Waterside Workers Average £ll Week, States Commission

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 53, 19 October 1949, Page 5

Waterside Workers Average £ll Week, States Commission

The waterside workers of New Zealand receive more publicity than any other section of the community, but what is an average wharfie? A mass of figures contained in the annual report of the Waterfront Industry Commission supplies most of the answer. Taken over all ports in New Zealand, the average watersider works 44 hours a week, made up of 33 hours ordinary and 111 hours overtime. He earns £ll Is 2d (compared with £lO 6s 10s last year). During a year, absence from work accounts for 10.52 per cent of his total time and sickness for 1.71 per cent. The best-paid wharfies are in Auckland, followed by Wellington, Napier, Timaru, Nelson, Lyttelton and Dunedin, in that order. The lowest paid are in Oamaru, followed by Wanganui, Gisborne, and New Plymouth.

In the year ended March 31, 1949, the largest amount of wages was earned by a Wellington wharfie. He earned £734. Next was a Dunedin man with £713, then an Aucklander with £712. A total of 1098 out of 7181 earned between £6OO and £7OO, while a further 2604 earned between £SOO and £6OO.