SHOP ASSISTANTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 76, 26 September 1942, Page 9

SHOP ASSISTANTS

PROTEST AT NEW

AWARD

A "most emphatic protest" against the action of a majority; of the Court of Arbitration" was decided upon by the executive oi the New Zealand Shop Assistants' Federation at a recent meeting, when the., new award for shop assistants covering all parts, of the Dominion except the northern. industrial..district "waK-consiclered,::. ,•-„.,:. A. supplied statement says that the protest has been made on the ground that the new. award is not in keeping with other awards issued by. the Court in respect of shop assistants, namely, grocers and fruiterers, where the Court made the minimum wage payable at 21 years of age. "In our opinion," the statement continues, "having once settled the question when the minimum wage should be payable, the Court should not have departed from its own decision unless very good grounds were shown by the employers for such departure. In the shdp assistants' case, the Court was fully cognisant of the fact that the employers asked the federation to meet them in conference, and also of the fact that an agreement was drawn up at which the workers gave away quite a number of concessions in order to secure,.what' they deemed better wages and other conditions, the result of this conference being that they left the age at _ which the minimum wage should be paid at 23 years or over, but it must be remembered that for this extension of age very .considerable wage increases and other advantages were secured for the workers.

REDUCTION OF WAGES

"In the case under review the Court ignored these facts for all, and with the exception of the seniors, reduced the wages considerably over the terms of the northern industrial district award; in some cases as much as 11s 7Jd per week, and in the case of female juniors made what might be deemed to be- a proper slaughter of the wages clause. Again, in connection with the annual holiday, without any evidence being called whatsoever, the Court reduced the annual holiday for juniors from.two weeks to ten working days.

"In view of these facts we desire to enter our most emphatic, protest against the action of a majority of-the Court. It was decided to forward this protest to the Minister of Labour and the New Zealand Federation of Labour to take up on our behalf, and we desire to record our congratulations to Mr. A. L. Monteith for his sound dissenting judgment."