SOAP INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 51, 2 March 1937, Page 4

SOAP INDUSTRY

THE;'COURT'S; &sss RD

. DISSENTING OPINION:

Rates of wages, -and^concjjtions of employment for workers iri^heV.soap and candle industry are'^ set .oiitJn an , award issued yesterday by-, the? Airtiitra- .; tion Court. The Court was askecl'.to de- : termine questions relating ■tQ^Wages, hours of work, holiday*sv:4casual'j:\vorkers, and overalls, other matters'jbein£

agreed to in conciliation council. A dissenting opinion on ■ wages 'tor- femala workers is appended to the .^■award by Mr. : A. L. Monteith (employees' assessor). .

The' award fixes a 40-hour week for workers: in a soap, soda ; .crystal, or candle factory; and a 44-hou.r- week for workers .in .a tallow, casing, and by-products factory. ..,;. The iollowing'';.vminimum'"rates ot wages have' been" iix'ed:--r''::; :^:V;,V

Adult male .workers in soapi':s^acrystal,'. arid' candle factories,:/'and in tallow, manure, casing v vand; '.by-pro-ducts;, factories,'2s 2|d per hour.:,:-Boys arid "youths up to twenty, ytearsjof aga may be employed, at the discretion'of the employer, at not less-than the: following rates of wages per week:—Under 16 years of age v£l 2s;; from 16: to' * lßJyears, £1 6s; 16J to; 17 years, £1 10s; 17 to 17J years, £1 14s; 17i to 13 years,' V£1:48s;: 18-tc^lSKyears?;£2 2s; ■18J do 19 .years; £2 9s-:?lS ;to?0 years, : £3 is, and thereafter, the;minimum wage, for adult workers:; ■;.:: '% J•: ; f- ': Female workers may be < employed at -not less than the. following, rates -of wages per week:—First .six months of - service, 15s; second six- months,' 19s; third six.months, ;;£1 3s; .fourth^ six., months, £1 7s; 'fifth'1: six- months,,: £1 11s; sixth six months, £1 15s;; seventh six months, £2; and thereafter. £2 5s —provided that no female oftthe age of 21 years or upwards,■shaH-'receiva less than £1 16s per week. :-.. ;:"' \ ,

."..: AH time worked:outside of'thi hours prescribed shall be.-paid ,:at<the J rate of time and; a half for the firsUfour hours' and double time thereafter/with a minimum payment of Is 6d-per hour, : In his dissenting opinion, Mr. Monteith states: " . ' ' :'.', "I strongly dissent from the scale set forth for females. By, taking solely the '■ period of service and. not taking any notice of age/the result is that it is possible to employ a young \y.c?maa who :isVtwenty■'■ and. a half. years for 15s per 'week, or a young woman at twenty for 15s for six months and then for the next.six months at 15s. Ido not think that such a young woman could even get board in the humblest family for 15s a week, and how a girl at twenty years can live .arid clothe herself at the money is beyond me. it may be said that not many such cases occur/but a scale that takes;no notice of age and gives to the girl at sixteen years and the young woman at twenty the same wage as long as it is the tirst year of service, is, in my opinion, unfair' '' It 'has been stated that ■ .they., are worth ■ no." more. I cannot agree. A person: at -twenty is much: : more ft* sponsible than one at 16. Ibelieve that the principle;-as-set out-in the. shop assistants^-scala.: is for •females: IT'lt:-sets out age as the base, an-1 Ihen- makes for those who enter..;theV trade later, allowing them time-to gain experience before entering the general scale. A scale that allows a position, whereby a female at twenty and a half gets a wage ol 15s is not,, in my. opinion, a. reasonabla