MAUI POMARE'S CREW.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 267, 10 November 1928, Page 13

MAUI POMARE'S CREW.

MR. COATES ANSWERS PROTEST.

N.Z. WAGE STANDARDS NOT TO BE AFFECTED. NATIVES ARE PUBLIC SERVANTS. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. A statement setting out the wages paid on the Government steamer Maui Pomare, and comparing them with the wages provided for in the agreement between the New, Zealand Seamen's Union and the Shipowners' Federation, has been issued by the Seamen's Union. According to the statement, the wages paid on the Maui Pomare are as follows, the agreement rates being given in parentheses: Boatswain, £10 a month ( £1G 4/); quartermaster, £8 ( £15 4/); day man, £10 ( £15 4/); ordinary seaman,- not given (£lO 9/); boy, £3 (£5); greaser, £8 (£l7).' It is further stated that the Hours on the Maui Pomare range-from eight to twelve a day, with overtime without payment, as against eight hours a day with special payment for overtime provided for under the agreement. ""-- The Seamen's Union has also published a copy of a letter addressed by Mr. Coates to the president of the New Zealand Alliance of Labour, Mr. Cook, as follows: "With reference to the deputation which waited upon me on Juno 13, attended by yoursedf as president of the New Zealand Alliance of Labour and representative of the Seamen's Union and Waterside Workers' Federation, in regard to the employment of a native crew on the Maui Pomare, and to the conditions under which the crew is to be employed: As I indicated to you verbally, the Government have no intention of utilising 'the Maui Pomare as a means of reducing the existing standards of seamen's wages or the general conditions now enjoyed by the seamen employed in these waters. Th& Government, however, have defi'nitely decided to give eyery opportunity to the Island seamen to man the Maui Pomare, for the reasons, firstly, that the vessel has been provided principally in the interests of Island territories; and, secondly, it is desired that, the Islanders themselves should be given this opportunity of a sea training.

Entitled to Superannuation. "No doubt you will realise that granting to these men the full wages now payable under various. awards would tend to considerably upset the economic standard at present existing : in the Islands. Nevertheless it is the intention of the Government to do its utmost to meet the situation in this connection. It --is purposed to place the crew of the Maui Pomare on y a footing as nearly as possible on a level with that now obtainable in New Zealand, and, as the native crew become fully qualified, to pay them wages on a scale that will compare favourably with the wages now paid under various maritime agreements. Consideration must, of course, be given to the fact that these men will be eligible to join the Public Service superannuation fund. They will .also be considered for definite period of annual leave of absence on full pay, which will be much greater than the holidays for seamen now provided for under various agreements.'-' Natives Must Not Join Union. "These factors will necessitate a slight differential rate of pay, but, as stated above, it is not the intention of the Government to benefit financially by the employment of a native crew or to utilise the Maui Pomare as a means of reducing the . existing standards. The Government must preserve the right of prohibiting the crew from becoming members of various unions, this being a condition that applies to other branches . of the Civil Service where State services are concerned."