* Union) said that although the present application was for a new award for woollen mill employees throughout the Dominion, it was really as far as wages were concerned,, an application for accumulated, bonuses granted by the Court since September, , 1919. He alleged that workers had been deprived of the bonus through their representatives signing an agreement in March, 1920, which provided that, “in consideration for an increase of 2d. per hour to adult male workers and 5 per cent, to female workers, the unions would not seek any further increase until tho expiration of tho award.” x That award camo into operation on May, 1919, and \ expired on May, 1, 1921. The agreement with the Woollen Mill Owners' Association expired on May 1, and the union asked that the workers in tho woollen mills be now placed on the same footing as other workers .in the Dominion, and that the increase begin from tho date the award expired. It was impossible to say exact amount lost by the workers and gained by the employers through this agreement, but it must run into many thousands of pounds. s’llo difference between the wages paid under the award and the rates granted l by the Court -to other workers from May 1, 1920, to May 1,1921, was for each adult male worker at least 15s. per week, or .£39 per annum. In the Roslyn Mill there were about 120 men employed, which meant a gain for that mill alone of £4680. The union had no record of tho number of adult women workers employed, but the loss to them could not bo less than £2O per annum_ for each adulti There were seven or eight other mills in the Dominion employing a / large number of men and women, and if the gain to the whole of them were estimated at £30,000, he thought it would be well under the (park. During this period the mills were running at their fullest capacity, with a good market for their goods, therefore ho claimed to be justified in stating that the agreement which prevented the workers seeking relief was 1 of immense value to tho mill owners, and had a marked effect in materially increasing their profits. Workers Severely Punished. ' "The workers had been very severely punished through the condition stipulated in this agreement,” continued Mr. Breen, "and it is for tho Court to say whether they shall continue to suffer. We are not asking compensation for & what the workers have already lost, but simply that they be now put on the footing they should have been on twelve or eighteen months ago. If during the next year the cost of living warrants a reduction in the bonus, the workers uril willingly submit to a reduction, but until then wo trust the Court will recognise our claim, and substantially increase the present rates for all workers employed in the woollen industry. . . • What. we are now asking is not unusual or unreasonable. . "The clause in the claims regarding piece-workers aims at a new piece-work

log," he added. "The present rates for piece-work are paid in accordance with a log which was in existence prior to 1912. It is a very unsatisfactory login fact, all the logs in the woollen mills of the Dominion are obsolete, and it would bo better for all concerned, including the mill owner, if a new log was compiled. We do not ask that it be compiled at once, but if provision is made in the new award for the revision of the logs it will be only a matter of time when such will be an accomplished fact. In the meantime we will be prepared to work under the old logs, plus an increase equal to tho increases granted to time workers. The present bonus amounts to 25 per cent, for weavers and 20 per cent., in all other cases. ’ In granting bonuses in -other cases tho piece-workers have been considered. Tho other clauses in dispute, while not as important as the question of wages, uro still" worthy of serious consideration. Some of the clauses in the first award made in 1912 haie been reinstated in every subsequent award simply because tho employer's offer of an increase in wages has been conditional on the union accepting all the other conditions in the then existing award. The result is clauses still appear which have been discarded in all other awards as being out of harmony with present-day conditions.”

Sub-ciause (c) of clause 1 of the present award provides that any time lost by any worker in any one week shall be deuucted from any overtime worked by 'the worker during that week 'before he. or she shall be paid overtime rates. We contend that this condition is manifestly unfair, as overtime in all other awards stands apart from ordinary work. We are asking that ss. per hour be paid for flue cleaning, or that it be done by contract. -This is work khich requires to be done onee a year. It is extremely dirty work, and any man who does it'once is not keen on another turn. We would prefer that a clause be inserted providing that no mill employee be called on to do flue cleaning, or, failing that, a high price be’ put on the work. Where one weaver attends to two looms 15 per cent, is now being deducted from the piece-work rates. We are asking that this be abolished, and that tho workers receive the full result of their labour. Payment for holidays is provided for in the present award, but it only applies to time workers. We claim that piece-workers are equally entitled to this concession. The principle of payment for waiting time is recognised in other awards covering pieceworkers. In some of the mills this has become a, serious matter, as frequently workers are kept waiting an unreasonable time, instead of being allowed to go home. Tho piece-workers do not want pavment for idle ijime. but if the employer was made to pay for the time lost the work would be forthcoming. ' The Workers’ Evidence.

