Dredge Workers To Receive Back Pay Tomorrow

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 November 1949, Page 4

Dredge Workers To Receive Back Pay Tomorrow

Gold dredge workers throughout the West Coast, will have well-filled' pay envelopes tomorrow, when they will receive the retrospective ' pay granted to them under the new Westland and Otago and Southland 1 Gold Dredge and Alluvt’al Gold Mines Employees’ Award, which was-recently issued by the Arbitration Court, following agreement between the parties in Conciliation Council.

The retrospective pay,, back to June 1 last, amounts to between £27 and £3O per man and the mining companies are “paying out” this week. The wage increase granted under the new award averages more than £1 per week to each worker in the industry. Clause Deleted Apart from one clause, the award embodied the settlement arrived at in Conciliation Council. In a memorandum attached to the award, Judge Tyndall stated that he had not incorporated one clause included in the settlement, as.it was considered to be inconsistent with the provisions of the law relating to stabilisation.

The clause which was deleted by the Court was as follows: —“If a worker is in i-eceipt of more than the rates prescribed in this award, such worker shall not have his wages reduced so long as he remains in his present employment. If, at the commencement of this award, any worker is in receipt of more than the rates prescribed* in the previous award for his class of work, such worker shall receive the same amount of increase and the same allowance as may be granted by this award to workers in receipt of award rates.” The new award is somewhat unique in that it is to be for a term of two years. As far as wages are concerned, it came into effect on June 1 last, and in respect of all other clauses, on October 20. It will expire on October 20, 1951. Increase In Wages The hours of work are 48 per week, Monday to Saturday inclusive and the increased wages scale ranges from £l2 11s Id per week for winchmen down to £lO 14s 6d per week for the lowest paid adult workers on the dredges. All work done on Saturday is to be paid for at the rate of time and a-half for the first four hours and double time thereafter. These payments are included in the gross wages quoted above, the highest paid workers receiving £3 2s and the lowest £2 12s 6d for Saturday work. Ordinary overtime is not included in the above figures. The commencing wage for boys of 16 years of age is fixed at 14s 4d a day, rising each six months to £1 4s a day at 18| years. As from the age of 19 o years, adult rates apply. In. addition to three weeks holiday on pay (after 12 months’ continuous service) for all workers, ten statutory holidays are fixed in the award.