GAS MANUFACTURE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 81, 6 April 1938, Page 12

GAS MANUFACTURE

DOMINION DISPUTE

EVIDENCE FOR EMPLOYERS

TODAY'S HEARING

1 Evidence that savings effected by the Christchurch Gas Co. had been swallowed up by increased wages and taxation without the company being able to reduce, the price of gas was given by the company's engineer, Francis W. J. Belton,, the first witness called for the employers, at the hearing in the Court of Arbitration of the aioplication for a Dominion award for gas works.

. Mr. Justice O'Regan presided, and with, his Honour were Mr. W. Cecil Prime (employers' representative) and Mr. A. L. Monteith (workers' repre-'

sentative)

Mr. J. Roberts- appeared for the workers, and Mr. W. E. Anderson for the .employers. . , '

Mr. Anderson concluded liis opening, address to the.Coj.irt with.a reference to. the improvement thai had taken place in the machinery at gas works. The tendency, he declared, when machinery was improved was tc reduce manual effort and so make for better working conditions. ,

Mr.-Belton said that in 1931 the net cost uf gas—cost less the revenue obtained by the Christchurch Gas Co. from the sale of by-products—amount-ed: to H-7d- a 1000 cubic feet of gas. During the last twelve months, despite the fact that the cost of coal had increased, the figure had been brought down to approximately 4.5 d a 1000 cubic feet. The price Of gas remained the same, but the , company's dividend, which was 8 per .cent., had. dropped t0.7 per cent. The whole,of the savings effected had been absorbed in increased wages, aiid 'taxation without the company being .able to pass any portion back to the consumers.

GAS CONSUMPTION .When John T. Hungerford,' engineer to the Wellington Gas Co., was in the witness-bo?;, he was cross-examined by Mr. Roberts, on gas consumption in Wellington. Witness agreed that since, the introduction of the 40-hour week in 1936 the consumption of gas had increased considerably.

Mr. Anderson interposed that the employers were.not pleading inability to pay, but submitted that' the Court should ascertain the class of work the men did and,pay them proportionate amounts.

Mr..Prime said it was obvious that the-rates of pay could not be fixed on the prospects and present financial -position of one company."

Mr., Roberts: If they, say that the Competition of .electricity is cutting the gas works out, I am entitled to show the Court that it; is not doing.it and that' the gas works are producing more gas today, than-ever. -....'.

... His Honour said that, as Mr. Prime had pointed out, the Court was asked to make a Dominion award and it could not put any one company in a watertight, compartment. The Court had to fix1 uniform rates. ?

, Mr. Anderson: I am prepared to admit that, elec trio undertakings are not putting'gas works out" of business.

. ,"'.Mr. Roberts: That is'"b&tter. You 'its admitting that the manufacture and sale of gas are increasing every year? Mr. Lowe (an employers' representative) : In some places, but not in ' all places. ' "V

i Mr.''Anderson said that what the employers said was, that unless costs were cut down within reason the position of the gas. companies would be very different. ■

His Honour: The Wellington Company does not plead poverty. We'know it paid, an 8 per? cent, dividend.

FACTORY ACT AMENDMENTS.

James Lowe, -general manager and engineer. of. the Auckland Gas Company, ' read ' a statement dealing; with the matters in dispute and the reasons for."the employers' proposals..

Mr. 7 Lowe divided the manual workers into two groups: (a) ordinary time workers'and (b) shift workers. Ordinary, time 'workers, he explained, were' those who Worked' the usual factory hours, now bri five but formerly on five and a half days in the week. A gasworks differed from the ordinary factory because it must'be kept in continuous operation and could not be shut down over the weekends. Trimming,, handling, and bunkering coal, coke, and ashes and. filling tar stills must be d#ne on Saturday mornings to enable the continuity of the manufacture of gas being preserved. The employers contended that this necessary work should be done at ordinary-rates of pay, and their application in 1936 had 'been granted by the Court.

\ SHIFT WORK.

. Dealing with the question of shift work, Mr. Lowe said it was somewhat unusual in New Zealand exct.pt in gasworks; and he could well believe that those who drafted, the/Factory Act amendments of 1936. forgot all about it;otherwise they would have made suitable provision for it instead of prescribing penal rates of pay for work done on Sundays, Saturday .afternoons, and on statutory, holidays: In his opinion, it was certain that if the iron and steel industry was to be established in New Zealand and to flourish, shift work would have to.be permitted at reasonable rates.- The* employers contended that compensatory payments for shift work done on Sundays and Saturday-afternoons were in fact included in the basic rates prescribed lithe agreements and awards of-the past, ■as had been done since the 1936 amendments to the Factories Act in the engine drivers' awards for Wellington and Canterbury. The present weekly earnings of shift wprkers working 40 hours a week were''very considerably in excess of their weekly earnings for 48 hours in-1931. Had the weekly earn-1 ings remained the same for the'4o-hour week as for the previous 48-liour week, the cost to the employers would have been a 20 per cent, increase, but actually the cost had been increased be- i tween 33 and 42 per, cent. This was | caused by the extra rates of pay for work done on Sundays and Saturday afternoons, although no overtime was worked, the week's work for each worker consisting only of five shifts of eight hours each. The Sunday and Saturday work was not overtime, but was necessary work in the gas industry. "A GOOD JOB." In reply to a question by Mr. Anderson, Mr. Lowe said that working in a gasworks was looked on as a good job. In Auckland there were always a lot of applicants for jobs, particularly to get into tlie retort house. There were very few vacancies' because the men'remained in their jobs; they recognised they could not c&ra the same rates elsewhere for the work they did. In the retort house at Auckland tho men spent half their time sitting down. Practically the only time any complaints about their work were heard from the men at the Auckland works was at. conciliation council proceedings or in the Arbitration sCourt. Mr. Roberts asked the witness if

there had not heen some hold-up of work at Auckland.

Mr. Lowe replied that that happened in his absence from Auckland. All the union secretaries in Auckland seemed to , have gone down ."to. the works. (Proceeding.)