Henry . Charles Revell, ex-mill employee, Kaiapoi, giving evidence, said he 'thought that there was still an unfair imposition on the workers by reason of. one worker being placed on two looms; one at full wage, the other less 15 per cent. There had been trouble over workers having undue waiting time. Breakdowns were not duo to neglect on the part of the workers. They were paid piecework, and they were anxious to earn as much as they could. Witness did not think many mills paid their pieceworkers for time. The time had come when the woollen mill employees should receive consideration. There was no doubt of the buoyant stats of the industry as shown by recent balance-sheets, which!must ba a’Satisfaction to the shareholders. Regarding the question ot the “tenterer”’ witness said he was surprised at the attitude of the employers. A "tenterer’’ had to keep cloth during the drying process from going under ir» regular length—a difficult task—as it was placed in "and taker*, out of the machine. The Judge: lie’s working amachine, is h Witness:' Yes—a hot-air - drying machine * To Mr. Cookson: It was 19 years since ho had been employed in a mill He had never worked on the manutacturing side. He had never lost touch with the industry. . , William Hart, a time-work warper, at the Kaiapoi Mills, said the workers were anxious to secure Saturday asl the holiday. He stated that P iece^ orl ‘“® were not paid for holidays. IK also referred to non-payment of weaveis for Wrigglesworth a hosiery borderer (pieceworker) in the Roslyn mills, said, that in his department workers had to wait for hours for work to come in. He advocated payment for time lost in closed the case for- the applicants. , - The Employers’ Case.

Prior do addressing the Court on half of the employers Mr. Cookson said that the union advocates suggestion that the application was one for_ aecumu ated bonuses was unjustified. He desenoeu the suggestion as "an ingenious attempt to change the application for a. new award to something quite different. The question of accumulated bon"ssaid did not enter the case in any way . The’ Court had merely to decide t the employees’ claims he said- '"'For many years past it has b e Unnecessary to ask for the mterventon tho Arbitration Court in the settle ment of the wages and working c ‘ >T, ‘ b ; tions of those workers employed in th woollen industry. Since the award was made by the Court in 1912 it has be-n ws/ble to settle any alteration m wages ™d conditions by conference the woollen mill owners and to Wlnlovees Agreements, subsequently made Fnto awards of the Court were arrived at by means of private conference jjniOß each of these occasions satisfaction was expressed by the workers' re P^ seat at tho treatment they had recei . fact that the workers were satisfied tho rates of wages fixed by the agr ement of April, 1919, has an importan bearing upon the present application a. the ‘extent if any to which the workers are entitled to forthi creases in addition to those provided by tho amendments of her 1920 to compensate them for the increase, in the cost of living dur. t the period which ‘’lias remaking of the agreement. -At the _ nucM of the.workers a conference h been held on 'March 11, -hen Mr. S Edwards, one of the worker £ Natives. said at the very ment of the proceedings that they Ze ( with reluctance, to/ nek for more money. They had gone tJvruy quite Mjtfefied'after the last conference, but he continued increase in the cost of .. left them no alternative. At the bmo of this conference both parties aware that a bonus £ shnrtlv to be made, though neither ha. X Of what the "mount would be. 'lt was agreed, however, that ma’e workers should el ve an increase of two P eno ® other workers a proportionate iniareas a, from tho date of he. conference « <’ ik.n r i-y "”i term of the agreement would b™ l ** w w™n it was found that the. cost of hving was still advancing the workers d .- regarding tho prohibitive clause in the March agreement, made “PP II the woollen mill owners for a , con ' er ence, "for tho purpose of reviewing the wages clauses asv contained in the last agreement with a view to an a' l -™ ll ’’ increase” Tho conference was arranged for November 25, and the Court’s pronouncement of a bonus of 9s. per week which was subsequently revised, had been made on November 3 The result of tho conference was that the employers agreed to an addition to the exist-.

