HOURS OF LABOUR

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 August 1936, Page 5

HOURS OF LABOUR

' DAIRY FACTORY EMPLOYEES

[PER press association.]

WELLINGTON, August 7.

The hours of work in the dairying industry were disputed in the Arbitration Court, two applications being heard. Factory employees applied for amendments to their awards to provide for a 40-hour week, and the employers applied for the retention of the present hours. The grounds for the employers’ application were that the dairy industry must occupy a sevenday week, that hours could not be restricted because of natural processes that could not be hurried without loss of quality, and that the industry could not bear the cost of a 40-hour week. Mr. T. O. Bishop, for the employers, referred to the magnitude of the dairy industry and its importance m the Dominion. There had been a fall in the price, and the producers had had to double their output in an endeavour to maintain the value of the product. He detailed the relative costs of 40 and 44 hours, and described the processes which made long hours inevitable. On behalf of the workers, Mr. J. Roberts said the industry had never pulled its weight as far as the employment of labour was concerned in the manufacture of butter and cheese. Two men had been doing the work of throe for many years past. That was to say. the work done by every two men in dairy factories, particularly in the manufacture of cheese, would give employment to three men on the basis of a 44-hour week. Evidence would be called to show that in some cases men worked as many as 70 hours a week, and that the wages paid were as low as 1/- an hour. “The present hours of work in the dairy industry in most districts in New Zealand can only be described as a grave economic injustice,” said Mr. Roberts. “We believe it is bad not only for the men but for the industry itself. It seems strange that in this one industry men have been compelled to work to the point of exhaustion while others have been unable to find employment.”

Mr. Roberts submitted that if the people of New Zealand guaranteed prices to the producers of butter and cheese, it was only fair to ask in return that the industry should provide reasonable conditions of employment. Statistics showed that there had been an actual decrease in the number 'of men engaged, in spite of the fact that production had increased considerably. The dairy industry was the first in order of the value of production in New Zealand, and yet it was sixth in order of the number of persons employed and in the amount of wages paid. Although Section 4 of the Factories Amendment Act stated that “no worker shall be employed in or about a dairy factory or creamery on more than six days in one week,” it did not imply that men should be engaged on full days, said Mr. Roberts. Employers, he submitted, had failed to establish the impracticability of the 40-hour week. Mr. Roberts brought evidence in support of his contentions. Decision was reserved.

GAS WORKS EMPLOYEES

WELLINGTON, August 7

Application for relief from the 40hour week in the gas manufacturing and distributing industry was made by 47 gas companies or local bodies to the Arbitration Court, hut as 22 of these operated small plants, their applications were not considered. The following orders were made by the court; —Reduction to 44 hours a week (exclusive of overtime) of the working week of yardmen and drivers engaged in receiving, trimming, bunkering, or handling coal or ashes, and complaints men. and reducing to 40 hours a week (exclusive of overtime) the working week of other workers, including maintenance and shiftmen. Saturday work will be permitted and the wages of the worker will not be reduced by his reduced working week. These orders will operate for a year from September 1.

CAR PENTER S’ AGR EE MENT

WELLINGTON, August 7

There was complete agreement in the carpenters’ dispute in the Conciliation Council. A 40-hour week was agreed on at 2/6J an hour, with overtime at time and a-half tor the fust four hours and thereafter double time. For work on Saturdays, pay shall be at time and a-half before noon (and double time after noon. Both employers and employees refused to agree to the exemption of local bodies, but in fairness they left the matter open tor discussion before the Arbitration Court. There was emphatic refusal to a°ree to the exemption of freezing companies. The new award will come into force on September 1 and will iomain in force for six months.