THRESHING MILL DISPUTE.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14956, 1 May 1914, Page 10

THRESHING MILL DISPUTE.

CLAIMS OF WORKERS.

CASE BEFORE ARBITRATION COURT.

Fk'e of 'he Court of Arbitration were returned at the Supreme Conn yfvterdav, be; ore Mr Justice Stringer (pr.'rr-ident'. Mr W. Scott (cmpayers' rc-prt-st-nt.-itivc, and Mr J. A. McCullouait (worker.-' representative). Tho ca.-e in v.huh th-.; Canterbury A. .■md P. L'liiou e-itod An-fi.-'-.on and Lemon and others in rfspoct to 1 ho w •*"«•-■> and conditions of threshing ;:••-.. i.c.c; v.o'i.ors wi-.:> called on. Mr I-:. Kc.-rmo;, .-" r-;tai'7 of the Union, ..: ; p. £;■ '1 for the l.'nion, aird Messrs 'llichnrd .Etans .-.nd G. W. LeadJey ap- j .-..-.ered lor the Messrs O. i 11. Kc.-'ir and F. ••• l)-.-rr--ll watched tho ■~,,.:■■ .iiinz* on bt-iinli oi the Farmers' l.i;on. Tire dcmandi,. v.-hi-'ii Lav.-T.cen already pi;rj.i.vn.--J, u.;n.-.-.i "I- 1 " lut imuj's or in'r-our suouiei :•>- ;-. matter to dc hxeei ; , !: iwc'-ii ;.n.l tne worKeis; .-ii.j i..iat lii» t-ua-'-ver iiioUlU J.avc r.-;..i..;0u ol (.w.i-j!.i;; whether ho would v.-.iVk. imd'ir tno tiuur or contract sysj, r-i. It the houi ey-teru aciopt-r-J U &d pet i!"ur 1-, 10 i>o paid, .'md if the com.act- l-f's pe-r tuoutaud bu.-bels t.i, res lied. His Hcuoiif remarked uiat the Coun.il of Conciliation had made no recominondation. Mr Lvans ssid thai the. employers had r.ut in countor-jiroposals. THF. UMLLN'S C*i-SE. Mr Kennedy opened for tho Union, arid explain-."! tho taken to meet tho employer;- in conu-rouco. He outlined tho ciiaracter oi the-evidence to bo tailed. Wiiliam lioon, labouiror, stated he had worke'i on a. .thrtishing mill this year, and had about fii.Vteen years' experience. He had kept an account of the hours he worked this year for a portion of the period. Ho agreed to the times read out by Mr Kennedy, which showed that, the hours ranged from 45 hours to 16J hours, or au average of 33i hours per day. "Witness explained that on the days on which few hours wero worked there had been ra.in. He was paid 15s per thousand for wheat and I3fi for oats, and when the threshing did not come up to standard he was paid Is -id per hour. thiring the ten weeks and three days he was on the mill ha paid £9 12s 6d for food. The men ware all dissatisfied with the wages paid, which they said was not sufficient for the work done. His total earnings for the period- was £48 7s 2d. Tho Union's conditions would be workable in connexion -with threshing mills. It was almost impossible for two men to deal with tho bags. One man, a pood worker, had his clothes wringing with perspiration trying to keep things clear. There was no comparison between shearing and threshing, the last-men-tioned being the less pleasant. _ Referrir.tr, to the accommodation, witness stated that his employer was a good one. There was a hut 15}f6 long by 71ft high and 7*ft wide, in which three men sleot and in which the cook did all his cookirie- The food, with the exception of the meat, was kept in the hut, and the men ate their food in the hut. In support of the claim for preference, witness said that if preference were granted better men would bo got. In '. Otago,- no difficulty was experienced by threshing mill ■owner* in supplying the men's food, the cost, being deducted from tho men's wnees. The cook cm the mill on which witness was employed this year received .£2 10s per week, and he was dissatisfied. The cook's hours wero longer than thoso of the men ; the cook usually"" started about 4 a.m., and finished about MO p.m. _ Witness gave several instances iv which threshing was done by lamplight; the latest hour worked tin. to-in any night was nino o'clock. Earlier in the season they had pulled into Mr Burgin's half an hour after midnight. The demands made in resoect to stook threshing' wero reasonable. The season, this year, had been exceptionally dry, and not much time had been lost. The Swaruianoa district in which he worked this year was reckoned one of the best in New Zealand. To Mr Evans: He objected to stook threshing, owing to loss of time; thero »was also more running about as compared with stack threshing. This year they made the biggest tally nut of the. stook. but they worked longer than when threshing nut of the stack. In ono day they threshed 2000 from the stook—-that was the biggest for the season. They worked from daylight till 9 p.m. At Mr Leach's, they threshed about 8000 bushels out of the stook; they were thero .' about seven days. This season they had lost two days owing to rain, but they did not lost* an hour owing to wind. The time given as time worked was from the time that they started in the morning till they finished at night, ar.d included time taken for meals and in shifting the mill. His Honour: You are asking to be paid for' going to work, for eating your food, and also for time lost owing to wind and wet?— 1 am giving the time that we aro on our feet and available for work. Continuing, witness stated that he •was ougaged at 13s and 15s on th© understanding that ho wont through the season with the mill. Shearers' cooks worked under; bettor conditions than cooks in threshing mill camps, and shearers' cooks did not work such long hours. A man could take from 30 to 'to bags from the machine in an hour; he might do 50, but he would bo bustled. He would be astonished if a witness were produced who stated ho did 100 por hour. He preferred the hour to tho contract system. Thos. Win. Petrie * stated that he Worked in the Lower Ashburton district this year. He had a rough estimate of the hours worked: they usually started at 0.30 a.m., and continued till 9 and !».30 p.m. Half an hour was allowed for each meal. The accommodation was classed as very good- tho whare was 21 ft by 7ft, and "there was a partition to separate the galley from the other portion. Meals were taken off a table attached to the mill, but there, were no seats. The sleeping accommodation for eight men was 12ft by 7ft by 7ft. It cost, approximately, 16s per week for food, not including the payment to the cook. Men had to work Jong hours at- tho present rates, dn order to make anything. One man who had left the mill had averaged £3. Up to the time witness left the mili about 82,000 bushels were threshed. He preferred the hour to the contract system, because one knew what they were getting-

