SHOP WORKERS’ HOURS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 256, 25 July 1936, Page 4

SHOP WORKERS’ HOURS

First Cases Heard GROCERS AND BUTCHERS The Arbitration Court yesterday heard applications under both the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act and the Factories Act tor the lixation of hours of work in the grocery and butchery trades. These were the first of the applications concerning retail shops. Air.,Justice Page presided, with him Mr. W. Cecil Prime (employers’ assessor) and Mr. A. L. Monteith (workers' assessor). The application concerning the grocery trade,was heard first. Mr. W, E. Anderson, secretary of the Auckland Employers’ Association, and Mr. S. I. McKenzie, secretary of the Manawatu Employers’ Association, appeared for the employers, and Mr. A. W. Croskery (Wellington) for the workers. Mr. Anderson said the employers opposed the workers’ applications to amend the Northern, Wellington and Canterbury awards to provide for a 40-hour, five-day week in these retail .shops on several grounds. The Shops and Offices Act had already fixed the open hours for shops at 44 a week of live and a half days. It was impracticable to reduce the working hours of shop assistants to 40 a week. The legislation did not intend the section fixing the open hours for shops to apply to assistants. Grocers, said Mr. Anderson, were subject to competition from a multitude of small-goods shops that were not required to close when the grocers were. There was no means of checking that competition or of preventing •late trading by those shops. The Shops and Offices Act covered shops which actually stocked many grocery lines. Pork butchers and dairies, for example, sold pickles, sauces, eggs, condensed milk, butter and cheese. There was no statutory definition of a grocer’s shop, consequently there was no means of application to have the sale of any class of goods confined to the grocer. Busy Shopping Periods. From 40 to 00 per cent, of grocery sales were made on Fridays and Saturday mornings. With a five-day week the whole of that business would have to be handled on Fridays, an impossible task. A shop was staffed to give the maximum output during the busy periods, so that the .output could not be increased by the employment of additional workers. The Shops and Offices Act prohibited • overtime except with respect to work not being the actual sale of goods, and the Department of Labour had placed , a narrow interpretation on this provision. It would mean that drivers could not be legally employed to deliver the Friday accumulation on Saturday morning. Mr. Anderson said factory workers now had' plenty. of ' time to do their ■shopping, but such, would not be the ‘case if shop assistants’ hours were reduced to 40 a week.- It was significant that only three unions had made application for a 40-hour . week. _The suggestion to close shops •at 4.45 p.m. on four days of the week and at 8.15 on Friday was unreasonable. The present last half-hour was a most convenient shopping period, while the late night would be useless if the closing hour were 8.15 p.m. The Auckland employ•ers had on one occasion conceded three-quarters of an hour to the assistants on Saturday mornings rather than lose Friday night business by earlier closing. Further retailers said that a holiday during the week resulted in a 10 per cent, reduction of turnover, which was not recoverable. The factor of perishable goods was applicable more to the North Island grocers, who would all have to install refrigerators if they were required to keep these goods over the week-end in saleable condition. Many lines could not be easily kept. In suburban districts, said Mr. Anderson, Saturday morning was a popular shopping period, as the children were available to run the messages, and many mothers were able to leave the younger children in the care of nhe older ones while they themselves went to the shops. Housewives had to make provision for unexpected weekend visitors. Country grocers, with deliveries of up to 20 miles, could not be expected to close on Saturday mornings. Often the delivery was run in conjunction with mail contracts, so that in any case the vehicles would have to be run. Saturday in some country districts was the busiest day of the week, the half-holiday often being a midweek one. The unions’ applications had overlooked that fact. . The concluding point made by Mr. Anderson was that many families were unable to purchase their week-end requirements until the weekly wages had been received on Friday. Their purchases were best made on Saturday morning.

