MEN ON TRAWLERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 209, 4 September 1929, Page 5

MEN ON TRAWLERS.

ARBITRATION COURT CASE. 'HASES OF FISHING INDUSTRY THE MARKET FOE. SCHXAPPER. Following a partial recommendation >f the Council of Conciliation for an uvard of the Court of Arbitration, the juestion of hours of labour at sea and rages was argued in the Arbitration Dourt yesterday afternoon between the Seamen's Union and Sanford's, Limited, the dispute affecting four deckhands md three firemen of the crew of ten on :ach trawler. Mr. W. F. Anderson appeared for the union and Mr. S. E. Wright for the employer. The following weekly wages were asked by the union: Leading hand on leek (mate), £5 10/; deck hands, £5; fireman-greaser (where one man is carried), £5 10/; fireman-greaser (where silly two men are carried), £5 5/; fire-man-greaser (where three men are carried), £5 2/6; firemen (where three men are carried), £5; peggy, £2 10/. rhe union asked for hours of labour at sea not exceeding 48. Mr. Anderson, for the Seamen's Union, submitted in the course of a long statement, that the men on the trawlers gnjoyed few of the conveniences that were the privilege of ordinary seamen. For the employers, Mr. S. E. Wright pointed out that an industrial agreement liad been arrived at in 1926 between the parties in the Conciliation Council, but it was not an award of the Court. Several concessions were allowed in the previous agreement and the employers contended that a 60-hour week was quite reasonable. Value of a Catch. "At the present time, judging by some of the results, it should not take more than fifteen minutes to haul some of the catches aboard," said the manager of the local fish works, Arthur William Brockie, in giving evidence. Owing to windy conditions or rough sea it was common for a trawler to be lying to for 24 to 36 hours out of a 5J days' trip. It costs us approximately £250 to put one of our trawlers to sea for six days, and, to pay expenses, it requires 18 tons of fish, approximately to work out at lid per lb overall. This (Tuesday) morning one trawler arrived with just 18 tons, but yesterday one came back with 12 tons, so we had a loss. The witness explained that any reduction in hours to deck-hands and firemen, would lead to a loss to the company, as the present hours enabled the trawlers to make up for lean periods in the year. In the North Sea, of which he had experience, the trawlers went out until they got a good catch of fish, which sometimes occupied 10 or 12 days. He was not aware that the Sydney award provided an eight-hour day or 48-hour week. He knew, however, that there were 21 vessels engaged over there, the same type as were operating here, but some were very old. Effect of Government Restrictions. Mr. Brockie said that although the Government restrictions on seine netting drove them further out of the gulf, his firm had the ideal class of boat for that fishing. He considered that too much had been made of the trawling far ou£ because, for instance, the fish now obtained in the Bay of Plenty was practically unsaleable. It was large schnapper and the only market for it was Sydney, where there was a glut at the present time. * Replying to the .employers' assessor. Mr. Schmitt, who expressed curiosity as to the extent of export in the business, Mr. Brockie said that up to a few months ago the firm sent about three hundred cases of 501b each per week to Sydney. ' After further discussion the Court reserved its decision.