ENGINEERS DISSATISFIED

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8350, 10 February 1913, Page 4

ENGINEERS DISSATISFIED

SHIFTING COMPANIES CONOERNED. AUSTRALIAN CONDITIONS .WANTED, Recently the marine engineers ap» preached the Union Company for an in. crease in wages, payment for overtime, and an improvement in working conditions. A conference was held) which was adjourned indefinitely. The Union Company, however, has since made aa offer to the engineers, embodying slight concessions, which have now been rejected by the men. , All the engineers employed in vessel* trading round the New Zealand coast are affiliated with the Australasian Institute of Marine Engineers, and an effort was made before Christinas' to improve the conditions of work for engineers in the Dominion, so as to place them on an equal footing with those iu the Commonwealth. The institute made an application to the New Zealand Shipowners' Federation for an increased scale of pay, a general improvement in working conditions, and payment for overtime. In making the demands, it was pointed out that the members had received no increase in pay since 1908, and attention was drawn to the increases in cost of living which have taken place year after year. It is estimated that about 400 engineers are affected by the application. The conference with the New Zealand Shipowners’ Federation was indefinitely adjourned before Christmas. Since then the engineers in the Union Company moved in a bodjy with the results mentioned above. The agreement with the Union Companyexpired over two years ago, but the men waited till a new award was made in Australia about three months ago. As the matter now stands, the engineers, it is understood, are disinclined to accept anything less than the Australian conditions, and these are not forth coming from the Union Company or from the other shipowners. Future developments will be awaited with widespread interest.