FREEZING WORKS.

Wairarapa Age, 5 March 1927, Page 5

FREEZING WORKS.

HIGHER WAGES AWARDED BY COURT. ONE AND SIX PER HUNDRED. TIME RATES RAISED. The Arbitration Court’s award in the dispute between the freezing workers and their employers was filed yesterday. The workers applied for a ten per cent, increase in wages, and the employers for a. ten per cent, reduction. The Court has granted slaughtermen an increase of Is. 6d. per hundred in the killing rates for sheep and lambs, and has also awarded increases ranging from -Id. to Id. per hour to time workers in the freezing industry.

Mr. Monteith (employees’ assessor) was of opinion that 2s. 6d. per 100 additional should be granted on slaughtering rates, while Mr. Scott (employers'’ assessor) thought the increase should be in efficiency instead of money wage. Wages provisions were therefore fixed by Mr. Justice Frazer, who says in part:—

“I am satisfied that to refuse an increase of Id. per hour to the lowerpaid time workers in the freezing works would bring them below the standard fixed by the last award and by the Court’s pronouncement of 1925. From this point of view, they are entitled to an increase of Id. per hour, bringing their rate up to 2s. Id. per hour, which, it should be noted, is less by lid. than the rate conceded by the companies in 1920-21. For the reasons already given, I do not think that the more highly-paid time workers are entitled to the same increase as the minimum wage workers, and I consider that they are entitled only to increases of |d. per hour in some cases and fd. per hour in others. In so far as the slaughtermen are concerned, they were conceded a rate of 425. per 100 in 1920-21. The rate in 1914 was 275. 6d. per 100 for sheep and lambs and the rate under the expired award was 38s. 6d. per 100 for sheep and 365. for lambs, an increase of 40 per cent, for sheep and of 31 per cent, for lambs. In my opinion, an increase of 2s. 6d. per 100 is not justified, though it has been granted by the Auckland companies, but I think that an increase of Is. 6d. per 100 will place the slaughtermen in the same relative position in reference to the time workers as they occupied under the last award. This will make the rates 40s. per 100 for sheep and 375. 6d. per 100 for lambs, or 444 per cent, and 331 per cent, respectively above the 1914 rates.”