WORK AND WAGES

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20978, 5 October 1933, Page 6

WORK AND WAGES

MR THURSTON REPLIES TO MR S. G. HOLLAND Replying last evening on behalf of the Canterbury Workers' District Council to the statement on wages made by Mr S. G. Holland, president of the Employer*,' Association, Mr G. T. Thurston said that the workers fully

realised their position. He contested the accuracy ooth of Mr Holland's statements and of his deductions. "Although the president of the Employers' Association endeavours, in a very wordy statement, to justify and smother the iniquities and humiliations that the workers, male and female, are suffering under industry to-day," said Mr Thurston, "we can assure Mr Holland that the workers themselves have no illusions in regard to their plight. It is strange that Mr Holland sees fit to appeal to his confreres to avoid further reductions if at all possible, when, just a few weeks ago, his colleagues in Tilmaru were expressing concern as regards the advantages in the matter of low wages that unscrupulous employers were taking of the workers since the new legislation. At that time Mr Holland stated that no such cases had come under his notice, and challenged those who differed to prove otherwise. How anyone was to prove that anything 'came under his notice' was a problem left untouched." Mr Thurston said it would appear from the desire to see further reductions avoided that something had now come under Mr Holland's notice. The predictions of political and industrial labour in their outcry against amendments to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act had come true, all Mr Holland's words and figures to the contrary notwithstanding. Employers had not hesitated to use the new legislation. In the matter of the number of disputes dealt with, Mr Thurston said Mr Holland made subtle use of the words "complete agreement." A "complete agreement" must be arrived at or no award could be made. The weaker organisations realised this, and a fair example was the recent agreement of the saddlers, a skilled trade, who were compelled (they thought) to accept the ridiculously low wage of Is 9d 1 an hour,