AMONG THE SHEARERS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 91, 17 April 1923, Page 8

AMONG THE SHEARERS

HIGHER WAGES WANTED

DISPUTES BEING FILED

A NEW UNION MOVEMENT.

The award under which tho shearers are working expires on 30th April, and j steps are now being taken by shearers, shed hands, machine experts, and crutchers to secure a new award providing for increases in wages for the whole of the industrial districts throughout the Dominion. At present the shearers are paid i 24s per JOO, but the New Zealand Workers' Unioi), to which the shearers, in common with many classes of pastoral workers, are affiliated, is seeking a rate of 30s per 100, with a 44-hour week. The initial steps are being taken -in Marlborough, and the sitting of the Conciliation Council to hear the claims of the workers there will be held at Blenheim on 22nd May. That portion of the dispute affecting the Wellington district will be heard by the Conciliation Council at Wellington on 29th May. Dates have not yet been fixed for the- hearing of the disputes in the Canterbury, Otago, and Northern districts. GETTING IN FIEST. Mr. C. Grayndler, secretary of the New Zealand Workers' Union, stated today that since 1911 the sheep owners had taken the initiative in making application to tho Arbitration Court for awards. "During the war period," said Mr. Grayndler, "while there was a shortage. of labour, the sheep owners hastened to bind the shearing shed workers with an award of the Court; and again, after the slump occurred in the price of wool, they once more took advantage of the Court, telling a pitiful tale as to their position. But now the position has changed. The wool industry was never so prosperous in tho history of the Dominion. Record prices for wool and mutton are prevailing. On this occasion the shearers are getting in first, being forced to do SXS because the last award of the Arbitration Court did not take into account the increase in the cost of living since 1914. This time we expect the Court to take a more lenient view. The past two awards of the Court merely bound as parties the members of the Sheep Owners' Federation, who represent a very small proportion of the sheep owners throughout the Dominion. The New Zealand Workers' Union contends that all sheep owners owning above a certain number of sheep, say, upwards of 2000, should be' made parties to_ any award or agreement of the Court, irrespective of whether they are members of the Sheep Owners' Federation or not." A movement has been on foot in the Marlborough district during the past few weeks to form a new union among the shearers and, it is believed, to break away from the New Zealand Workers' Union. Tho new union was intended to be registered under the Arbitration Act. Although the New Zealand Workers' : , Union is registered , under the Trades Union Act, and, as an industrial organisation, has a method and constitution of working opposed to that of the Alliance of Labour, which embraces several industrial federations, most of the workers connected with the union work under awards of : the Arbitration Court, the shearers and other affiliations being registered as separate unions for that purpose. The registration of the parent, union, as it were,., under, the Trades Union., Apt, gives itt-'S"^corporate.': existance--'and-'-en-ables it to pursue its own method of industrial organisation. For the shearers, or any other section, of the union, to secede, would," it is felt, be a disruptive step. GEEAT DEAL OF DISCONTENT. Commenting on the movement to form a new shearers' union, Mr. Grayndler stated that there was a great deal of discontent existing among the shearing fraternity owing to the last award of the j Arbitration Court. A number of shearers and shed-hands were blaming their union and its rules for the conditions that the Court had imposed upon them, and were under the impression that if they formed a new union, or amended their rules, better conditions would be obtainable. "If that were so," said Mr. Grayndler, "then the alterations of rules and titles of unions might be endorsed at any old time—for the benefit of the workers, of course. But, experience teaches us that this is not so. The very fact of a union going out of existence, or a new union being formed in an industry where there is a union already operating, has at no time been the means of getting wages increased, or of securing improved conditions. The New Zealand Workers' Union claims that if all workers employed in the pastoral industry were members of the one organisation and supplied its officers with information regarding the number of sheep shorn during each season, wages earned, cost of travelling, etc., they would be of more assistance to the union's advocate than they would be if they proceeded along questionable lines. There is also some dissatisfaction among men who shear with blades. In the majority of cases, blade ? shearers are employed where the sheep are hard to shear, namely, merinos and hard, sandy-backed gorge sheep. In these cases, the shearers' earnings and tallies are very low. The opportunities for getting continuous blade runs are not so frequent as for machine runs. This phase of the shearers' occupation has never been taken into consideration by the Court, but if the blade shearers themselves would supply evidence as to their tallies, the Court would be bound to take notice of it. Rather than attempt the formation of new unions, it' would be better for the shearers to continue their allegiance to the New Zealand Workers' Union as at present constituted, for by that means they will be able to show a united front to the sheepowners."