BASIC WAGE RISE EXTENDED BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO COVER NON-AWARD WORKERS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23339, 23 August 1950, Page 9

BASIC WAGE RISE EXTENDED BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO COVER NON-AWARD WORKERS

(Special) WELLINGTON, Aug. 23. The Minimum-Wage Amendment Bill which extends to workers not covered by an award the benefit of the general wage increase granted by the Court of Arbitration was passed by the House of Representatives last night.

The House devoted the whole of yesterday's sitting to the discussion of the bill.

An amendment proposed in the concluding stages of the debate in committee by Mr. A. McLagan (Opp. Riccarton) seeking to increase the minimum wage by 3d an hour for men and women making 10s weekly, was found to be out of order as it involved an approPr Mr!°W. Nash (Opp. Hutt) detailed the rises in the cost of food, housing and fuel. He said there would also be a major increase in the cost of clothing with the removal of the subsidy on wool. Costs would go up to unheard of limits. He contended that the workers did not get something approximating to what they should have from the productivity of the country. The bill extended that injustice. He hoped the Minister would give heed to the representations of the Opposition and make the increase 10/- in each case. The discussion in the early stages was left largely to Opposition speakers, who contended that the increases provided in the bill were inadequate to meet the increased living costs. Previous Amendments Replying to the second reading the Minister of Labour, Mr. W. Sullivan, said that amendments to the Act had been brought down twice before, following the introduction of the principal bill in 1945. Each time the amendment had been along the lines of the previous pronouncement of the Arbitration Court. How could the Opposition claim that the Government had been unfair in any way unless they were prepared to question the court s decision? he asked. Not one was prepared to do that. ‘‘They hope to stir up the industrial workers and make them believe the Government is not giving them a fair deal,’’ said Mr. Sullivan.

The present Government was affected by the back-wash of having a Ministry in office wedded to the philosophy of socialism. The Labour Government had adopted a policy of concealing prices by way of subsidies. Inflation was one of the worst things the country had ever had to face up to. Now the Government had the task of slowing inflation down. “All the Opposition can do is tell us how prices nave increased, but not about prices that have decreased,” said Mr. Sullivan. "Many imported goods are on a better price basis than they were 12 months ago. Question of Subsidies

“The removal of subsidies did not alter the real costs to the people at all. Last year they paid some of the price over the counter and the rest in taxation.”

Mr. McLagan said that if the Government wished to compensate the worker for higher prices another amendment bill would be required this session. The Minister had said that the removal of subsidies did not increase real prices. Then why did the Government advise the workers to go to the Court of Arbitration for compensation to meet the higher prices it admitted? he asked. Last year the present Prime Minister had been sympathetic about the cost of living. Now he offered 6s 8d and 5s worth of sympathy, but when Labour had taken off £6,250,000 in subsidies in 1947 an increase of 10s had been granted. This Government had taken off £12,000,000 and was offering little more than half as much. Labour, said Mr. B. Howard (Opp., Sydenham) had maintained that there should be equal pay for equal work. Where a woman was doing the same job as a man she should get the same rate of pay as he was—whether she was working in skirts or trousers. Equal Pay Theory

Mr. W. A. Sheat (Govt., Patea) said that if the Labour Party believed in equal pay for equal work it had had 14 years in which to establish that principle in the laws of the country, but it had not done so.

The Minister of Health, Mr. J. T. Watts, said when it had passed the original Minimum Wages Bill and in the intervening period the Labour Government had maintained the difference between the rates of pay of male and female workers.

He emphasised that £6,000,000 in subsidies was still retained on basic foodstuff commodities. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. W. A. Bodkin, said that the Labour Government, right through its existence, carefully followed the Arbitration Court in its minimum-wage legislation and this plan was still being followed. Mr. R. Semple (Opp., Mirampr) denied that the former Government always followed the Arbitration Court. In hi§ capacity as Minister of Works, he said, he had raised the wages of Department employees from 9s to 10s a day and instituted the 40-hour week.