ing rates of wages of the amount of the Court’s bonus as announced, subject to any revision which the Court might make. The negotiations had at all times been conducted ijt the most friendly spirit, and it must be apparent that there had always been a willingness upon tho part of the employers to meet the workers’ representatives tor the purpose of discussing any grievances they might have. The Wages Question. "One of the most important of the matters in dispute is that of wages. In arriving at a decision as to what alteration, if any, is to be made, tho Court must, I take it, take into consideration not only the present condition of the industry, but the conditions which are likely to prevail, so for as they can be forseen, during the period of the next award. It cannot lie denied that at the present time the mills are working full time, and in some cases they could even employ additional labour, but the competition of imported, woollen goods, which are.bring sold in New Zealand .at prices which bear no relation to the cost of manufacture, may within a very short period considerably alter the position. Tho effect of this competition is already being seriously felt, and while it may be argued that this condition of things is only temporary, no one can foresee how long it may last or what its ultimate effect upon the woollen industry in this Dominion may be. In face, of tho present competition, when tho question of profit is being entirely swept aside end disregarded, there is very real ground for apprehension that ths conditions may become such, as will compel” the mill owners to sell their products at prices which are incompatible fair margin of profit upon the cost of production. The fact that present prices provide to come and go on, is fully borne ou by the result of the exhaustive inquiry imide by the Board of Trade into the operations of the woollen companies of the Dominion. Will Industry be Imperilled? "The question now arises as to whether the economic continuance of the industry will be imperilled by the effect ot an increase in*wages upon the cost ot production. As to whether any increase should be granted, that is a matter for the Court to decide, but I have endeavoured to show that there is no margin out of which increased wages can b paid, and that there is an extrame pr Hnbilitv that no increased cost ot pro due on can be added to selling prices. H is indisputable that the percentage of profit, as shown by the Boaro Trade’s investigation, is on the lowest workable basis. The veiy .gi our t sibility therefore rests upon the Cour of deciding whether this industry whmh :■ of so great importance to the -U minion, cam without its existence being carry any further increased wage cost. It has been claimed that the wages which are b “ng paid are bel the standard prescribed by the Coon, •md while this may be true it must n uo forgotten that although the award prescribes hourly rates there m no lost excent bv the workers own <ie fault On tho last occasion of an awrtfd bein" made by the Court, consideration was given to this aspect of the question, the memorandum to the; award statin o ‘the Court did not feel justified in increasing the minimum for any of the k lied workers, although that minimum may appear low " when compared with that paid to other skilled workers. Ihe mill workers have : the advantage, however, of regular work all the year foundIt may very well be that the actual annual earnings of the mill workers are ereat-r than those engaged in other occupations at a nominally higher hourly ”j[r Cookson also stated that the employers could not concede ft five-day week While it was true that such a system could only be put into operation by mutual. consent. of the workers and the employers, its insertion in the claims implied an acknowledgment that a fiveday week was practicable, and would be ultimately used as a lever to secure a further reduction of hours' per week. He contended that at such a time, when every effort should be made to cheapen production, a. proposal to reduce Working hours should not be entertained. Regarding the suggestion of payment for waiting time Mr. Cookson contended that it was unfair that workers should be paid for time lost through their own default. The present clause, fie thought, was roasonanle and should be continued. Referring to statements made by the witness Revell as to flue cleaning, Mr. Cookson said that modern' methods had nullified the' hard 'nature of the work. As a matter-'of .fact, when the last agreement was made tho rate was increased by 50 per cent., making it 3s. an fhour. In reference to holidays, he said,' that woollen mill workers enjoyed payment for holidays, an unusual thing m the case dr hourly workers. The employers would oppose giving further holidays. State of the industry. At this stage there was a discussion between His Honour and tho advocate for the employers on the subject of competition and the state of the woollen industry. , , . . “1 don’t know if the industry is in a bad way/' remarked Mr. Justice Frazer. "I don't think the woollen industry is going to bo affected." Tit is shown," answered Mr. Cookson, "by the sale of goods at tho present time, irrespective of cost.’’ • "That is due to the general financial condition," said His Honour, "which affects all classes." Mr. Cooksun said that he did not suggest that thd industry was in a bad way. He supggested, however, that it there was any addition made to the cost of production the industry might bo placed in » position whereby it would not be able to give full-time employment. The award would last over a period, and there might bo serious changes. The bonus pronouncement had made reference to similar possibilities. The President: Isn’t the woollen industry likely to prosper in these times more than others’ Isn't the outlook good? Mr. Cookson: I am afraid that conditions will Ibe worse before they are better. Is any alteration in the cost ot production to have the effect of reducing output and to prevent mills from working at full capacity? Charles Bailey Bowie, warehouse manager of the Kaiapoi Company, said that at present New Zealand tweeds were affected by outside competition. Low grade English "stuff” was in New Zea-', land, and the glut’ that had arisen had to be worked off. He was referring to clothing factories, not to woollen mills. Albert'Ramsden, mill manager at intone, said, regarding the two-loom system, that weavers, if competent, would always take the opportunity of working two looms instead of one. It would be to tho advantage of the employers to employ one weaver on one loom. “The human factor counts, remarked His Honour. T Cdendining, warehouse manager. ot Ros’s and Glendining, gave evidence as to Auctions in prices of tweeds and worsteds, ns quoted by Eng ish firms. Ho did not think colonial mills could com note against them., , , , The President: Are they standard prices for tho future? Witness: Yes. This closed the caso for the employMr. Cookson said that the important questions were the hours of work and wages. Ono mill’s employees had asked that no alterations in’ conditions ho made. Tho employers also would refuse to agree to make any award ro.lrospecreply, Mr. Breen said that the employers’ attitude on a retrospective award was rather like "rubbing it in. In the past the employers had been willing to make new rates operative from tho date of expiry of tho old award; and in this case the award expired on May 1 last. Regarding tho "accumulated bonuses," ho felt sure that tho unions woro not

asking for too much. Had the unions realised when tho last agreement was made how the cost of living was going to rise, they would not have signed the agreement. He was not suggesting th the employers had consciously taken any advantage by their commercial training. Here Mr. Cookson objected.

His Honour gave it as his opinion that in -March, 11120, no one. despite any commercial training, could have i°icseen the cost of living in May, 1921. 1 don’t sot up as a prophet myself, he added. "I certainly didn't foresee what was going to happen.” Tho Court reserved its decision on the matter, stating that the award would bo framed as quickly as possible.