BAKING TRADE

Evening Post, Issue 154, 1 July 1936, Page 10

BAKING TRADE

BREAD AND PASTRY

"A NATURAL PROCESS"

HOURS DIFFICULTY

Bread "rises" because of a mild fermentation brought about by the combination of yeast and the sugary constituents of flour, and the New Zealand Master Bakers* Association, when applying in the Arbitration Court yesterday for permission to work a 44----hour week, argued that this "natural process" demanded an elasticity in the hours worked. The present hours of work are 46 for operatives and 48 for carters, and the application asked, for a 44-hour week and the right to work 10 hours on any one day of the week.

Mr. F. A. Jarrett, secretary of the New Zealand Master Bakers' Association, made the application, and it was opposed by Mr. E. J. Watson, secretary of the New Zealand Federated Bakers' •and Pastrycooks' Employees' Association, on behalf of the workers.

Mr. Jarrett said that a brief description of the processes which constituted bread-making would help to give a clear understanding of the problems of the industry. The making of bread was so dependent on a natural process that the greatest elasticity in the working hours was required. Although scientific and technical knowledge had combined to help the art of bread-making it remained a natural process and for that reason it had always been allowed longer hours than other industries.

Mr. Jarrett went on to discuss the p: iroblem of double and treble supply a t weekends and when a statutory holm-n [ay occurred on Saturday or Monday, h t was estimated that nine hundred h lb loaves were required by each 1000 S >f the population per week and the t< lour used in New Zealand was about d .14,000 tons per annum. There were h ipproximately 800 bread bakers in si tfew Zealand, and it was claimed that v 15 per cent, of these manufactured a mder two thousand 41b loaves per h veek. There were many bakers in the t Dominion who employed labour to d namifacture sixteen hundred 41b t! oaves per week. Such an output tl •vould employ two men for eight hours h md the weekend demand would re- s luire 10$ hours on Saturday. During " :he week 174' hours would be occupied i in preparing the dough, leaving 22J for other work which could not be :ompleted in that time. In many country bakeries the turnover of bread was small and small goods had to be baked to supplement the output. That meant working overtime and the cost of employing another baker in such places would be prohibitive. , PRODUCTION COSTS. Mr. Jarrett handed tables to the Court to show how much'increase there would be in costs if the working week was reduced. The total production cost of a 41b loaf during a week of 46-48 hours was 7.364 d; a reduction to 44 hours would increase the cost to 7.594 d; and a.40-hour week would increase it to 7.924 d. With distribution and administration costs added the total costs were:—46-48-hour week, 10.384 d; 44-hour week, 10.849 d; 40-hour week, 11.484 d. These figures were taken out for a small bakery producing eight hundred 41b loaves a week and having a capital of £1500. The average selling price per 41b loaf was given as 9.75 d, showing a loss of .634 d: under present conditions; a loss of 1.099 d with a 44-hour week; and a loss of 1.734 d with a 40----hour week. The control of the price of bread meant that the baking industry had been made the collector of the money for payment-to miller and wheat grower, Mr. Jarrett said, but was left with the public demand and credit risk as its share of the burden, together with competition based on quality and service. If the- process of baking was speeded up to conform to shorter hours the quality of the loaf would suffer. In many bakeries it would be impossible to complete the day's work under a certain number of hours, and the solution was not in increased staff as the natural processes in bread-baking could not be speeded up. Mr. C. E. Boon, chairman of the cxc-! cutive of the New Zealand Master Bakers' Association, gave evidence regarding the working time required for bread making. Mr. F: W. D. Sincock, a pastrycook of Christchurch and New Brighton, said that he had employed two extra men for the purpose of shortening the working hours but the ovens and mixers could not cope with them. In reply to Mr. Watson, witness said that he had not tried employing, an extra operative so that one man could stand down each day. Mr. D. E. Dustin, a bread baker and pastrycook of .Wanganui, arid^ Mr. G. K. Mathieson,' a master baker of. Auckland, also gave evidence in support oi the application. • ' ' Mr. Justice Page asked Mr. Jarrett if he claimed that the bakers were losing Jd on every 41b loaf baked. Mr. Jarrett: No; your Honour, but c >baker making 800 loaves per week anc nothing else would lose that. The figures given, he added, were no! taken from a particular business bui were prepared as an illustration. He believed that 90 per cent, of the baker! in the four main centres were losinj approximately id a day per 41b loa on their bread baking.

Mr. A. L. Monteith (workers' representative) said a baker producing 1600 loaves a week would be losing upwards of £2 a week.

Mr. Jarrett said that was the posi-l tion, and it was being counteracted in most cases by the employer working in the bakehouse for a margin below a journeyman's wages. Mr. Watson argued against the application and said that the 40-hour week could be applied by the employment of extra men. There were bakers seeking work and these could be "employed if a shorter working week were adopted. I Decision was reserved.