To Mr Evans: Ho was employed thirteen weeks and two days this year, and they lost fiftfva days through wot. If witness's emolc-ver came to tho Court and stated that tho average wage earned was £4 ii per iveek. he could not gainsay it. He thought that they averaged more* *-han eight hours a* day, 'counting in los*. time. He had done better out of stack-threshing. The mill-owner got a bettor class of man by providing accommodation. Ho did not think it would be possible for millowners to take round aocennmodation ineasuting cof. long. Sit wide and 7ft high-

Allan McDonalel. labourer, stated that ho worked in the Me-thven district, and «rorkod; nine weeks and three days, aud iiver&ged four and a half days' work a week.' His-.average earnings, clear of food, were £2 los 5d per week. Tho mon .wanted more than half an hour for din-

ner. He got 15s per thousand, or Is 4d per hour; others on the mill, he believed, got. lie and 13s per thousand. The accommodation was very good— the best he had experience ot. Csounv times ten men slept in the whare; there had been no complaints about the «- commoelation. He had been on mills for 6even seasons, and he did not think that, it would be any difficulty for other mill-owners to shift similar accommodation to that provided by Mr Olliver, his employer. To Mr Evans: Food had cost him 16s per week. He had been threshing in a bad district, where a hailstorm had affected some of the crops. Ho started threshing when thirteen years of age, and he considered it had injured him to start so early.. , ~ , , , John Brown stated that he was bagman on Mr Peter Drummond's mill in the Rakaia district. . He was paid 13s and 15s. Up to hist Monday, he had worked thirteen weeks, and had threshed 51.820 bushels of wheat, aud 24,9091 oat«. A rough estimate was that his average weekly earnings amounted to £3 4s. Out of this he would have to pay for his food, about 18s per week, and whare charge of Is 8d per week. Hours were from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Long hours were necessary in order to make a living under the contract system. Tho sleeping portion of the whare was lift by 7ft by 7ft, and eight men slept in it. There was plenty of ventilation—through holes in tho whare the stars could be seen. He had experience of the time when the men provided themselves with tents, and on many occasione when it was wet he had made a hole in an old stack and slept there. To his Honour: The accommodation on Mr Drummond's mills was fairly satisfactory. To Mr Evans: He had earned better wages on railway construction work. It was easier for the men on the mill when threshing out of tho 6took. John Donnelly stated that he worked on Mr N. Clinton's mill in the Greendale district, and ho was paid at 13s and 15s. They threshed 64,000 bushels. He averaged £3 per week, after deducting 16s 9d per week for food. He was a wool-prcsser, aud made better wages than at threshing, and did not work so long. Tho accommodation on Mr Clinton's mill was lift long by 61ft wide, and 6ft high, and from S to 10 men slept in it. To Mr Evans: He lost about nine days out of eleven weeks, owing *to wind and rain. He had' lost three or four weeks at. w col-pressing this season. John Halliday stated that he worked fourteen weeks and two days in the Ashburton district. He made £30 103 for the period, clear of food, which cost, him 20s 8d per week. Time waa lost in threshing from tho stook, owing to wet weather, and to the farmers' men not coming out with the teams till 7 a.m. Nine men slept in a whare 12ft by 6ft, by 6ft; the accommodation was very bad. To Mr Evans: A man should cam about £4o for the season. Chas. Grayndler stated thai ho was organiser for the Union. Ono millowner had ordered him off his mill, and had insulted him, and threatened what he would do to him with the pitchiork he had in his hand. Some employers objected to their men joining the Union; others, the greater proportion, were favourable to the men joining the Union. The men usually paid their contributions to the Union by giving him an order on their employers; one employer had refused to pay out, on such an order ; Mr Evans said that there waiS an impression in the country that it was illegal to pay orders against men's wages. His Honour: Ars you prepared to pay on these orders if the Court, mates provision ? Mr Evans said he would leave that to the Court. Mr Kennedy said that there was £13 dv« to the Union, which, the millowners had refused to pay on tlw men's orders. This closed the case for the Union, THE EMPLOYERS' CASE. On resuming after the luncheon adjournment Mr Evans said that they^

