WATERSIDE WORKERS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17617, 21 November 1922, Page 6

WATERSIDE WORKERS.

ARBITRATION COURT AWARD.

BEDUCHON IN WAGES. (SPTCIAI TO " THB PRBSS.") | WELLINGTON, November 20. The waterside workers' award reduces wages from 2s 4d to 2s 2d an hour. The overtime rate is time and a half to 10 p.m., double time from 10 njn; to 7 a.m.. After 6 p.m. on Saturdays special ratee are payable. Double time is provided for Sundays, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Ansae Day and ordinary overtime for other holidays. Stop-work meetings of two hours' duration are allowed once monthly. If a gang is shorthanded, it must start, or it may appoint substitutes. An important provision is that preference .to unionists shall continue only so long as the union does not take any part in strikes, job control, or obstruction of any kind, or do anything to defeat the award.

There are numerous provisions applicable only to particular localities.

The Court's Memorandum. The Arbitration Court's memoran-' dum in the waterside workers' award i reads as follows: — | Nearly all the clauses of the award were in dispute. The principal question was that of wages. Under the old agreement the rates of payment for different classes of cargo work and the overtime rates varied considerably from port to port, and in many cases without any apparent reason for the variations. We have now fixed a uniform scale of rates for ail ports. The basic rate has been arrived at by adding 25 per cent, to the Court's ordinary rate for unskilled labour. ■This approximates very closely to the present rate, and .is justified by the fact that the returns of earnings furnished to us by the employers and the unions diisclose that, after making due allowance for .men who are not regular seekers for work at the wharves, and for the slackness of shipping business during the past few months, the average weekly earnings of waterside workers require to be supplemented by 25 per cent, if the Court's basic rate for unskilled workers is adopted as a basis. We haye slightly increased the overtime rates, but have removed many anomalous and restrictive conditions that appeared in the last agreement. These have in the past proved exceedingly oppressive and have been subject in many cases ■ to interpretations that appear to us to be unreasonable. Instead of reducing the regular rates of w'ages below the level necessary to provide a fair average living wage we preferred to increase the overtime rates, and cut away all unfair conditions which had the effect of increasing earnings in an indirect manner. This, we believe, will have the effect of ensuring more regular work for the genuine waterside worker, - and reducing the number on the "fringe" of very casual workers.

We were desirous of improving the system, of engaging labour at the principal ports where at present men are required to wait about the wharves for several hours a day in the hope of obtaining employment. After, a full discussion with the representatives of. the employers and the unions, we werq unable to arrive at a complete satisfactory method of overcoming the difficulty involved in a radical change of system, but the parties expressed. their willingness to endeavour to work oufc ,& system for adoption in an experimental form at Wellington. We have provided that in the event of an agreement being reached the award may be accordingly amended, and that the, experiment, if successful in Wellington, may be tried in other ports. We have not specifically provided "against stop-work (funerals, "go-slow" strikes, and similar matters tending to impede the progress of work, but it to be clearly understood that these constitute breaches of the award, and of the Act. We'have reinserted a preference clause, but with certain modifica' tions. Even this conditional preference has been granted with some hesitation, for we can hardly say that the unions have by their past conduct earned the right to preference. We have nojw provided that tbo preference clause snail operate only if and so long as the unions do not adopt obstructive tactics. The term of the award has been fixed so' as to expire on April 80th,' 1924,

| ENGAGEMENT OF LABOUR. NEW SCHEME TO BE TRIED. (PRESS ASSOCIATION TXLEGBAH.) WELLINGTON, November 20. The genesis of the experiment mentioned in the Court's note is thus described—During the lengthy sittings of the Arbitration Court on the watersiders' dispute, favourable mention was made of the scheme in use by the 'Wellington Harbour Board to make work as nearly as possible permanent for the 200 men employed. Mr J. Kobert3, advocate for the workers, claimed that a scheme could be drafted which would do away with the "fringe" or very casual watersider and ensure better service for the employer. At, Mr Justice Frazer's suggestion, a conference was held on the matter between representatives of the shipowners and the watersiders, and a draft scheme was prepared for the consideration of members of th© Wellington Watersiders' Union. This scheme divided the men intq gangs designated by numbers with a leader. When work was available these gangs were to be taken in order. The leader got his men together and any misamg numbers were to be filled up by the selection of men available. A meeting of the Watersidere', Union was held a little over a week ago, and it was aecided to take a secret ballot on the matter. The r«sult was that out of a total vote of 1143 men, a majority of 195 effective votes was obtained in favour of the scheme as well as the main proposals. It is anticipated that the new scheme will reduce the amount of idle time spent by the men on the waterfront, •, uo f' 'V ab °liah the "fringe," distribute the work more equitably and reduce the number of caHe for labour.