ARBITRATION COURT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2042, 30 March 1907, Page 1

ARBITRATION COURT.

Tho sittings of tho Arbitration Court wore continued nt the Courthouse on Thursday morning. FREEZING WORKS DISPUTE.

Tho disputo between tho Poverty Day Industrial Union of Freezing Workers v. Nelson Bros, and The Gisborne Freezing Works Company was taken first.

nlr. Way appeared for tho Union, Mr. Warren for Nelson Bros., and Mr. Cederwall for tho Gisborne Freezing Company. Mr. Way stated that tho conference yesterday had not had any result.. ’ No counter proposal had been brought forward by tho employers. Practically nothing was decided on.

Mr. Warren said there were some things they might have agreed on, but tho employers thought tho Union's demands too high. Mr. Way said there was a deadlock. Th- had stuck over the hours of labor- and the employers did not think it advisable to go further. Mr. Way, in opening his case, said the Union wanted terms in accordance with present conditions. The employers said when (ho last award was made that tliov had to think of possible bad times' in the future.; Those bad times bad not yet arrived and the Company had amassed assets valued at .£BO,OOO. The men who had helped tiny Company into its present good position, should bo given some increase in wages. The work was of the dirtiest and called for a groat amount of labor. Dressing rooms and lavatories were asked for. The mon Were working all day among filth and'had to leave tho works in a filthy state. John Jamieson,, slaughterman, Ivaiti works; said he regarded the Union’s demands as reasonable. Had no slaughtering experience outside Gisborne. Had worked for 10 months off and on, but summed up tho work really only lasted for six months. Tho hour for starting now was 7 o’clock. Very rarely was it earlier. It was a fair day’s work if a man killed 80 sheep per day. The average was about 64. A man capable of doing over 80 should be paid overtime for beasts ovor that number. Somo'of the men had. to change their clothes in the morning in a sheep-pen. Thought it absolutely necessary that thore should bo lavatories and bathrooms. Mr. Cederwall said the employers were agreeable to grant improved conditions in this respect. Mr. Way said that it should be dealt with in the award because the conveniences supplied might not be adequate. Witness: Thought it reasonable that slaughtermen should be exempt from washing down gradings and killing-board. At the Taruheru works was paid Is per day for such work. The 15-minutcs spells wore reasonable —more would be acceptable. - '

By Mr. Cederwall: Woolly sheep Were very much harder to do. The conditions in regard to woolly sheep were the same as when tho previous award was made. In Poverty Bay the work was very hard. He did the work demanded of him at the works and when he went home he was staggering. He killed 104 sheep in nine hours.

Mr. Cederwall quoted from tallies to show that a number of men were capable of doing 100 sheep per hour, and asked why the Union was asking for a limitation of 80 sheep. If tho Union limited the Company to 80 per day, would it not, ho Risked, make men’s earning Joss. Witness: If the foreman wanted a lot of sheep done he could put the men down for twelve per hour instead of ten. The other departments of tho works took up work just about ten minutes after the slaughtermen. The Union wanted overtime for any number over -ten per hour. At the Ivaiti works were never fined for damaged skins or carcases. Had been at the Ivaiti works for four years. -5 - By Mr. Warren : At Nelson Bros, never heard any complaint about washing down. Understood that the bonus given was partly paid for washing down. Mr. Warren paid the bonus waspaid to ensure men staying in their employment for ..tho.—whole of tlic season. -

By Mr. Cederwall: Conditions were very much the same now as when the present award was made.