considered that the conditions of threshing had uot altered since tho last award was made about three years ago, and thej- were prepared to accept tho old award with the exception of wages. In respect to wages thoy wero prepared to call the following increase: Hour work from Is to Is 3d per hour. With reference to threshing wheat they were willing to offor the same rate as that in tho old award with Is per thousand extra for both wheat aud oats for the men that stopped out the season. That meant a bonus of Is per thousand to men who finished the season. The employers, as in the past, would deal honourably with men who wero taken ill or met with accident. They proposed to raise the allowance for food from 16s to- 18s 6d per week in order to protect tlw men who stayed on all the season. They had asked for returns from mill-owners as to the wages paid the slack men—the lowest paid on mills—and the average of 3-5 returns was £3 19s 6d —that was over all. Food would have to. be deducted to give the net earnings. His Honour asked Mr Kennedy if the proposals regarding wages wero acceptable. *" Mr Kennedy said that unless there was a minimum hour rate under the contract system, it was not r-ossiblo for men to get equal wages. His Honour: That means you do not accept the proposals. Mr Kennedy: Yes. Mr Evans then called the following evidence: — Arthur Burgin. threshing-mill owner, said that the average actual working hours per day on his mill' this year would bo 81 hours. It was absolutely necessary to thresh out of the stook. This year the best tallies wero mad© from grain threshed from the stook. Farmers reckoned that the grain should be- in tho stack a month or six weeks before it was ready for threshing. If thero was no threshing from tho stook tho threshing would not be finished till winter. Ho gave the men 15s pesr thousand in order to encourage them to stay till the end of tho sea-son. He found that tho men were quite satisfied with tho accommodation; he provided bell touts. There was not reasonable work for threo men at the bags: sometimes there was not enough for two. Tho average earnings on his No. 1 plant was £-1 12s 2d and on his No. 2 prlant £1 10s.

To Mr Kennedy.: The charge for threshing had been increased by Id per bushel, something like £2 Is" 8d per thousand. The increased wane to the men was 2s per thousand. Mill-owners had had to pay more for coal by 9s to 10s; he himself had paid 7s per ton more for coal. Tho hour rate charged the farmer was increased os and the men's increase was Id per hour. A little more profit was made this year as compared with last. The upkeep of machines increased as thoy <rrew older. A mill cast from £1250 to £1300. and tho average life was from ton to twelve years. William Smith stated that he had been threshing, for 46 years. The net earnings of the men on one of his plants this year was £3 los 11 Id per week— that, was clear, l§s being allowed for food. Two men had done the bagging ever sinco he started threshing.; there was not work for any more. To Mr Kennedy: The difference in the cost of food on different mills was duo to the cook; it was not what- the men ate but what, the oxik waited. He did not think there would be better cooks if they were paid higher wases. Samuel Thornly, mill-owner, said that Last year tbo men averaged £-1 9s. and this year £'3 19s; the reason for the lesser earnings this year was the bad grain. He preferred contract to hour work, and all the men employed by him had signed in favour of* contractUnder the hour system about one-half the work was done as compared with tha contract system: the men did notexert themselves and the boss saved coal. The men earned more under the contract system than und-er the hour system, the hour rate had increased, however. The sleeping whare he provided was separate from the galley. The whare. which was IGft long ar.d 7Jft wide, was divided into two com part - menus, six men at one emd and four at the other. The cook's whare was distinct and separate and the oook did not sleep in it. All hii men preferred

stook to stack threshing as they wore away from the dust. He had tallied 2963 bushels in one day on Mr Allan's farm at Waikari. Ho had tallied 2600, 2700, and 2500 bii6hels per day, and, over the season, 2000 bushels. He had threshed uo to 93 bags per hour. A good average of actual work would be about nine hours.

