THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1441, 28 August 1915, Page 2

THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

NEW AWARD FIDKD. The new award governing the wages of flaxmills employees was filed with the Clerk ot Awards on Thursday. Summarised, it is as follows: — The award is to operate from September 13th. 1915, to September 13th, 1917. In a memorandum, the Court states that the union asked for substantial fog creases in the minimum rates yP wages for all classes of workers engaged in the industry, but, except in the cases of the lowest paid workers, the Court had not been able to grant such increases. The minimum wage fixed by the previous award for the lowest paid workers was, however, quite inadequate to provide them with a reasonable living wage, and this the Court bad subsea uently increased, although it had not brought it up to the rate generally fixed for unskilled labour in other industries. The Court had also made a slight increase in the minimum rate for other classes ot workers. A clause had been inserted which would enable the award to be reviewed in the event of circumstances, such as the variation of the market price of fibre, or otherwise, making this just and reasonable. The minimum hourly rates of pay fixed are as follow:—Stripper keeper, is qd, automatic scutcher, is 3d ; bench loader, is 2d; paddocker, is shaker rs id ; feeder, isqd ; sorter, ts id ; ronseabonl, is id ; washer, is 2 f/d; unspecified labour, is id. Drivers arc to get £2 12s (>d weekly, The week’s work, except where otherwise prescribed, is to consist of 48 hours. Overtime is to be paid at the rale of time and a quarter for the first two hours and time and a halt thereafter. Mr McCullough (workers’ representative on the Arbitration Court bench) records his opinion that the minimum rale tor the lowest paid workers should have been is 2d per hour.