A Trip of Discovery. Giving evidence, Mrs. E. Richards and Mrs. M. Hamilton, Johnsonville, described a trip made by them to a number of suburban dairies in Wellington for the purpose of discovering what grocery lines were procurable in this class of shop. A list was produced and handed to the court Both witnesses dented any connection with employers’ associations. Evidence concerning the probable effect of a shorter working week on the busy shopping periods of Friday and Saturday was given by Mr. G. R. Hutchinson, director of Hutchinson Brothers Limited, Auckland; Mr. I. A. L. Oliver, manager of Marriott’s Stores Limited, Auckland, representing the Auckland Chain Stores Association and the Auckland Master Grocers’ Association; Mr. H. Wardell, Wellington, representing the Wellington Grocers’ Association and Wardell’s Limited, Christchurch and Dunedin; Mr. J. F. Turnbull, president of the Wellington Master Grocers’ Association. Grocers Themselves Pirates. Addressing the court, Mr. Croskery said that, as far sa the class of goods sold was concerned, the grocers had no reason to complain of the small goods shops. They were themselves the biggest pirates in existence. They had especially taken away the lines of pork butchers, dairies and fruiterers. The workers were not responsible for any duplication of lines, but the employers themselves. The law provided for the eale of separate classes of goods as long as separate ehop entrances were erected. Under a 40-hour week in industry there would be very little Saturday morning shopping in any case. Country storekeepers were well disposed toward a complete Saturday closing, as it would provide a mucb-ne«lzd break. Mr. Croskery was on the point of referring to the evidence of the two women witnesses who had visited tniburban •lairies when Mr. Anderson, for the employers, rose to inform the court that he had made inquiries during the luncheon adjournment concerning this evidence, and had found the witnesses had been instructed by the Wellington Employers’ Association to visit dairies in Wellington and make purchases of grocery lines. His Honour: It iis clear the evidence was collected. Concluding, Mr. Croskery said the main question wemed to concern the selling of grocery lines by other shops, and this lie hail dealt with. He submitted the people would readily accommodate them-.-■elves to the change. At Easter and at some Christmas seasons the shops were

closed for four days. In order to safeguard the abolition of Saturday work the count was attked to include in the award a provision that every .Saturday be a holiday. Decision was reserved.

BUTCHERS’ HOURS

Saturday Closing Opposed Mr. A. W. Croskery represented the Wellington, Canterbury, and Dunedin butchers’ assistants, and Mr. W. E. Gill those of Auckland, at the hearing.in the Arbitration Court of an application brought by 519 master butchers for an extension of hours of work to 44 a_week, to be worked between 7 a.m. and o p.m. on ordinary working days aud between o a.m. and noon on Saturday. The butchers’ assistants applied tor an amendment under the Shops and Offices Act to provide for a 40-hour week, with the abolition of Saturday work. Butchers Under Two Acts.

For the employers, Mr. W. J. Mountjoy, secretary of the Wellington Employers' Association, said that butchers’ premises were in one part a shop and in another part a registered factory, the introduction of power machinery being sufficient to include part of the shop as a factory. The 44-hour week permitted by the Shops and Offices Act was a reduction of four hours on the provisions of the 1921-22 Act. The hours of work under the Factories Act were 40 a week, or eight hours less than under the Act of 1921-22. The butchers were thus in the impossible position that some of their, workers were permitted to work 44 hours a week and others only 40, notwithstanding that the two classes worked in conjunction in the one shop. Since 1920 the hours of male workers in shops and factories had been the same. The present Government had evidently reverted to the idea that, factory workers should have shorter hours than shop assistants. The court should make, an order extending the hours of butchers’ assistants working sausage machines for part of the time, if only for the sake of uniformity of hours in the same shop. The fact that shop assistants and the factory men worked the same hours under six different awards established the necessity of this arrangement. Difficulties of Saturday Closing. It was remarkable, said Mr. Mountjoy, that only two butchers’ unions had applied for a reduction of assistants’ hours to 40 a week. It seemed that all except the Wellington and Canterbury unions were satisfied with the Shops and Offices Act. Many reasons could be given to show the impracticability of excluding Saturday from the butchers’ working week. There would be a reduced consumption of meat, since a large amount of trade would be diverted to shops selling fresh and tinned fish, spaghetti, and soups. In addition, the unfair competition of small goods and cooked meat shops would be intensified. Under five days of eight hours each, the time of commencing would be S a.m., making it impossible to supply hotels, hospitals and boarding schools at an early hour each morning. Hotel proprietors could not possibly anticipate the quantity of meat required from Friday to Monday. Ships could not be supplied if they came into port on Saturday morning. In country districts it had been found difficult even under a 48-hour week to serve the customers efficiently. Wages at present were 17i per cent, of the sales, and 62 per cent, of the total costs, so that the cost of employing additional hands would be prohibitive. Mr. J. F. Carter, managing director of the Manawatu Meat and Cold Storage Company, Limited, gave evidence to show the danger of the contamination of meat if kept over the week-end. He said his firm was reaching its maximum output already on Fridays, and could not cope with extra demand on that day.