To Mr Kennedy: He got his men to sign the paper in favour of tho contract system to ascertain their feelings on the subject. He thought that his men were under the inrpres3iesi that the Union was asking for the hour system only. When the big tallies ho referred to were put up, witness did not give any assistance to the bagmen. He charged" id per bushel extra for thresh* ing from the stook this year, the increase being due to the increased cost of coal—he had paid as high as 32s per ton. The increased cast was about 7s per ton. ... Herbert Shipley, Greendale, millowner, stated that his men averaged this season £4 15s gross. The eeason was six weeks in duration. James W. Olliver, mill-owner, stated that tho price of threshing had been raised because tho cost of threshing olauts and of coal had been increased, and the men had got a small increase. The question of increasing Tates had been mooted for several yean,. Witnessed possessed two plants. He did not think that under present conditions mill-owners were making unreasonable profits. The size of the whare he provided was: sleeping compartment 20ft. long, Sift wide, 7it 9in high in the centre; cook's galley Bft long, 6ft wide, and 6ft high. The cook elerit in a sort of recess in his compartment.

To Mr Kennedy: It was ten or twelve years ago since' the prico of thrashing was previously increased. Edward Richards, farmer, Waikao Downs, stated that his farm consisted of 1920 acres. This was leased; ho had sold about 3000 acres to the Government. The hour system of threshing was not working satisfactorily—il was too expensive to the farmer. He had averaged over SOOO sacks of wheat, 15,1X10 to 30,000 bushels of oats. Last year ho was able to get his grain threshed by the bushel:—He paid 3Jd for wheat,"and 3d for oats per bushel. This year his crop was not. a big one, and it cost a shade over Gd per bushel to thresh. Last year it cost, in some instances, up to lid per bushel, those who paid that amount- being sma-il farmers. As the<result of tho high cost of thresliing he was not sowing an aero of wheat, this year. From what he learned the men were not earning as much under the hour as under the contract, faystem. Ho had gone back to sheep, and other large, farmers in South Canterbury intended-doing likewise. To his Honour: Thresliing by the contract system had cost him"haii what it had cost him by the hour. To Mr Kennedy: He. did not. think that any of tho grain in the Waimate district this season was as good as last year; it was a 35-bushels' crop, as comparfid with 40 bushels last year. He paid this year 32s 6d per thousand, out of stook, and 30s out of stack.

This' concluded the case for tho employers, V\ ith tho permission of the Court, Mr Kennedy called

Patrick Joseph Kerr, organiser for the Waimate Workers' Union, who stated that he had visited -13 mills in the South Canterbury district. It transpired that- the witness had not been actually at work on mills in South Canterbury. Mr G. W. Leadley addressed the Court, and said that the union had not- shown that now conditions had arisen to justify any alteration of the award, or to make the amended conditions offered acceptable. The conditions of the industry did not warrant any increase in the cost of labour. The demand had been brought at a crisis in the history of grain production in New Zealand which was va a stage of transition. Canterbury produced four- j fifths of the wheat produced in the Do- j minion. There was a disposition on ! the part of farmers to replace wheat | by There were many reasons ; for this, and it would not assist mat- j ters xi expensive restrictions were im- J posed. The farmer could not pass on ; increases to ihc consumer, as his pro- • ducts had to meet the competition of i

the world. He dealt at some length with the details of the union's demands. They asked that the union's demands should not be granted. His Honour; You don't withdraw your offer? Mr Evans: No. He added that they were prepared to havo the wharos altered in accordance with the requirements of the Court.

" Mr Kennedy contended that if men engaged on threshing mills were paid at the same rate as general labourers in town, they would receive much more than the highest average mentioned in evidence. Ho made a strong appeal in favour of the clause providing that the secretary of the union should have free ingress to and egress from mills. His Honour remarked that he did not think that the Court had power to include such a provision in the award. Ho did not think the Court had the right to order a farmer to allow anyone on to his land.

The Court will tako time to consider its award.

Tho Court adjourned till 10 a.m. today.