CHEMISTS' SALARIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 17, 21 January 1938, Page 11

CHEMISTS' SALARIES

MINIMUM OF £300?

ACTION TO BETAKEN

Dissatisfied with the low salaries paid to some qualified chemists in industrial concerns, the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, at its annual meeting yesterday, decided to endeavour to establish £300 as a minimum salary for men in the profession with degrees, states the "Press," Christchurch, of today. Members of the institute quoted instances of the lucrative ■ posts held by technologists in many industries and failed to see why chemists in the same concerns were not given their due reward for expert knowledge.

Dr. H. N. Parlon, Dr. R. O. Page, and Mr. R. L. Andrew led the discussion, contending that some chemists with the M.Sc. degree were being paid less than clerks, although they had spent valuable time in acquiring expert professional knowledge upon which the welfare of industries, or at least their efficiency, depended.

The institute decided, on the motion of Mr. J. Packer, that where positions were offered to qualified chemists at salaries which the council of the institute considered inadequate, action should be taken to have the remuneration increased. A salary of £300 a year for men with the M.Sc. degree was considered a suitable minimum figure.