PLUMBERS' AWARD

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 109, 5 November 1917, Page 2

PLUMBERS' AWARD

The award of ■ the Arbitration Court ill the Wellington District Plumbers' dispute (filed last week) is on the lines of awards made in other centres. Wagea are fixed at Is 6d an hour for registered plumbers, and Is 5d for all other journeymen, with a war bonus of 2d an hour. For apprentices the wages range from 10s in the first year to £2 5s in the sixth. Apprentices who paes the preliminary examination of the City.and Guilds of London Institute are to receive 2s 6d per week additional after two years' service, and those who pass the grade 2 examination are to recieve 5s per week additional after four years' service. Attendance at technical classes is made compulsory for apprentices residing within four miles of a technical school or college, the employer to pay the fees where the apprentice has* an attendance average of 70 per cent. The award is to operate as from 19th November, 1917, to 19th November, 1919. In a memorandum to the award, the workers' representative (Mr. J. A. M'Cullough) records his dissent on the ground that all journeymen plumbers who have served sik years in a highly skilled trade should receive at least Is 6d an hour. He also expresses his disappointment at the refusal of the Court to grant apprentices time off during working hours to enable them to attend technical classes during the day time.