OLD & NEW COMPARED

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 24, 29 January 1912, Page 3

OLD & NEW COMPARED

THE SEAMEN'S AGREEMENT. COMPREHENSIVE EXPLANATION BY UNION SECRETARY. THE GENERAL CONDITIONS. Although the term? ol the new agreement entered into between the Seamen's Union and the shipowners have been published, the points of difference between the old and the new conditions nave 'not. boen explained in a compreh.cn«ive way. Mr. Youn£, secretary of the Wellington branch, in an interview with a, Post reporter today, explained the differences in language which will bo quite clear to tho general reader. "in the matter of wages," ho said. " these have been increased by £1 per month all round on the rates prevailing urior to the provisional agreement entered into on i3th November last. Overtime rates for boating cavgo in roadsteads wae formerly paid for at tlio fate of lc 66. for eight months, of *he v«n,r and Is 9d for tour' months. It is fliw. 3 s 9d cl\ the year round. WOBKING CARGO. •' "Wording cargo under the old aw&td •v'as paid at lg '3d pc? liour. It !■> now U 6d. Cleaning, chipping, and Pea ling inside boilers, etc., was formerly 1s por hour. It is now Is 6d. Other t-h-Mca, of work were formerly paid at the ralj» of Is per hour. Nov> the rate »» Is 3d. f/nder the old award only married men <;ould refuse to work overtime at their home pott, fco Gong as not less than one-half of the crew remained «n t board. It is now optional for any ! member of a crew to work overtime at Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin, or afc home port, provided that one-fourth of the crew but not less than two deck hands and one in the stokehold and engine «oom remaiu on board. Under ihe old award, when a vessel left a port on a Sunday or holiday men were only paid overtime lor actual time worked. Now they are to be paid an extra day's sea, jiay in such cases, and, in addition, overtime for the actual time worked whilst in port. EXCURSION PROVISIONS. Excursion rates stand as formerly, i OAcept that under the new agreement if men are ordered down for an excursion . nd the vessel does not proceed, they are '■> be paid a minimum of 4s per man. Improvement has also been made Jn the n.atter of overtime payment for shifting bhip, inasmuch as. each shift is to be treated as occupying one hour at least,' nud any clearing of decks is to be paid frfc ns overtime in addition. Formerly ihe donkeyman was not paid overtime for raising steam on mam or donkey boiler. He is now to be" paid overtime for that work. BETWEEN PORTS. A new clause lias been inserted, which provides that when a vessel is steaming between ports, bays, and roadsteads, and the time occupied is one hour or under, the overtime of deckhands deemed to have the watch below shall be continuous, but this does not apply to a vessel steaming between Dunedirt and Port Chalmers. By the old order of things men could not refuse to accept time off in lieu of cash payment for overtime, and if they took time- off they had to provide a substitute suitable to the officer in charge ol the department. The men now have the right to refuse to take time off, and if they take time off themselves it is Hot necessary for them to provide a substitute. HOURS OF LABOUR- IMPROVED. Formerly the- hoouflf of labour at «ea ■weie watch and watch, for deck hands. That resulted co that when a vessel was at sea one watch would work ten hours a day and the other watch 14 hours. And when in port the men were required to give eight hours' work between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Consequently deck hands worked very long hours, and in some cases as many as 20 and 25 hours without overtime. We have now laid it down that in all Intercolonial and South Pacific Island passenger^ and cargo steamers carrying nine or mote men on deck the hours of labour shall be eight in the twenty-four to be worked as the employer requires. On other vessels watch aril watch of four houra on and four houra off continues. But we have made pi'o vision that in port the tours of labour are to be eight ; and sea watches are to count a 6 portion of the eight hours. Consequently the eight hour day is extended to all ships, as vessels that do not carry nine men on deck are ahips that aro in this port to-day and the next port to-morrow. The eight hour day eoincs into force on the Ist July next. " ANCHOR WATCHES. "Previously when an anchor watch was kept in any port, bay, or roadstead by deck hands no overtime was paid. We have now made provision for overtime payment for-such woik. Night watch in port stands as before, except that broken time is to be paid for at th« rate of Is per hour. "Under the old system when a holiday was spent at sea the men obtained nothing fbr it. Now where ' the holiday is wholly spent at sea, the men are to bcpaid an extra day's sea pay or allowed a day oft* ashore at home port. This applies to Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, and Easter Monday. The holidays iv port remain as before. MEAL HOURS. "Th^.meal' hours in part have been altered^and we have now agreed for one hour for breakfast, between 7 and 9 a.m., an hour for dinner, batv.een 12 noon and 2 p.m., and, i* working overtime, one hour for tea between 5 p.m. - and 7 p.m. If working continuously after 11 p.m. one hour for supper, be- j tween 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. This is the first time in the history of the union in New Zealand where provision has bwti made for supper in 'iriy award or agreement. In the past mer could be given 15 or 30 minutes for their meal and paid overtime for the balance of the hour. Under the new agreement that has been abolished and the men "must now be given the full hour for their 1 meal. SANITATION OF QUARTERS. '"Formerly it was necegsary» only for \ the " shipowner to see that the living quarters of the men were kept uleau and sanitary. This meant that if they could be kept clean and sanitary merely by washing them out once a week that was all that was necessary. We- have now laid it down that tae living quarters must be cleaned every day, irrespective whether the ship is at sea or in port, by a steward or seaman, or other suitable person within his hwtt- \.l duty- In the port no specific time for cleaning set of qnaiter* was provided for. It is now -arranged that if nine persons are, in the quarters one boar is to be allowed; over nine and wide? eighteen, two hours ; more than eighteen, thr^o hocrp. We have also succeeded in launching out in a new direction by making 'provision that crews' quarters shall be fumigated, cleaned, and painted at least onc<f in every year while the v?«S3I is in port. In the past deck j hinds had to give half an hour, without trterhmep for <3iaehargiDg luggage, mails, and live stock on arrival. That is now abolished and the rasa will be paid overtime for the work. ■Quartermasters were paid the average overtime i

