F.O.L. To Press For Margin For Skill

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30739, 1 May 1965, Page 16

F.O.L. To Press For Margin For Skill

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, April 30.

The Court of Arbitration is to be asked by the Federation of Labour to establish a percentage wage margin for tradesmen of not less than 20 per cent above rates paid to unskilled workers.

The F.O.L. will apply to the Court this month for a date on which its claims can be heard by the Court.

They will be presented by the president of the federation (Mr T. E. Skinner), who will put them forward in representing the New Zealand Printing Trades Federation which is involved in an award dispute with the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association and the New Zealand Master Printers’ Federation.

Conciliation proceedings between the Printers' Union and the two employers’ organisations broke down in Wellington last week on the questions of pay rates, holiday provisions, long service pay grants and sick leave.

The F.O.L. is expected to ask that any margins for skill approved by the Court -for the printing trade are im-

mediately passed on to other tradesmen such as electricians, carpenters, engineers and plumbers. First By F.O.L.

The margins claim will be the first presented to the Court by the F.0.L., although about seven years ago the Engineers’ Union sought and obtained from the Court skill margins for its members. In granting these margins the Court directed that similar margins be passed on to other trademen at the expiry of their existing awards Union officials estimated yesterday that about 250,000 tradesmen were likely to be directly affected by the F.O.L.’s claims. They said that if the F.O.L. was successful in its case skilled and semi-skilled professional workers would probably benefit accordingly. Mr Skinner said the F.O.L. had been concerned for some

time at the diminishing margins for skilled and semiskilled workers. Full Hearing “I will take the printers’ case before the Court and we will have a full hearing on this question of margins. “Whatever happens in these proceedings will be reflected in other awards for tradesmen.” Mr Skinner said he thought the Court would be hearing fixtures on May 17 and an application for the hearing of the printers’ case would be made that day. The secretary of the Printing Trades Federation (Mr R. G. Freeman) said his organisation felt that unless a “decent” percentage margin for skilled and semi-skilled workers was restored New Zealand would be in a hard position to attract people to industry. “We are concerned at the existing acute shortage of tradesmen in the country.” Would Like 30 p.c. He said the Printers’ Federation would like a margin of 30 per cent above the rate paid to unskilled workers. It thought semi-skilled workers should have a margin of 15 per cent. He said that in general the present margin tradesmen belonging to his organisation had was about 18 per cent. “In most other countries it is between 25 and 30 per cent.”