A NEW AWARD.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 152, 9 April 1930, Page 8

A NEW AWARD.

THE TYPOGRAPHICAL TRADE. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, April 8. The award of the Arbitration Court in the typographical dispute has been issued. The classification of towns in the machine section has been brought into line with that appearing in the hand section in the related trades award, which automatically increased by 5s the earaings of machine operators in the larger secondary towns by placing them on the same level as those in the four main centres.

Changes are made in the method of computing piece rate earnings. The rates are not altered, but where type of a wider or narrower face than the standard is used, the cast-up will be on the basis of work performed instead of on arbitrary basis. Rates for night work are unaltered.

Regarding holidays, the Court accepted the assurance that extra leave, when asked for, would not be unreasonably refused. Another matter was the option given to employers to add a day to the annual holiday the worker instead of paying overtime rates for work done on* holidays other than Christmas Day and Good Friday.

The majority of the Court saw no objection to the option being continued, for it had the effect of giving one holiday for another. It was necessary for newspaper staffs to work on certain public holidays, and there was nothing unreasonable in the workers being {riven a day for a day when the annual eave became due, instead of being paid overtime rates for a public holiday whieh could not be given on the day on which it fell. In other respects, the new award is based on the old award.

Mr Monteith (workers’ representative) dissented on the matter of piece rates. In his opinion it amounted to more work for less money.