SLAUGHTERMEN'S DEMANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 170, 18 July 1907, Page 7

SLAUGHTERMEN'S DEMANDS.

EVIDENCE CONCLUDED. \ continued its sitting yesfJv Xmocn, when further evidence sociatioii- . " Confound to evidence James Bina«TT master butcher, sa!d that he ? Stored seven to eight cattle, thirty . i?E£ sheep, and two to three pigs a. SdtHe could not carry- on his busmess Tie was forced to employ a man for only- He preferred an allA man should be able to g-yTto ten .sheep> to f one bulloc,. «~ w ouU be unreasonable for a man to Sere the whole of Saturday off in conSderatam of a few .hours work "on Sunflav In a private slaughterhouse there lis no question of time off. A man ' eonia always get away when he wanted ; Z Bie distribution of work should be \ left to the discretion of the employer. ; A casual man should not receive more j DaT than a permanent hand. The j Lality of the work would not be so j • L>d nor would he get through as much woit He thought tha-t men should reeave an hour off for dinner, tut if he . -onjy worked S hours, witness thought ±he lalf-noux for breakfast asked for by ifae men was unreasonaTile. He thought it-would he distinctly improper for any j representatives of the workers' union to j .visit works during working hours. Ten j iolidays on full pay he regarded as ■BTong-K> one objected to the statutory j Holidays, but-the whole principle of payjug for work not performed was wrong. Bβ thought the employees' offer of 6 days, tte dates to be arranged to suit i . iriiridnaJ employers, was very reason- j V able. He objected to the '■•'preference to \ anionists'" clause. It was absurd to' -ftuwa 3nan to join a union if he did j not mnfc to. An average man should j - beaHeto kill and dress an average bui- j loik in three-quarters of an hour, or an j - additional ten minutes if he ran off the j cSalMmself. Eight to tsn sheep should! be slaughtered in an hour. For killing ! njgs 1/ was a fair price. | -' Mr. Bnst: He paid his men £2 15/ ; »■week. He required them to do other, jfoik besides slaughtering. He knew nothijKr about the prices in the South. A fair average beast was 700 to 750!bs Tteight If a m an started at 5 o'clock in the morning, he should certainly be aDoTOd ialf-an-hour for breakfast, but lotifheEiarted ■work at 7.30 or S o'clock, j i - After a little discussion it was agreed i ia IwSl. sides that men beginning work lefpre 6.30 ajn. should be allowed an interal of half an hour for breakfast. i Urßast: Do you know how the journeymen butchers award was obtained? Do you know that the men were coerced? ■ -No! , i Mr Grosvenor objected to the diseusesioE as being entirely irrelevant. It was, he said, a waste of time, undignified and a reflection on the intelligence of the members of the Arbitration Court. r iie chairajn ruled that such examination was ont of order. I Mr Bust said he was not making any assertion that could not be substantiated. They would be substantiated later on in -■■■ another-court. < | The Chairman: ''Tery well! that will he the proper place." Mr Bust proceeded to further question the witness on the question of unionism, • -. t M'henrtiie ChaJTmzn interposed that the

employers xrere not on their trial "If | there is -anything," he said, "that trill | effect the employees you -will be good enough to question the •witness, but you s.re not to put the employers upon their trial. " j Henry Lord ilarsack, Veterinary Sur-' geon and Inspector of Heat, said he lipd j the Auckland* Meat Company's and Hellaby's concerns under his control. He ; had been brought into contact with j slaughtering in all its branches. He v.-as a Government Inspector, and had noth- , ing to do with the firms. Slaughtering was hard and dirty work, and no doubt men were susceptible to disease, but no more so than in any other similar work. No serious accidents had come to his knowledge beyond cuts, which might bei come serious. He thought the majority of slaughtermen had had enough of it by the time they "were 47 years of age. He regarded slaughtering as a young man's trade. Herbert George Stringer, secretary of the Auckland Farmers' Freezing Comj pany, said that two men employed by his i firm had put up from 130 to 140 a day.- ---! They could comfortably put up 100 muti ton in a day. In Gisborne. witness kne-.v j of men who could put up 130 a day. That j was good going. He considered a fair day's work was SO sheep. Last week witness paid his firm's five slaughtermen £7 18/ each. Witness's slaughtermen could put up 14 cattle s day. He knew nothing about slaughtering for the shop l trade, but he believed it was necessary to jbe more careful in dressing for export. I Dressing of stock he had seen in some j shops would be rejected by the freezer. Thomas Robinson White, a master but- : eher, said he had done slaughtering for himself. He had a private slaughterhouse, and killed three days a week. He j did not agree that slaughtering was dirty : work or that it was injurious to health. j He had never known or heard of any dis- ; ease contracted through slaughtering. A j fair hour's work, including running the offal, was one bullock or seven sheep. A ' fair price for pig killing was 1/ up to I loOlbs weight, and 1/6 for pips over that I weight. He could earn a good day's wage lat that rate. He paid his men £2 10/ a ! week. His men had never expressed any ' dissatisfaction at their wages or hours. IHe considered the employers' counter ; proposals were very fair and reasonable. , The proper ratio of sheep to bullocks was seven to one. He thought the statutory holidays were ample. He objected to men being compelled to join a union. He never discriminated between unionists and non-unionists. ; To Mr Bust: He did not think that ! Auckland trade was run by two big firms. I Jamss Cunningham, a master butcher, said that until recently he had been a slaughterman. He had slaughtered both i for freezing works and for the shop trade. For mutton for the freezer he was paid £1 a hundred. An average man's work was 90 sheep a day. Slaughtering j was not a particularly dangerous or unhealthy occupation. He paid 2/6 for having his bullocks killed and 33/4 a hundred for mutton. He considered the charges excessive. His slaughtermen also did the carting, branding, etc. He considered 25/ a hundred fair, exclusive of ! carting, branding, etc.. This concluded the evidence, and the Board then adjourned until Tuesday afternoon next at 3 p.m.