KING'S BIRTHDAY HOLIDAY

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21972, 22 December 1936, Page 12

KING'S BIRTHDAY HOLIDAY

CHANGE OP. DATE SUGGESTED PROPOSAL TO APPROACH GOVERNMENT A proposal that the various bodies of employers in the Dominion should make representations to the Government to have the King's Birthday observed on a day earlier in the year than December 14 was made at a meeting of the finance committee of the Canterbury Manufacturers' Association. It was reported at the meeting that the observance of a holiday on December 14 had given industry a bad setback and cost employers many hundreds of pounds through payment for the day and inability to fill orders. Instances were given of £2OO and £IOO being lost by two Arms, and in one case it was alleged that £7OO had been the cost of the holiday. Mr T. Hyde, secretary of the association, said yesterday that the problem had given rise to a good deal of discussion among manufacturers, and it was shown that the cost to industry was enormous. It had to be remembered that the cost of the holiday had nbt been anticipated, and had occurred in a period of work on goods previously contracted for.

"Although nothing can be done to recover those losses this year," Mr Hyde added, "it is hoped that some arrangement can be made for the holiday to be observed earlier in future so that losses and disruption of Christmas trade will not recur. For this purpose the association has approached the Manufacturers' Federation, recommending that it cooperate with the Employers' Federation and the Associated Chambers ol Commerce in making representations to the Government to have a change introduced along the lines suggested. "In many instances," he continued, "industry was just readjusting itself to the new labour conditions, and to be confronted with the addition of the Sovereign's birthday resulted in a most costly upset. In advocating a change, the association feels that the suggestion does not in any way lessen the respect for the King which is implied in the observance of his birthday as a public holiday."

MAY DAY SUGGESTED

The possibility of a change in the observance of the King's Birthday as a holiday was mentioned during Conciliation Council proceedings yesterday, when the question of holidays was being discussed by the Canterbury coal miners and their employers. The usual list of holidays was claimed by the workers In tholr proposals for an award, May Day (the International Labour Day) being one extra day claimed. The employers' assessor, Mr D. I. Macdonald, asked that May Day should be held over in the meantime. He said that the Sovereign's Birthday (December 14) now fell at such an inconvenient time of the year for trade, that there was a possibility that it might not any longer be observed as a holiday. "New Zealand," Mr Macdonald added, "is the only Dominion which observes a holiday on the King's Birthday. It ia hard to say what will happen. Possibly May Day may be made a holiday to replace the King's Birthday, or some other day may be chosen. The position now is that for one-half of the year—from Anzac Day to Labour Day—there is an unbroken stretch of six months without a holiday, whereas all the other public holidays fall within the remaining six months. That is not any good for the business people or for the workers, either."