WAGES IN TWO INDUSTRIES

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27928, 27 March 1956, Page 12

WAGES IN TWO INDUSTRIES

SURVEY BY LABOUR DEPARTMENT

PAYMENTS ABOVE AWARD RATES

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON. March 26.

According to a survey of ruling rates of wages conducted by the Department of Labour, average wage payments in the occupations covered are more than £1 for a 40-hour week (or 6d an hour) above award rates. This information was given today bv the Minister of Labour (Mr W. Sullivan) in a statement on the results of the survey.

For plumbers, the ruling rate was as high as £2 Is 3d above award rates, and engineering labourers had a margin of £1 18s lOd a week.

The Minister said that the survey, which covered 11 occupations in the building and engineering industries, showed that many employers in those industries were paying rates substantially higher than the minimum rates under the Arbitration Court’s awards. A similar position had been revealed by surveys in 1952 and 1954. The survey was conducted by taking a 10 per cent, sample of employers in the two industries in eight cities, and asking them for information about actual wages paid for a 40-hour week during the period February 20 to February 25. 1956.

The Minister said that although the survey was conducted primarily to permit comparison with rates in Government employment, the information was of considerable general interest to employers.