AWARD CLAIMS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 82, 7 April 1938, Page 15

AWARD CLAIMS

N.Z. GAS WORKERS

HEARING CONCLUDED

V- WAGE DEMANDS

•The hearing of the application for a Dominion award for New Zealand gas workers concluded in the Court of Arbitration yesterday afternoon. The tburt is to consider the evidence and submissions tendered by the parties before annoifncing an award.

Mr. Justice O'R?gan presided, and associated with his Honour were Mr.1 W. Cecil Prime (employers' representative) and Mr. A. L. Monteith (workers' representative).. • Mr. J. Roberts appeared for the workers, and Mr. W. E. Anderson for the employers. In his cross-examination of James Lowe, general manager and engineer of the Auckland Gas Co., Mr. Roberts dealt at considerable length with the uncomfortably hot temperatures the union claimed the stokers in the retort houses are exposed to, in support of the workers' request for a payment of 2s a day extra as heat money. The witness was also questioned on his statement made in his evidence in chief that for half their time the men engaged in the retort house at the Auckland Gas Company's works were sitting down. Mr. Lowe said he thought it reasonable, to ask the men to work 40 minutes for a 20 minutes' Spell. They were not doing that at Auckland at the present time. The men were working 30 minutes for a 30 minutes' spell because there was not -the work to give them.^ ;.In reply to another question, Mr. Lowe declaredUhat if a man said that a bucket of water boiled in one part of the retort house in a quarter of an hour he was wrong. SUNDAY WORK. - • i . .Mr. Roberts: You do not consider that a man who works on' a Saturdayafternoon and on a Sunday is, at a disability at all compared with the man who has a five-day; week?— Personally, I cannot see it. For myself I. never wish to go to football matches and those sort of things. ■ Mr. Roberts: Have you any. vices a 1; all?—I shall leave you. to judge, that. (Laughter.) ■ • ' ;Do you go to church?— Occasionally..; Don't you think a stoker has a soul as well as you?—Oh, yes. '(Laughter.)' His Honour observed that, according. to what Mr. Roberts had., told the Court earlier, stokers had no fear' of going to the hot place .because of the conditions under which they worked, ,Mr. Roberts'suggested that ;the view perhaps might be, as he had once heard a-ileading -man in the gas industry declare, that the employees .should .go to work on Sundays arid the employers would do the praying . ; !The last witness for -the employers vjas John H. Rishworth,- engineer at the Hamilton Municipal Addressing the Court, ;Mrj. Anderson declared that it would-be most-unjust if the Court were to take: the various rates of pay now in operation in' the different parts of New Zealand and pick the. eyes out of them all. The first thing the Court must do was .todetermine whether" the men in the different departments performed skilled work, semi-skilled, or unskilled work, a,nd .fix, the minimum wage for the minfmum-btitput worker. Mr. Anderson contended that Mr. Roberts "had exaggerated the condii tions under, which the*men- worked. It was admitted that the work was hot, but the rate of I pay had been fixed with' fyll knowledge of that. He submitted that most of the workers were satisfied with their jobs and that the Court could disregard everything that had been said about the unpleasant nature of the job. WAGE RATES. Mr. Roberts, dealing with the rates 61 pay, said that there'was^ not complete harmony in this ' connection '■ as between all the works. At Napier, Tamaru, and Wanganui the rates were higher than in any. other place in New Zealand.-.! He did:not think that the Court should bring' the > lower-paid w,orkers,up;to the highest-paid workers, but suggested that the rates at the lower-paid- works should at least come up to the rates paid at Wellington and Dunedin. For the stokers employed at the smaller works the union asked £5 15s, which did not represent a big increase. He asked the Court to give consideration to. the man in charge of the very small works who had nobody ■with him night after night. It was admitted that certain work was necessary on Saturdays, and Sundays in gasworks, continued Mr. Roberts, but at the same.time men required to do that were rendering a service to t)ie public when. the gen-eral.-.public were enjoying themselves andvthat service should be paid for. In otherwords, except gasworks, the men were paid: double time for Sunday. The gas workers only received time and a'half. He submitted that' the reference made by the employers to the payment1 * for on Saturday afternoons and Sundays under the Factories Act had- been introduced as a reason why wages -should be cut down., ..-:.; • :

Mr. Roberts then read a long stater nient to 'the ' Court dealing ! with the' question'of wages'and other matters; In this he declared that as far as. he was aware the Court had not actually fixed the rates of pay for the Wellington .wprkers since 1908 and for the men employed at the. Auckland works since 1914.,

•Mr. Roberts said that having worked in the industry he knew it from top to bottom,, and he declared that none but the strongest and most vigorous men could stand up to the job year in and' year out." The stokers and firemen performed the hardest work in this country. For years they were subjected to very long hours.' The late Mr. Justice Page and his two colleagues,on the Bench gave them a .wonderful lease of life when they reduced hours to 40 a week. It was the greatest thing that had been done for ..the stokers of New Zealand. "I am asking the Court to protect these 'men, '•' Mr. Roberts added. "If the Court does not accept what I have said and has the time I ask the Court to visit one of the works and see What these men are doing."

The Court adjourned,