By Mr. Way: The usual day was nine to ten hours, and the figures ((listed by Mr. Cederwall gave no indication of what could he done in eight hours. . . Tbos. Jackson, slaughterman, Ivaiti works, said ho was secretary of the Onion. All the demands were reasonable. Claim for limitation of. killing was reasonable. Ton an hour was a fair thing, but when there was a. rush the sheep were killed at a greater rate, \Ya 11 i.ecl 30s for woolly sheep because the sheep travelled long distances, and by the time they got to the works their coats and matted with- dust. This dulled the knives and made killing slower, Had worked at Islington. There slaughtermen did not wash down —it was done'by general hands. Knew of only one or two places where the butchers'had to wash down. The men thought the prices’demanded were only reasonable considering the work, demanded. Driving the sheep put thorn hack in condition and made them harder to dress. By Mr. Cederwall:. Did not know that the whole of the North Island factories had, agreed to 235. feheep were driven in other parts of the Island, hut not to the same extent as in th{# district. There was no difference !u woqIJ.Y sheep now and when the award was- nmde, except that there wore moro now, Hie Islington butchers put on all neck strings—the Gisborne men did not. Butchers should not be called upon to do anything hut kill and dress the slice]). j>?4 pot kn.qw that hoys in Gisborne than , in any .ofiior part or the colony. There were no material differences in the conditions at the works between now and when the last award was ipfide. There were men who had to come long distances to work. Some left home about six o’clock and from then till dinner time was a long spell to go without a smoke or a smack. The men wanted smacks because they would enable the men to work boter. - 1 Mr. Cederwall said his Company provided gloves because it was demanded by the award, They also provided the fclhn fingers with leggings Now the Union was asking that smocks and leggings be put in tlic award. The things had to be or the best quality and would make a very considerable Item. By Mr. Warren : There were at least 200 members of the Union. In January there were 154 financial members, hut large numbers had joined since then. Mr. Way said he would ask the Court to make the preference clause i'ive something like preference. - Witness (to Mr. Way): The gut men were working among blood, filth and gut all day, and thoroughly earned a smolce-oh. Sometimes sheep were left in the paddock for at least three or four days (perhaps a week) without water, and this made them harder to kill. The freezing chamber -hands had to undress in the store for bullock skins and the slaughtermen undressed in a vacant sheep pen. The rain often blew into the pen. There were no dressing rooms provided. B. J. Prosser, slaughterman, lately working at Nelson Bros., said he had slaughtered through New Zealand and Australia. The demands were only reasonable. The sheep here were much harder to kill than elsewhere. The driving and want ol water did this. He dhl not want, to kill any more of them. Had done work in the gut-house, and thought 10.'cl not enough. In other places the highest he had been paid was 20s. In the South bigger tallies could be put up because the sheep were easier to kill. At Nelson Bros, slaughtermen started work at 7. Thought t-lie work could be arranged between 7 a.m. and o p.m. Eighty sheep per day was a fair day’s work. There were some exceptionally quick butchers in Poverty Bay. It was just right that “boys” of 19 years of age who could do a man’s work should be paid as men. By Sir. Warren: Left Nelson Bros, of his own accord because lie was disgusted with the stuff he had to do. The majority of the sheep were trucked to Petone. There were no running streams in the district to water sheep, at- The furthest that Wellington sheep were driven was from the stations around Casileponit. At Petone a day’s killing could he kept under cover. Hero he had killed stuff off the road, panting. He had come to Gisborne for experience. He had got it, and others could have the bay.for him. Mr.' Way asked that the counter proposals of tho employers should be supplied to him.—This was done. Albert Reid, gut band, Kaiti

works: Tho Union asked for 0s per day. It was worth it, because it was very dirty. Tho sheep had to bo gutted, and by tho end of the day

tho mon became covorod with blood and gut. Would rntlior work at pick and shovel’at 8s than in the gut, shop at os. Thought a smoko-oh was wanted. In the morning dressed in the gut-houso; and dressed there again at night. Sometimes had a smoko-oh, hut if tho butchers killed ■ twelve instead of ten the gut-men had to work harder and might not get a spoil. If the butchers were killing vory slowly the gut-men had to do other work. Thought it reasonable that men called out to work should bo paid for half a day. This

meant that tho Union demanded half a day’s work. If a man prayed for loggings he might get them from *. ho Company—sometimes they wore provided and sometimes not. About a quarter of an hour was spent in .cleaning clothes for tho next day s work. Gut-men were very liable to blood-poisoning. There was a “boy” at tho Ivaiti works aged about 19 who received 35s a week, whom lie (witness) would not like: to tackle.

By Mr. Cederwall: When killing was increased from ten to twelve an hour extra gut-linnds wore not | lit oil. Had been called out for two hours’ work about six times t 1 is season. Did not know that gut-men were generally known to bo the licv.lthiest and (lie biggest eaters. (Mr. Way: If they eat more they want more wages). Tho 'higher cost of living hero would account for the Gisborne preservers wanting more wades ,thUn Auckland preservers. Boys wanted higher wages because u inkers of them boarded away noin home.

