WAR-TIME WAGES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 126, 28 May 1919, Page 5

WAR-TIME WAGES.

AVERAGE INCREASES 17* PER CENT. (Special to "Star.''.) WELLINGTON, this day. A special inquiry into war wages was made towards the end of last year by the Government Statistician's Department, and the results appear in the recent issue of the New Zealand Year Book. They show that in the occupations subject to awards and agreements, j the increases granted during the war period averaged 17.55 per cent. Thirtythree trades are covered by the inquiry, and the majority show considerably more than the average increase. What brings down the average is the per-] centage of increase shown in the. case of the aerated water workers (8.31), coachworkers (0.00), painters (5.54), printing' machinists (7.G9), slaugntermen (9.09), j retail soft-goods storemen and'tailoresses ' 10 per cent. Many of these trades have I since received increases in wages. The! occupations in which increases of over 20 per cent, were noted are as follows:'— Shearers 37 50 Seamen '.".!!!!!! 20 io Waterside workers 27.59 Grocers' assistants 27 75 Woollen mill female emplos-ees!. 27 .22 Furniture makers ; 2103 Butchers, general hands"..!..'! 2o!tK) liakcrs 2o!sO 'Electrical workers a)!tio Engineers 20!45 Drivers ]', £0.00 The .statistical experts note that there has been a tendency towards higher ln- j creases in the low-paid trades than In those occupations which were already well paid. High percentage increases are also shown in the industries necessary to carrying on the war, and in which conditions apparently prevailed! which made it possible to pay larger increases than were possible in trades detrimentally affected by the war. They also point out that owing to the larger amount of overtime worked, the percentage increases do not fully cover the actual increase in earnings. A valuable j indication as to the position of unskilled \ labour during the war Is furnished by returns of the earnings of unskilled labourers employed by local bodies. The labour shortage is also made evident, for they employed nearly twelve thousand men in 1015, but came down to a payroll of 4627 in the last year of the war. The increasing individual wage, which represents 21.6 during the whole period, is shown in the following table of average annual earnings per employee:— Tear. f s . d. WIS 141 0 0 im<i 151 0 0 1917 am jo 0 1918 , .17110 0 Another feature of the figures is that as the war progressed the wages ot> casual employees increased in morerapid ratio than that of the permanents, until the wages of both classes were nearly the same.