HIGHER WAGES WANTED

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21147, 24 April 1934, Page 11

HIGHER WAGES WANTED

REQUEST FROM RELIEF WORKERS

COUNTY COUNCIL GRANTS TEMPORARY INCREASE

Six relief workers who are employed in cleaning the channel of the Styx river by the Waimairi County Council were granted a temporary increase in wages of two shillings a day at a meeting of the council last evening. The men based their application on the wet and dirty nature of the work they are doing. Recently another gang of men employed in much the same type of work were successful in their application to the council for higher wages. The second request was opposed by some of the councillors last evening on the ground that the Styx riding could not afford the additional expenditure involved. When the application from the relief men for increased wages was read, Cr. W. G. Chapman claimed that they were doing different work altogether from that done by the men who had their wages increased at a previous meeting of the council. There was no comparison in the nature of their work, he said. "That is the trouble: we give the lead by increasing the wages of the first gang, and the others want the same treatment." Cr. W. Price: Cr. Chapman is entirely wrong when he says that the men are not doing the same type of work. These six men are employed in heavy, wet conditions, just as the others were. "I would like to give Ihcm all a rise, but we have to consider whether the riding is in a sound enough position financially to stand it," said the chairman (Mr W. P. Spencer). "The first gang was given the increase because the men were doing different work from the others." Cr. W. J. Walter supported Cr. Price. The council ought not to differentiate between the two gangs, he said. The chairman: These men are getting the extra pay because of the nature of their work and because they are working longer hours. They secured an increase of 2s a day, up to a certain amount. I am not up against the other men in any way, but it is a question of money. It was suggested by a member that perhaps the Styx riding would not mind meeting the extra cost involved in increasing the wages of the men. Cr. Chapman said that he did not think that the ratepayers in the riding would be willing to take such a course. The chairman: We should wait until we see how the finances of the riding work out. After another suggestion had been made that the men working on the river should be transferred, the council decided to increase their wages for one month, and after that to transfer all the men to dry work for the winter. The wages to be paid after the period of one month), will be considered when the council is arranging its estimates.