WAGE INCREASES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 133, 8 June 1939, Page 15

WAGE INCREASES

LIMITS REACHED?

COURT MAY REST

CASE OF GOLD MINERS

A full day was utilised yesterday in reaching some common basis of collective bargaining in the vastly differing northern and southern claims in the ! New Zealand Gold Mines Federation ] Employees 1 dispute. A hint towards the . close that perhaps the limit had been : reached by the Court of Arbitration in granting increased wages, with the < suggestion that the Court would take j nothing from workers in the way of 1 conditions, perhaps speeded up the de- i cision to work towards a Dominion award, instead of the separate awards i of north and south at present pre- ] venting common action. ' 1 One of the matters upon which no 1 agreement was reached was the age ■ at which youths should go underground < for permanent work there. The work- : ers contended that no youth under 21 years of age should enter permanent work below ground, and Mr. J. Thorpe, . Waihi, stated that 90 per cent, of the men who either died from miner's phthisis, or were ineradicably infected with this disease, had definitely contracted it before they had reached their majority. It was contended, on behalf ' of the workers of the northern mining districts, that in the particular nature of the operations as conducted there, boring and shooting of big quartz rocks . was part of the inevitable work of the trucking contractors, that there was unavoidable quartz dust on the levels, and that in any case the truckers had to go close to the face to remove the rock broken out. Another matter upon which agreement hung fire was the question of holidays, in which Westland unions enjoyed a more favourable position. It was soon apparent that both parties were .apprehensive of the possible effects of a Dominion award on the widely differing privileges they at present enjoyed under district awards. The proceedings were to achieve a northern and Westland award. Even in this direction there were evidences of considerable friction, but the memorandum of the Court of Arbitration recommended the parties to arrive, if possible, at a Dominion award. At one stage, indeed, there was some indication of a deadlock. The proceedings were, however, at no stage acrimonious. • Mr. J. Roberts said that were it not for Waihi, they could get somewhere. The northern section of the industry seemed to be the difficulty. Finally Mr. T. O. Bishop, for the employers, appreciating the difficulty of obtaining a Dominion award fully satisfactory under such circumstances at.the first attempt, suggested that they could possibly frame two awards, one for the south and one for the north. DISTRICT DIFFICULTIES. There was a lot in what Mr. Bishop said, said Mr. Roberts, but dealing with an industry of this kind, with all re-spect-to the Court's.desire- was not a Simple matter. "rThey had not made much progress, not because they were not willing to make it, but because, there were difficulties between one district and the other. If. the council felt that satisfactory results could be obtained by dealing with the districts separately, he would be prepared to carry on with one section, adjourning the council forthwith so far as the other section was concerned. The workers retired to consider this aspect of the problem, and on returning, Mr. Roberts said that his side had decided that if north >and south agreements were reached, both should be embodied in one award. Some experience had gone to the making of what they had got, at some expense, and ■while there were different conditions in different parts of New Zealand, due to different classes of work, it was strange that this was the first occasion when employers had so stressed it. This was a distinct industry, said Mr. Bishop. A factory in the south and one at Auckland were much in the same case, but in mining things were different. The Waihi reef was quite different from the Blackwater. Nobody in the north would bother with a.twofoot stope. Many local differences and conditions came in. If it were to be a Dominion award, it must be discussed on a Dominion basis. He thought, however, they would make more rapid progress discussing the districts separately. Mr. Roberts favoured a straight-out discussion of a Dominion award. Mr. Bishop said that he felt that the ,best that any of them could hope to "get if they went to the Court was that the two awards would be put together, and, where one was lagging behind the other, it would be brought up. He had never seen the workers get anything better than that. STABILITY REACHED? "All we can hope for is to have the two awards put together on the terms most favourable to the workers," he said. "No employer can hope to take anything away from the award favourable to the worker, but I cannot see the Court making any reduction in hours at present. Things are not quite as favourable today in New Zealand as they were. There is abundant evidence that all people thinking the reasonable thing realise that the country is in a more difficult position than it was a year ago. My opinion is that the Court of Arbitration is going to stand on the present wage rates and the present hours. I am talking, more or less, as you might talk, Mr. Commissioner, It seems to me to be the only practicable standpoint at the moment." The Commissioner, Mr. S. Ritchie, said that the Act debarred Commissioners from taking part in the settlements. The Commissioner could only speak after somebody else had spoken round the table. Mr. Bishop had said that the Court would not take away from any worker anything that he had. Not many people were now expecting to gain great increases from the Court. If they were to get a Dominion award on the terms suggested by Mr. Bishop, he did not think it would be possible to get anything very much better from the Court.

While he agreed to a large extent | with Mr. Bishop, said Mr. Roberts, there were certain anomalies in the award which needed fixing up. Since the last award the price of the commodity produced had increased substantially, having risen from £6.18s to £7 Bs, an increase of 10s. "We have had none of that," continued Mr. Roberts, who, amidst dissent, proceeded to give a happy picture of the condition of the gold-mining industry. His assessors had discussed the suggestion made by Mr. Bishop, he said, and were satisfied that it presented the best way of tackling the subject. Though anomalies had to be straightened up, this would not cost the companies much. Advances were sought in some cases, but they were anxious to tackle conditions on the lines suggested. If agreement could be secured on everything else, said Mr. Bishop, he

did not think there would be any objection to wages going to the Court. The council adjourned until today. FURTHER ADJOURNMENT.

Upon resumption of the dispute today Mr. Bishop presented a new schedule covering both the Northern and Westland districts,' compiled from the respective claims, and dealing only with the miners' conditions and wages, not touching on the engineers' or carpenters' sections.

The Conciliation Commissioner suggested that it might be advisable for the workers' assessors to adjourn and consider the document, which they saw for the first time.

The schedule was not what he had expected in some directions, said the workers' agent, Mr. J. Roberts, and there were things in it which they could not accept. The workers would remain in consultation in the council chamber and would submit their proposals this afternoon.

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