WAGES ORDER

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21198, 22 August 1940, Page 10

WAGES ORDER

SEEKING EXEMPTION SEVERAL APPLICATIONS FILED AWARDS OF RECENT DATE (By Telegraph.—Special to Times) WELLINGTON, Wednesday The following organisations are among those which have made application to the Arbitration Court for exemption from the general wages increase of 5 per cent, the grounds given being those specified in each application: New Zealand Motor and Horsedrivers’ Award (workers covered by part II): That employers of such workers are precluded from passing on any portion of the increase in overhead effected by the said order; that in respect of workers employed for 44 hours a week the said award granted an increase in wages to such workers of 5 per cent less than three months ago. and there has been no increase in the cost of living or any other circumstances in that period to justify the granting of any further increase. Award Made Recently

New Zealand Taxi-drivers’ Award: That the award was made less than three months ago, and there is no justification for increasing the wages then fixed by the court, because the said wages are fair, taking into account the wages then being paid, the nature of the work, the amount of idle time and the effect of unregulated competition, and because any increase in the said wages will seriously prejudice the future of the industry; that the financial position of the industry renders it impossible to carry any further increases in overhead without increases in price, which are not practicable. Northern Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson, Westland and Canterbury Lime Workers’ Award: That the product of the industry is sold at a fixed price, which cannot be increased without the permission of the Price Investigation Tribunal that an increase in price is undesirable, because it cannot be passed on, except to the primary producer; that increases embodied in the said award are so high that they already constitute an unfair burden on the industry; that the evidence given at the hearings was insufficient to justify even the increases granted by the court, and does not justify any further addition to overhead; that under the said award employers have had to restrict their methods of working and consequently reduce their production at a time when an increase in the production of lime is vitally necessary. In Rural Areas New Zealand Local Bodies (Rural Section) Labourers’ Award: That the said award granted substantial increases in wages and improvements in conditions to workers covered by it, notwithstanding that there had been no alteration in conditions of work or the circumstances of local bodies since the making of the previous award; that iucal bodies bound by the award are in rural areas, and any increases in overhead can only be passed on at the expense of the primary producer; that since the making of the said award there has been nothing to justify any further increases in wages.