STANDARD WAGES

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22183, 28 August 1937, Page 16

STANDARD WAGES

COURT'S INQUIRY ENDS EFFECT OF PRICES FOR EXPORTS CASE FOR EMPLOYERS SUMMARISED CraESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, August 27. The inquiry by the Arbitration Court to determine standard wages for unskilled semi-skilled, and skilled labour ended to-day. After taking two and a half days to make their submissions, the employers' and employees' representatives occupied the whole o£ ihe sitting to-day with voluminous analyses and critical surveys adding many thousands of words to the bulky volumes of evidence and reports tendered. Mr Justice O'Regan said at the close that the Court's finding would be pronounced as soon as possible. Summarising the case for the employers. Mr D. L Macdonald. secretary of the Canterbury Employers' Association, said that Professor Tccker clcarlv demonstrated that variations in income from qverseas from the sale of exports were the main reasons for prosperity and depression When hj„ rn ,jntrv was prosperous it could WghSr wages but when it was depressed it could not affoid the same rate, and wages had to be towered if workers were to reman employed. In 1926-28 wages were high and rising, he continued, but unemployment increased. Wages remained high until 1931, but the severest depression New Zealand had known developed. "He admitted that the worker should enjoy the highest standard of living he could secure, but he said it depended upon what he could buy with the proceeds of his labour. It depended upon the prices of the food he consumed as well as on the wages he earned. Wages and Cost of Living History in New Zealand showed that risin" wages were always associated v/ittTa rising cost of living, and, conversely there had been many instances where higher wages had been cancelled by higher living costs, and the worker was no better off. Last year the index of retail prices had risen steeply. After the rise in wages made about a year ago, labour costs formed a large part of the cost of production, and consequently were reflected in the prices cf the food the worker must buy. x , . , High costs might mean the ruin of many producers whose goods were sold in overseas markets since such goods had to be sold at competitive prices, said Mr Macdonald. Goods also produced for local consumption must 'compete with imported goods, and if local costs were higher, New Zealand producers would be at a disadvantage. They would be unable to sell at prices which repaid costs, and production would have to be reduced. This would create industrial depression and unemployment. Wages were fixed by what, employers could afford to pay for labour, which depended upon the prices secured for the products of labour. This, in turn, depended upon what consumers would pay for products sold in open competition with those of other countries. Provision For Adjustments Mr Macdonald said the Court's decision would be one of far-reaching importance. The influence of the Court and its decisions was wider than ever before, as awards applied to a larger number of workers and a greater part of the country's industry than ever before. If wages were set at a high level in prosperous times it might become difficult to make adjustments which would be necessary should prosperity give way to depression. "I submit that although the country has about returned to the prcdepression level of income and prosperity," concluded Mr Macdonald, "it has not gone beyond that point and is not in a position to pay wages higher tnan those at present in force. While further improvement is still possible, it would be very unsafe to assume that it will occur, for world affairs, which affect our markets and the prices of our produce so closely, are in a very unstable and insecure position." Employees' Contentions "I submit we have proved by argument and evidence that a substantial increase in wage rates and payment of a regular weekly wage would not only benefit the worker, but would also give the desired impulse to production, distribution, and trade generally," said Mr J. Roberts, in the course of his survey upon the need for a higher standard wage. Low wage rates benefited only "the money lender, large landholders, and profit-hunters generally," Mr Roberts continued. They similarly reduced purchasing power, restricted production in New Zealand, and lowered incomes of shopkeepers and those who rendered services.

The economic conditions of the country a few years ago were regarded as dependent solely upon the price of commodities overseas, he said, and as wages were fixed on the economic conditions of the country, there was always.a tendency to lower the standard of life of the New .Zealand people to the level of those countries where the Dominion's exportable products were sold. This was the swan song of orthodox economists a few years ago, he said. The Labour movement had proved that the general economic conditions of the country were determined by the productive capacity of the people and not by price levels in other countries. Value of 1914 Rates

No doubt Mr Macdonald had intended to convince the Court that the 1914 rates for unskilled labour were quite satisfactory, and that the rates to be fixed should be based upon the standard of life of New Zealand workers at that time. However, when at was realised that production for each unit employed in industry had doubled since 1914 it was absurd to suggest that the standard of living should remain stationary. "The industrial history of New Zealand in the last 25 years proves that low wages restricted industrial expansion, and in the end brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy." he said. "The Court should see to it that there should not be a return of those evil days. The country is prosperous to-day. compared with a few years ago. The Court could make it still more prosperous by making a new departure in the policy of wage fixation and by increasing the purchasing power of the wage and salaried workers of this country."

■ Mr Roberts claimed that no evidence had been submitted against substantial wages increases for skilled and semi-skilled workers, or against any section of workers being paid a weekly wage. Manual workers were as much entitled to an assured weekly income as the professional man, the employer, or any other section of the community.