EMPLOYERS STATE THEIR CASE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 48, 12 March 1937, Page 10

EMPLOYERS STATE THEIR CASE

-Press Associalion.)

Labour Minister is Silent

(By Telegraph—

AUCKLAND, Last Night. While declining to make any definite statement on the issues arising from the stoppage of work at the chemical mauure works, tlie employers said tLmy had made an offer of imx,roved wag.a to all the employees in an endeavour to olfect a ssttlement at the Conciliation Council. "Although the men had invokcd the Arbitration Court in initiating proceed ings for a new awai'd," read the state- • ment issuCd to-night, "they too'k up the 8ttilude that unlqss a settlement eeuU

be made in conciliation they would take direet action. The employers naturally had to consider their farming customers equally with their employees md ra making the offer which they did l'of an increase all round, they felt that they had done the utmost they could for the workors under the circuiujstancos. "Tho following is the offer made, ishowing a comparison with tho wages the men were receiving beforo the increase in hourly rates due to the 40kour week. The amounts quoted are tourly rates, the former rates being jShown in parontheses: Day labour, new ,rato 2s 3d (ls 10id); chamber men, |2s 42d (2s); shift workers, 2s 4d (Isi Tl-id); men on "super bank," 2s 4d (ls ■10id) ; unloading sulphur, day rates 2s Gd (2s l^d), night shift 2s 7d (2s 2Jd)." When the dispute was reforred to the Minister of Labour (Hon. II. T. Armstrong) he said he had not received any official intimation of the trouble. The. Minister ,did not make' any other com-j ment on the dispute. 1