WATERSIDE WORK
Maoriland Worker, Volume 10, Issue 453, 12 November 1919, Page 3
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WATERSIDE WORK
Port Adelaide Position
At Port Adelaide there has been an all round increase in wages for waterside work. For many years the Port Adelaide men worked under private agreements with their employers, and when the last agreement expired on July -1 there was much discussion among the members as to whether it should be renewed, or whether tho award cf the Arbitration Court should be accepted. A ballot was tak-eu, with tbe result that arbitration was agreed upon by 1101 to 301. The foresight cf those who advocated arbitration in preference to a private agreement was good, for under the award which has been declared by Mr. Justice Higgins, the men will receive considerably more for their labor than under a private agreement. RETROSPECTIVE PAY A definite settlement had not yet been agreed upon regarding retrospective pay when the last Australian mail left. Mr. Justice Higgins' award operates from May 1, 1920, until the end of 1920, but as the recent agreement between the Port Adelaide branch of the federation aud the employers expired on July 4— | two months after the award became operative— the question as to what period the union can claim for regarding retrospective pay has yet to be decided. Last month the whariies have been working under the sew rates, and with the ordinary hours of labor —from 8 a.m. to p.m., Monday to Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays— increased from 1/9 to 2/3 per hour, their paysheets wore larger than usual. Under the old rates, 2/7 pci r hour was paid for overtime from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m..Mondays to Fridays, and 2 to 4 on Saturdays, while from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. on weekdays and 4 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays 3/6 per hour was the rate. The award now requires the employers to pay 3/1 from b' p.m. to midnight, and i-'f» from midnight to breakfast, time. The l ordinary holiday ra!e has bee', increased from 2,7 pin" hour 1,0 id an hour, while for extraordinary holidays, such as Chris.Ur.as' Day. Good Friday. Picnic Day, Light Hours Day. and- oundayF, (</C per hour has how t-> be paid ar- ' Against 4/G under rh-e < ; n.l agrn'reenf. The 'sub.-aanlia' Mu-re.-ise granted t" (ho men can;-' -o:.:< what, a* a. MirprNe to i lie ouijilvyc! -. ci' maritime labor, who, ;iit!in;i;.;h lie y anticipated copcra! rises, did not ».-xp ,, ct them io he i-a high. What ir.riiieueed the judge chief- Iy is thai; the ploy men' was -casual. Referring to th.it fact in his judgment, Mr. Justice Ifiggins made the following interesting observations: — "These men are employed by the hour, and they have long hours of idleness. They serve the public not only by actual work, but by waiting in readiness for ships to come. It is a glaring instance of that casual employment which ia so wasteful of human energy, aud so unjurious to the moral of the workers. . I must, of course, take the facts as they exist, hoping, as 1 hoped in 1914, that some arrangement may be devised which will give these workers full time every day, and put theiu on weekly wages. The vital facts of the posifun are that the work is casual, uncertain, and toe jobs arc short, that the men have to wait at tho wharfs, often fruitlessly, and that the necessities of the men and their dependents 1 are certain, continuous, and incessant. Thg mon must get through the court a living wage, and as their jat« of •wago per hour must be sufficient to provide that living wage for an average waterside worker, the court has to fix a higher rato per hour than would be appropriate for a man in regular, unbroken employment. I came to the 'conclusion in 1914 on the very satisfactory evidence put before nic that the average wharf laborer who devotes his wholo time to the industry usually frets under 30 hours of work per, week, taking slack and busy seasons together; aud, inasmuch as the basic or living wage at the time was 51/- per week, I prescribed 1/9 per hour, a rat© which, at 30 hours per week, would give £211216 per week. "Rut the cost of living has increased,' and the purchasing power of rhoney has decreased, during tho trying years of war sine 1914. The basic wage has to be increased unless the standard of living for these men and their families bo lowered. According to th e Commonwealth statistician tho rates of 51/- per week has t 0 bo increased to 65/6 per week. It is agreed on all sides that the rate fixed should be on the Australian level for all the ports, and not on different levels for different ports. If I maintain the estimate of about 30 hours for the average wharf laborer, the rate per hour should be 2/9 1-5. But ■prices gone up .since December last, and if I acfc on the index figures for July 1, 1918, to July 1, 1919, the rate per hour should be 2/3 1-5. The officer in charge of the labor statistics informs mc that, according to- all indications, prices will rise still further. Tn the circumstances, and unless the foundations of my finding iv 10J4 aro unsound, it would geeru to be my duty to awafd 2/3 per hoar/