paid io men driving winches and hydraulics. This meant that these men could be buffeted about by the officer wherever .ho chose. That is also abolished, and these men will be paid overtime for actual time worked. This establishes the principle of a definite arrangement as between 'master and man. In port on Sunday morning deck hands were required to give two hours without overtime for washing decks and decorating ships. This has been reduced to one hour, between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. When a vessel left the port deck hands were required to give half an hour for clearing decks, stowing cargo, gear, etc. This has now be«n reduced to fifteen minutes, and the work confined to clearing decks and stowing cargo gear. Under tho old award a man was entitled to a passage to' the port where he- signed his agree-, menfi if discharged! by the master. The construction placed on this was that if a new agreement was entered into the man could not claim a par>sage to "the port where ha first joined the ship. Wo have now mad© provision that hi such cases a man may demand a passage to the .port where he first joined the vessel, ev<?a supposing that he subsequently enters into a dozen new agreements'. NECE^SAEY AND UNNECESSARY WOEK. N j in the past "unnecessary work" in, ! port between S p.m. and 7 a.m. was construed to mean scouring, washing paint, etc. Tt is now laid down that j when under .banked fires no unnecessary worfc shiill bo done in the^engine-room 'and stokehold between the nours of 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. "Unnecessary work" now means "scouring, washing paint, painting, cleaning tank tops, and chipping," and it is specifically laid down that buildings are not to be cleaned during the nighl unless the work is necessary. PREFERENCE AND OTHER ' THINGS. "Preference, of course, has been granted.* This is the first 'time it has been granted since 1890. We have definitely made provision in the preference clause that any member of the union wilfully misconducting himself on board' ship, impeding the voyage of the ship, or wilfully missing passage, shall be dealt with as the union executive shall decide. "In vessels operating in the Auckland extended river limits, also on the steamers Gale, Kawau, Orewa, and Kotiti, provision is made for the men employed to work fifty^six hours per week as the employer desires. Recognising that thi6 is an exceptional trade, and not a seagoing one, we agreed to treat it as an exceptional circumstance. The- hours agreed to are a material improvement on the .hours previously worked., ,All other provisions of the award apply equally to these ships. PLAIN LANGUAGE. "In conclusion," Mr. Young stated, "I may say that in the past the working of the awards of the Cqurt has been stich as to make certain things quite misunderstandable to the parties called upon to_ observe them. The result was that this led to a great deal of misunderstanding, friction, and litigation between the union, shipowners, the men | and ships' officers. We have worded J the agreement ihour own language, our own words, which is known to and will be clearly understood by the men and- ship officers, and by so doing I venture the opinion that we will get along much better and more harmoniously in the future. The agreement on Thursday evening was read in detail and explained to the largest meeting of members of the Seamen's Union that has been held in Wellington 1 for seventeen years. It «was unanimously adopted, and a hearty vote of thanks, accompanied ''with acclamation and three cheers, were given for the .union representatives." ,