BONUS GRANTED

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 211, 22 June 1950, Page 6

BONUS GRANTED

CIVIL SERVANTS PROPORTION ONLY AFFECTED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, June 21. A wage increase, in line with the recent Court of Arbitration interim order, was granted to-day to a proportion of public servants at a sitting of the Government Seri 1 vice Tribunal. The increase is to be retrospective to May 8.

'The only employees affected by today’s order are those whose unions notified their consent of the Government Service Commission’s application that the interim increase apply to all public servants who came under the Commission. Thus, it was stated, only a small proportion of all Government services are affected. Excluded are those belonging to the Public Service Association. ■ A statement on the position of public servants in relation to the wage increase was made by Mr G. T. Bolt, a member of the Public Service Commission. - “Immediately after the issuing of the interim wage order,” said Mr Bolt. “The Commission applied to the Government Service Tribunal for an order granting to all public servants whose wages are fixed by the Tribunal, interim wage increases, similar to the 7s weekly granted by the Arbitration Court. The Tribunal Act allows respondents one month in which to reply to the application, but to obviate this delay the Commission invited Service organisations to file consents so that an immediate order could be made. This morning the Tribunal made an order, affecting those public servants whose unions had filed consents. Excluded from the order because of the failure of the Public Service Association to file a consent are 30,000 Government employees on both the permanent and temporary staff. “It is the Commission’s “ desire,” he said, “that the wage increase be granted to all public servants forthwith and the Tribunal has therefore been asked to hear claims in respect to those excluded from the current order as soon as possible after July--16, when the one month allowable time for a response has elapsed. In theCommission’s view the granting of the interim wage order would not in. any way prejudice the Public Service Association’s claim for £IOO a year salary increase.”