FREEZING DISPUTE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 19, 23 January 1937, Page 10

FREEZING DISPUTE

MINISTER STEPS IN

DIRECTION TO PARTIES

AGREEMENT SIGNED

At the direction of the Minister ol .abour (the Hon. 11. T. Armstrong) Jl workers in freezing woife who :re employed on an hourly basis are f a o be paid a bonus of threepence an tour. This announcement was made ast evening at the conclusion of the w :onference called by the Government a o discuss the dispute which has m irisen in the industry under the new n . iward. At the conference the parlies SJ :ould not agree upon a settlement, g< md the Minister gave a direction K vhich was subsequently adopted by >oth employers and employees. u At the conclusion of the conference, p vhich lasted for the greater part of u wo days, the Minister of Labour, with u he approval of all parties to the dis- "y >ute, made the following statement: c . "The public are aware of the trouble K hat has arisen in the freezing industry e is a result of certain provisions con- jy ained in the award of the Arbitra- a ion Court, which, in the opinion of rj he workers concerned, operated un- 0 ustly against them and resulted in h >lacing them in an unfair position as jompared with workers in other inlustries. The climax was reached n vhen work was interrupted in the in- h iustry in Auckland. y "As Minister of Labour, I deemed it ny duty, in the public interest, to enleavour in a constitutional way to jring about a satisfactory solution of he questions in dispute. With that obect in view I went to Auckland, where * ' was successful in inducing the men ' o resume work on the understanding hat a conference would be held be- « ,ween their representatives and the >mployers in the industry to discuss ® .he workers' claims. The result was ;hat the men resumed work as re- £ [uested, and the conference commenced * it Parliament Buildings yesterday r ■norning. Both sides were fully represented. I; "MINIMUM RATES." I "The workers put forward a number £ jf questions that were in dispute, but ' liter discussion reduced them to the :wo issues of the 40-hour week and an jncrease in the hourly and piecework > •ates. The representatives of the em- } ployers contended that the matters t iad been submitted to the Court of » Arbitration, which, after hearing evi- t ience, had given its award, and that 1 t would be wrong in principle, and f ,hey did not feel justified in agreeing 1 ;o concede any higher rates during the s currency of that award. I pointed ou„ t that the award only fixed the irre- : iucible minimum rates that could be < aaid in each department, and did not ] prevent the employers from increasing < ;uch rates if they saw fit to do so, nor 1 lid it prevent the representatives of the unions from making representations to the employers to have those rates,increased. _ ' "I also pointed out that the legisla- 1 tion for which I was responsible dur- i ing the last session of Parliament was , the subject of representations by vari- - jus sections of employers, after it had , become law, in which they pointed out 1 that certain provisions operated un- ( [airly or unjustly to their particular in- , dustry. When I was convinced that they were justified in their represen- , tations I immediately had those Acts amended accordingly. If it is right for employers to make representation to me, after Acts of Parliament have been passed, to have unjust provisions removed or amended, surely the worker is equally entitled to approach the employers, for an alteration in certain provisions of an award? A PRECEDENT. "That can be done, and has been done in the past, without in any way reflect- t ing upon the authority of the Arbitration Court. As far back as 1916, when the late Sir William Herries was Minhter of Labour, an award of the Arbitration Court was made for drivers, who, however, rebelled against certain, of its provisions. Sir William Herries brought the parties together, just as I have done on this occasion, and asked them to agree to refer the matters in dispute to Cabin st, and by a Cabinet minute substantial increases were made in the wages of the workers shortly after the award was made. I could quote a number of other instances where concessions have been granted by employers on the recommendation of Ministers, in order to improve the conditions and wages laid down in awards of the Arbitration Court. "The employers were unable to agree in this case to any increase in either the piecework or the hourly rates, nor were they prepared to entertain a proposal for reduction in the hours of work. Eventually, I deemed it my duty, as Minister of Labour, to give some direction, in the interests of industrial peace, and in justice to ceir tain sections of the workers, without being unreasonable with the employers. "I explained to the conference that only exceptional circumstances would warrant my following the 1916 precedent quoted, but that as such exceptional circumstances did appear now to exist, my direction was that the workers should hold in abeyance till the expiry of their award in June next their claims for a shorter working week and for increased piecework rates; and that the employers should grant increased remuneration to the hourly workers, particularly the lower paid men. I directed further, that, taking all the circumstances into consideration, both the employers and the workers should accept an increase for hourly workers in the form of a flat rate bonus of threepence an hour for all hours actually worked, including overtime. . "After both parties had retired to confer separately an agreement was entered into embodying the terms of my directions. The agreement was signed by three representatives of each side, and its terms are appended. "Although at times the conference appeared to have reached a deadlock, tho proceedings throughout were friendly, and I very highly appreciate the attitude of both parties towards the Hon. Mr. Lee Martin and myself as Government representatives. The conference concluded with a vote of thanks from both sides to my colleague and myself." THE AGREEMENT, The following agreement has been signed by both parties:— "The Minister of Labour having directed that the rates of remuneration for hourly workers employed under the terms of the New Zealand freezing workers' award be increased, it is hereby agreed that we accede to the Minister's direction and that, as from January 1, 1937. a bonus of threej pence an hour shall be paid to all workers who are employed on an hourly basis in addition to the rates prescribed by section 2 of the award. Such bonus shall be paid for all time actually worked. The rate of bonus paid in respect of overtime shall be threepence an hour as in the case o( j ordinary time."