COST OF LIVING

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 132, 4 May 1940, Page 6

COST OF LIVING

EFFECT OF INCREASES. LEGISLATION FORECAST. . ■ .* ) (By Telegraph—Special to Standard.) WELLINGTON, May 4. Cost of living increases, inevitable in war-time, will cause the Government early in the coming session to introduce an amendment of the.. Arbitration Act giving the Court power to make a general amendment in awards and industrial agreements so far as remuneration is concerned. The Federation of Labour, the Employers’ Federation,, and the Manufacturers’ Association have agreed to make this request for legislation, and under these circumstances it can be confidently assumed that the Government will take action on the lines they have decided to suggest. There is an understanding between the Minister of Labour and national bodies representative of industry that, where they are unanimous regarding the necessity for amendment of industrial law, he will recommend the Government to take action accordingly. This is a case in point, for the parties have agreed on the detail of the form which the legislation should take for regulating wages during war-time. ' “DEPRESSION” CLAUSE. It is an, interesting sign of changed times that the wage amendment proposal will take the same shape as the clause in the Finance Act, 1931, which was designed to deal with serious depression in industry, when wage reduction was obviously needed. The clause, however, did not direct the Court to reduce wages, but simply to amend that condition in all awards and industrial agreements. The Court was directed, in exercising this power, to take into account the economic and financial conditions affecting trade and industry in New Zealand, and all other considerations which might be relevant. General orders affecting remuneration could be made from time Jo time at intervals of not less than six. months, and this is also one of the revived proposals. “Relevant considerations” could, of course, include variations in cost of living since the original decisions were made regarding wages. The 1931 legislation, utilised for wage reduction, was repealed in 1936; now it is to be revived with more pleasant prospects for employees, whose representatives will endeavour to secure a judicial decision as to whether wages ought to go up because living costs have increased.