Supporting evidence was given by Mr. W. C. Deller, Carterton; Mr. E. F. Thwaites, president of the Palmerston North Butchers’ Association; Mr. L. Barber, Masterton, and Mr. G. F. Lane, general manager of the Auckland Meat Company, Limited. Charge Against Employers. Mr. Croskery made strong submission on behalf of the workers that employers were taking advantage to make an application under the Factories Act which they were not warranted iu making under the Shops and Offices Aet, in view of the fact that of the 134 Wellington parties to the butchers’ award only 12 could be classed as factory occupiers. These 12 factories were all run in conjunction with retail businesses, except one, aud that had for some time been working a 40-hour week. In the whole Wellington district, only 21 establishments out of 343 employed workers exclusively under the Factories Act It appeared beyond doubt, said Mr. Croskery, that the employers were also using the legislation as an organising means to build up their own society. He objected to this being done at the expense of the time of the court. With respect to the retail portion of the businesses a large number of butchers already observed the Saturday half-holi-day, and it would cause no hardship for Saturday morning work to be abolished, especially as the Shops aud Offices Act prohibited' more than five hours being worked without a meal; so that if the employers commenced at 6 a.m. they would have to allow the employees to finish at 11 a.m. Mr. W. E. Sill, Auckland, said only three employers in his city came under the Factories Act. The Auckland Meat Company did not manufacture email goods on Saturdays. The custom wa sto have a stock on hand, and any work done on Saturday in this part of the business consisted of cleaning up the premises. Referring to the South Auckland butchers, he said he knew of only one linn employing any person in the factory exclusively. Mr. Croskery asked that the decision of the court be delayed until after the hearing of the general shop assistants’ case on August 8. Master butchers had told him that if all shops were closed oil Saturday mornings they would suffer little hardship in falling into line. Mr. Mountjoy objected to this suggestion. The master butchers had an affinity with other retail concerns, and were entitled to know as soon as possible to whut conditions they would hate to conform. Decision was reserved.

40-HOUR WEEK FOR LAUNDRY WORKERS

Laundering firms have decided not to proceed with their applications for an extension of hours of work to -14 a week, said Mr. D. I. McDonald, secretary of the Canterbury Employers’ Association, in asking leave to withdraw the applications from the Arbitration Court yesterday. DECISIONS OF COURT Industries Affected Following are the industries affected by the decisions of the Arbitration Court to date: — 40-HOUR WEEK. Laundry workers (by agreement). Footwear manufacturers. Sawmilling industry. Box-making factories. Timber yards. Woollen mills. Hosiery and knitting factories. Paper mills. Ammunition manufacturers. Biscuit and confectionery (by agreement). Manufacturers of men’s and boys’ clothing. | Shirt, white, and silk industry. Dressmaking and millinery industry,

Range-making industry. Soap manufacturers. Chemical manure factories (by agreement). Jewcllery main) factn rers. Neckwear manufacturers. Coachbuilders. Fur garment manufacturers. Furniture manufacturers, including upholsterers, polishers, picture-frame makers, and wire mattress makers. Burnt lime manufacturers. 44-HOUR WEEK. Pottery manufacturers. Bakers and pastrycooks. 44 IN SUMMER; 36 IN WINTER. Aerated water manufacturers. 44 IN SUMMER: 40 IN WINTER. Fruit and vegetable preserving and canning and jam making. Shell lime manufacturers. Fruit preserving.