FURNITURE TRADE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 121, 8 February 1918, Page 7

FURNITURE TRADE

DEMANDS OF THE WORKERS CONCILIATION COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS The Conciliation Council sat yesterday •to hear discussion in connection with the claims made by the furniture workers. The . Conciliation Commissioner (Mr. W. Newton) presided, and the assessors were as follow:—For tho employers: Messrs. \V. J. Cousins (Auckland), 11. A. Purser (Wanganui),. and A. Menkes (Wellington). For the union: Messrs. A. Eickhoff ■ (Christchurch), \V, Manson (Auckland), and W. S. l'attison (Dunedm). Mr, D. R. Kennedy was agent for the union and Mr. W. A. Grenfcll represented the employers. The principal claims made by the Union were as follow:—Hours: 44 per week, except for packers iii establishments registered by the Shops and Offices Aofc. Wages: Journeymen cabinetmakers, , upholsterers, chair and frameraakers, billiard-table fitters, machinists, wood carvers, turners, polishers. picture framers, wire-mattress makers, and spring makers, £3 17s. per week. ■ Labourers employed' at timber-staoking, furniture ' packing, tailing out at machines, or other unskilled work, £3 6s; per' week. A 10 pei- cent, increase on tho above rates ehall be paid to all employees who may •be engaged on: (1) Ripping out secondhand upholstered work (2) ' re-making bedding or other upholstered work with secondhand materials; (3) washing off furniture with corrosive materials; (4) remaking of second-hand' wire mattresses. Upholsterers' work shall include 911 kinds of bedding,.planning and cutting loose covers and drapings. Cabinetmakers' work shall include the fitting up of imported furniture. OveTtimo and holidays: Overtime for work done before the hour of commencing work or after the ordinary hour for ceasing work shall be paid for as follows:—2s. (3d. per. hour for the first two hours and 3s. 6d. per hour for each and every hour thereafter. For work done 011 Sundays, specified holidays, ' and the weekly halt-holiday double time shall be paid. No overtime shall be paid until; forty-four hours' work for the week have been worked',' provided, that the time lost' in any, one week is lost by the workman by- his own default or on -his own account. Apprentices: The term of apprenticeship is fixed at five years, with wages' commencing at 12s. 6d. per week and iisfhg to £2. For picture-frame makers, wire-mattress makers, and spring makers the apprenticeship shall be for three years, wages commencing at 225. 6d.' per week and rising to £2.' Where practicable within the scope of the award it shall be compulsory upon the employers to allow apprentices two' half-days of labour per week in the first - three years of their apprenticeship to attend _ ■ technical schools for instruction, and it shall be obligatory upon an apprentice to attencj such schools for instruction, according to-the time arranged.' . Mr. Cousins, speaking -before the union's claims were considered, said that-'before the employers would agree to negotiate-for new terms they must, be satisfied that' the circumstances warranted a change.'- The employers and employees had made an exhaustive review of oonditions in the ' furniture trade' two years and a _ half ago, and had '-'.agfec|d to conditions tnat were accepted as .satisfactory by both parties. These conditions had worked wi'll. The war might have' increa6ed the cost-of living.to some extent, but on tho other hand the employers had suffered through tho loss of many j of their best men and-through the re-1 duction of business. They were working- at a great disadvantage during the' 'war period, and it was a fact that some employers had great difficulty in keeping their businesses going at all. Tho conditions in Wellington, -where ■the war had stimulated trade, were not paralleled an the other parts of the Dominion. Mr'. D. R. Kennedy, replying on behalf of the union, said tluit at the last conference the workers, in order to secure a settlement, had accepted some conditions that from their point of view were not altogether satisfactory. They had accepted; for example, an improver clause, designed to meet the case of a dull boy who could not' become competent within the period of apprenticeship. Now the employers expected every bay to become an improver at the expiration of his term. The union appreciated tho difficulties of the employers, but there was no getting away from the faot that prices had increased in all directions, and it was only through the employers that the workers could secure any relief. The union had accepted the conditions of the award for the fuU term without asking for a war bonus, and it was entitled now to a review of the'wages that had been accepted nearly three years earlier. Mr. Grenfell said it did not appear that Mr. Kennedy had proved the need for an amendment of the award.

Mr. Kennedy replied that there were defects in the present award. Proper provision was pot made for working spacej for example. Mr. Cousins said that the Labour Department would deal with a point of thntikind. The employers could not bo expected to bear the ivhole war burden. He suggested that if the workers could not earn enough money in the fortyfour hours specified by the present award, they should return to the old working week of forty-seven bours for the war period. The .weekly wage of I£3 17s. with no proyision for a reduction for time lost, was not justified by the condition of the .industry, and he considered that the increases asked for wire! mattress makers and pictureframers, 1 amounting to over 27 per cent., were rat reasonable. The union wag asking for an increase of 16 per cent, in the case of a journeyman, 33 per cent, for a labourer, and 28 por cent for second-hawl work. The council proceeded to consider the proposals of the union clause by clauso. No settlement was reached during the day, and the proceedings were adjourned until this morning.