FREEZING WORKERS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 53, 4 March 1927, Page 5

FREEZING WORKERS

SMALL INCREASE AWAEDED

ALIGNMENT WITH OTHER

INDUSTRIES

AEBITRATION COURT'S

DECISION

The Arbitration Court's award in the application jointly made by the Freezing Companies and the Freezing Workers' Unions was filed to-day. It enunciates few new principles, and grants neither the 10 per cent, increase sought by tho workers nor the 10 per cent, reduction sought by the employers, but has' gralnted a sirall increase, chiefly to the minimum wage workers which brings them into alignment with workers in other industries without appreciably affecting the position of the companies. Some attention to the position of the farmers, as a third party, is given by the award, and this appears in full elsewherj.

The currency of the new award is till 30th June, 1928. The general provisions of the former award, by the wish of both parties, are retained.

UNION'S CLAIMS ANSWERED.

The clause relating to the hours of chamber hands has been redrafted by the Court to express the intention of both parties, in a /manner which will prevent former misinterpretations. Various claims by the unions were answered by the Court as follows:—

The matter of overtime had been considered on a number' of occasions, and the Court was anable to find any justification for increasing the ratej.

The Court has not jurisdiction to'-pro'-hibit contract work, but amended the clause so' as to ensure, as far as pos: sible, that" contractors shall comply with the conditions of the award, and that workers mployed by them shall be in as favourable a position as if employed by a freezing company. .

The Court has decided to leave the proportion of learners to mutton slaughtermen as it stood in the now expired award, but it has slightly increased the proportion of learners. in the case of th- larger beef slaughterhouses. . It has amended the provision giving preference to slaughter-house assistants in filling vacancies for slaugh-termen-learners, so as to make it clear that the preference is not absolute, but conditional only.

The officials excluded from the operation of the award are specified.

The Court was unable, in view of the nature of the other wages claims made, and of lack of information on the subject, to entertain a claim for a large increase in the guaranteed minimum wage of slaughtermen's assistants, which is payable whether work i available or not, so long as the worker remains on a company's pay-sheet.

COMPANIES' CLAIMS.

A claim enabling the foreman to fix individual ta.'Hes for slaughtermen has not been granted in tho form in which it was made, but the Court has made it clear that the employers have the right to regulate the killing-pace for individual slaughtermen.

The deletioi of the preference clause was not granted, as an industria offence had not been proved. The Court has, however, added a r.ew provision to the preference clause, by which proferenco to unionists may bo revoked in respect of any establishment qr establishments, if circumstances warrant such a course being taken. A provision authorising tho companies to employ unskilled labour on the more skilled work, by mean's of a team system or in somo other manner in'the event of competent labour not being available, sought by tho companies, was not granted, as the provision asked for would be opon to abuse Ihe Court has, on a former occasion, expressed the opinion that in cases of emergency, duo to strikes or similar causes, tho freezing companies may alter the method of working, provided the minimum .vago is paid. This it was consdered, should bo sufficient' to meet all requirements.

WAGES.

Mr. Montwth (omployees' assessor) was of opinion that 2s t>d per 100 additional should bo granted on slaughtering rates, and at ie t Id '1 time rates, wmlo Mr. Scott (employers' assessor) «ught the increase should be in efficiency instead of money wage Wages provision wore therefore fixed by Mr. Justico Frazor, who says: "The lower-paid iron among tho ireezir- r workers aro not to be regard ed as being debarred by tho Court's pronouncement of 15th September, 1925 from participation in the increase of Id per ' our then decided upon. They are . mentioned specially in that pronoun jment having been remunera on a somewhat low scale in 1914 but as having since then been brought up to the general level. .hen that pronouncement was issued, the unskilled \yorkers in freezing works wero receiving a minimum wage of 2s per hour, or 3d per horn in excess of the general basic unskilled rkor' rate of la 9d per hour. The margin of 3d per hour was intended to compensate the men for the notoriously seasonal and casual nature of tha work anc" for the unpleas ant conditions under which it was per formed. The general basic rate has now been raised to Is lOd per hour, and if the minimum for feezing works em ployees 3 to remain at 2s per hour, the men will have their margin reduced from 3d to,2d per hour.. In view of the low weekly earnings, due to broken time, of the workers in several departments, it so* .is that this margin is insufficient. It was intended, when the last award was made, th ■ these workers should be placed, as nearly as pos sible, in the samo position as labourers in other industries, and I am satisfied that, in the ease of the men employed at many of the freezing works, this po-' sition -annot be maintained if the margin is reduc-d."

THE INCREASES GRANTED. "I am satisfied," says his Honour, "that to refuse an increase of Id per hour to the lower-paid time workers in the freezing works would bring them below tho standard fixed by the last award and by the Court's pronouncement of 1925. From this point of view, they are entitled to an increase of Id per hour, bringing their rate up to 2s Id per hour, vMch, it should bo noted, is less by ljd than the rato conceded by the companies in 1920-21. For the reasons already given, I do not think that the more highly-paid time workers are entitled to the same increase as the minimum \, workers, and I consider that they are entitled only to increases of $d per hour in some cases and }d hour in ot. ers. Insofar as the slaughtermen are concerned, they were conceded a rate of 42s per 100 in 1920-21. The rate in 1914 was 27a 6d per 100 for sheep and lambs, and the rate under the expired award was 38s 6d per 100 for sheep and 36s for lambs, an increase of 40 per cent, for sheep and of 31 per cent, for lambs. In my opinion, an increase of 2s 6d per 100 is not .-justified, though it has been granted by the Auckland companies, but I think that an increase of Is 61 per 100