SHEARING RATES

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 95, 19 October 1931, Page 9

SHEARING RATES

NEW AWARD ISSUED

A MAJORITY DECISION

Under the new shearers' award, which has been issued by the Arbitration Court, the rates for both hand and machine shearing have been fixed at not Jess than £1 Is a hundred." The same rale will apply for shearing lambs, and where shearers provide their own rations the rates arc to bo increased by as a. hundred. Tho award is to operate throughout the Gisborne, Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago, /and Southland districts from 26th October next to 30th June, 1932. Wages under the sliding scale agreement, which operated for three seasons, were as follows:—1928-29, £1 10s a hundred; 1929-30, £1 9s a hundred; 1930-31, £1 5s a hundred. The new award provides for the rate for stud sheep to be settled by agreement between the employer and the shearer, and fixes the rate for shearing hogget rams at rate and a half, other rams double ordinary rates. The rates of pay for shed hands are as follows: — Pressers, by the week £2 15s, by the hour Is 7d; all other shed hands, by the week £2 lOsj by the hour Is. sd; youths over 16 years of age and under 18 years of age, by the week £1 10s, by the hour Is Oid ; cooks, for 12 men or under, £3 5a a week; cooks' assistants, £2 15s a ■week. ■ ■ The following rates for shed hands were claimed at the hearing before the Court, the employers' rates being mentioned first: —Pressers, £2 15s a week, £4 10s; all other shod hands, £2 10s, £4- cooks, £3 ss, £6 10s; cooks' as* sistants, £2 los, £4 10s. In regard to shearers' wages the respective claims were:—Union, £1 10s a hundred for hand shearing, £17s 6d for machine shearing; employers, 19s a hundred.

HOURS OF WORK.

The, award stipulates that the hours of shearing shall be from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., or from 5.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., with intervals for,meals, and smoking. Shearing shall stop at 4 p.m. on Saturdays, except in .the case where 48 hours and' 20 minutes' work shall have been done before .noon, in .whi,ch case work may be stopped then: • • When shearing wet ewes the shed manager may alter the intervals for smoking, and extend tho hours to the..extent of half an hour to complete the cat-out. A memorandum to the award states: "The only matter before the Court was wages. The members of the Court were in agreement' as to. tho rates for shed hands, cooks, pressers, and youths, but were unable to agree on the shearers' rates. These latter represent the decision of a majority of «*the Court. Mr. Monteithis of'the opinion that the rate should be 22s instead of 21a. All the members of the Court recognise that the present position of the wool growers requires a reduction in the rates- hither, to ruling, and it is because of this circumstance that the present reductions have been made. This decision,havmg been reached in view of conditions of a special nature, is, of course, not to be regarded as establishing a precedent.'