Increase Claimed

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 186, 24 August 1937, Page 9

Increase Claimed

-Press Asaooiation,

STANDARD WAGE RATES Argument Before Arbitration Court £5 157- FOR SKILLED MEN

By Telegraph-

P AHCKLAND, Last NighL ] . "I submit that the Court will bej jdoing the country a disservice unless a' isubstantial increase in wages isi iawardea to all workers engaged ini Sndustrial occnpations throughout the; iPoTPTirtor1, * * said Mr. J. Roberts, of! Wellington, representative of the New •Zealand Pederation of Labonr, in opening the workers* case when the {hearing of argument to enable the Arbitration Court to decide on standard jrates of wages for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers was commenced by the Court. The hearing is expected to occupy the greater part of the week. Mr, Justice O'Eegan presided, and with l"Tn were associated Messrs. W. Ceeil Prime, employers' representative, and A. L, Monteith, workers' representative. The employers were represented by Messrs. 3). X. MacDonald, secretary of the Canterbury Employers' Association, M. R. O'Shea, general secretary of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation and X. C. Howard, acting-secre-tary of the Auckland Employers Association, The three workers' xepresentatives wero Messrs. J. Roberts, E. D. Cornwell, secretary of the New Zealand Federation of Labonr, and P. M. Butler, secretary of the General Labourers' JJnion. Mr. Roberts submitted that a man, his wife and three children required between £260 and £280 a year to have i a Teasonable standard of living. Semiskilled workers should xeceivo at least an additional 21d to 3d an hour above the standard xate mentioned, and skilled workers should receive a weekly wage of not less than. £5 15s a week, orl jf an hourly rats was awarded, it should ; not be less than 3s an hour. He also: iheld that an annual holiday should be pllowed on pay. Mr. Roberts also contended that the; ifcime had arrived when the 40-hour week, should be applied to all industries, and, that all work done on Saturdays should be Tegarded as overtime. If any industry required work to be done as Satur-1 days, it should pay for it. >{My xemaxks are the opinion of thej Lahour mqvement in New Zealand,"' Mr. Roberts" concluded, He said that, jin addition, many economists held simiilar views. They sought a New Zealand jstandard instead of being tied to the. jstandaxda of other countries, partjcujlarly those. of the London slums. Honour: You need have no fear, tof that.

Mr. MacDonald submitted that •annual holidays should not be considerjed and that the Courfc should take no jcognisance of Mr. Roberts' remarks ih jthis connection. The only matter under, idiscussio'h was standard rates of wages.; He also claimed that the question of payment for. Satuxday work did not. icome within the scope of the present inquiry. His Honour said Mr, MacDonald was light when he said that the pronounce.anent covered only standard rates of jwages. After a brief adjournment the •Court xuled that the question of wages.; [could be discussed by the advocates if j they wished. Mr, Cornwell also. addressed the •Court, and said that the application [was based on two main points; That the [1931 wages rates was not a fair and 3ust standaTd and that, since the Court [restored .the 1931 rates of wages, the cost of living had increased between 10

iper cent, and 12i per cent. and workers iwere losxng, and had been doing so for jsome considerable time, a vast amounfc iof purchasing power. : It was urged by Mr. Cornwell that] jthe xates fixed should he: £5 13s 4d at iweek for skilled workers, £5 3s 4d and" ]£5 a week for semi-skilled men and £4 jl6s 8d for unskilled men, with a prornjise that, if casual labour. were exflployed, j4id an hour above the rates quoted should be paid. Proceedings will continue to.-morrow,