CONCILIATION COUNCIL

Evening Star, Issue 22559, 29 January 1937, Page 11

CONCILIATION COUNCIL

ELECTRICAL WORKERS’ DISPUTE The electrical employees’ dispute was heard at a sitting of the Conciliation Council this morning, the commissioner (Mr S. Ritchie) presiding. _ Application was made by the Dunedin and Suburban General Electrical Workers Industrial Union of Workers for a new award to operate throughout the province of Otago for 12 months, A total of 89 firms was cited as respondents. The following were the assessors:—Applicants; Messrs J. Robinson, W. J. R. Smith, A. Winton, and L. B. Johnstone. Respondents: Messrs S. F. Chalmers C. J. Darracott, Charles Sonntag, J. Dcnford, and F. C. Scrivener (agent). ... The schedule filed by the applicants dealt with matters covering wages, hours of work, overtime, dirty work, holidays, suburban work, and country work. The claims in connection with wages were as follow:—Journeymen electrical workers shall be paid a minimum wage of 3s 3d an hour. Any journeyman who is placed in charge of work on which three or more workers, other than apprentices, are employed, or any registered journeyman placed in charge for maintenance purposes of any electrical plant, or any journeyman in charge of automatic lift erection shall receive 2s a day in addition to the above wages. The employers did not admit the claims of the applicants, submitting counter-proposals for an award for a period of two years. The wages clause stated:—Journeymen electrical workers shall be paid a minimum wage of 2s 4£d an hour. Any journeyman who is placed in charge of work on which three or more workers, other than apprentices, are employed, shall receive 3d an hour in addition to the above wages, provided the job shall extend three days or more. By lunch hour an agreement had been reached in the matter of work to be covered by the award, and also the hours of work—4o a week, from 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Other points were still in dispute at that time. FUR DRESSERS’ SETTLEMENT A full settlement was reached yesterday in the dispute between the Dunedin Fur Trade Employees’ Union of Workers and Fur Dressers and Dyers Ltd., and the Court of Arbitration will be asked to make an award for the industry, embodying the terms of tho settlement. The basis of settlement was briefly as follows: Hours of work, 40 per week; shift work with an extra payment of Is Cd per day; wages for the first three years’ service as juniors at Factory Act rates, then for the fifth year Is 6d per hour and for the sixth year 2s OJd per hour; workers 22 years of age, with four years’ service, 2s 3d per hour; fleshers, 22 years of age, with four years’ service, 2s 5d per hour: female juniors at Factory Act rate for the first four years, and then one year at Is IJd per hour and afterwards Is 3d per hour; overtime at time and a-half rates for four hours and thereafter double rates; holidays under tho Factory Act, with the addition of January 2; wages to be paid weekly on Tuesday in the employers’ time; 24 hours’ notice of the termination of employment to bo given in the case of hourly workers. Provision was also made for tho usual preference and nnder-rate workers’ clauses, a disputes clause, and for the right of entry for the union secretary. The award will cover the Otago and Southland industrial district, and will continue in force for one year.