By Mi-. Way: Board.and residm.-e cost a pound or a guinea. Henry B. Havers, gut-wVitar. sai l lie started work at 7 a.m. and (infilled nt 4 p.m. Tile lavatories t’nd dressing rooms and smokc-olis wire absolutely necessary. Cluis. Fisher, cooling-floor worker at tho Ivaiti works, said 9s iris a fair wage for cooling-floor men. Usually started about 3 a.m. It depended on tho number killed the previous day. Only once or twico during the past season-had the butchers ' started work before 7 o’clock. Thought all tho other depart .neuts could have their work arrangement between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. and half a day on Saturday. Tho wage was wanted because of .the .unearthly hours’. Had to go to bed at 9 so that lie could got a decent night’s sleep. Had seen boys capable, ot doing men’s work, but they were exceptional. A bonoing hand at present got Is an hour. They now. ask *J for Is 6d. This was reasonable, as contract men had niado as much s-s 4s per hour. By Mr. Cederwall: A cooling-floor hand had sometimes very heavy lifting. The mon had to put the sheep killed on tho previous day in the sheets for tlio freezing chamber. There was no change in the work to account for the smoke-oli being increased from 10 minutes to a quarter of an hour, except that more work was being done. Thought a boner was worth 18s per day. Remembered - the time ’when the workers demanded that they be given race days for holidays, and had refused to wo k on them. Thought the big price was asked for holidays to ensure that they got the holidays. By Mr. Way: Sheep had sometimes been put in in tho afternoon to make way for the large lumber killed.

Geo. Jarrott, cooling-floor harid, endorsed the evidence of the previous witness as to wages and general demands.

By Mr. Cederwall: Had been at the Ivaiti works for about four va.irs. The conditions were the, same now as when he started first. Ten minutes was hardly Jong enough for a smokeoh. The cost of living was higher here than olsewliero, so that more wages wore wanted. . His work was grading—the slieep were placed on the weighbridge and sent to the different shoots.

Alexander Illair, freezing chamber band at tho Ivaiti works: Considered be - was entitled to Is Gd an hour. At present the'-wage was Is 3d for ordinary time and Is 7Jd overtime. -Tlitr Avirarf - ! ab orcrns“wlicr~£p Q]c~fch o car-' cases from tho freezing chamber gov, 6d a hundred, and would make about 5s per hour. Did not have,work during the-whole of the season. Objected to being liable jo lie called out between twelve and twelve. If a man was called out for night work bo ought to be paid overtime. Had to undress, in tlio place where the. bullock hides wore stored, and had to go to their work through the dirt in the killing pen. Had worn out a pair of trousers in one day through carcases chafing on them. By Mr. Cederwall: The mon who handled the carcases on the barges were ppt working regularly. It was quite 'faiy to compare thp frpqzingchamber wages with the wages of the men who loaded the barges. Could not got through liis work by midday on Saturday. More wage was demanded here because much of the work was done by hand. In Canterbury there' were' many lifts. At Kaiti two sheep were carried in while in Canterbury only one was carried. By Mr. Way: Worked just as Kurd as the men oil tho barge, and were, in addition, in the cold. Had carried two sheep as much as 40 feet. Jallies Id- Harvey, frepzing-ol)am-ber worker 'at Nelson Tirps.,'-Said it .was possible to have a half holiday at the Taruheru works, though perhaps if the Ivaiti works were proporly equipped they could do so also. Objected to night hours. Could .not say whether the general work could be arranged lietiyesiii 7 g-.ijij a-ncl 5 p.m. Sometirtis Jiacl to "’wait ajiout the works for two or throe' hours. There was a dressing room at the Taruheru woiks, and they were found in smocks. By Mr. Warren.: Supposed there was' no" Way to escape {ipving. to wait about. At present they worked say from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then waited till 8 o’clock to do two hours’ more work. The dressing room provided was quite satisfactory. Had never done any Sunday work at the Taruheru works. There was usually a big spell OH Saturday afternoon. Did three of four hours’ work in the evening. This night work saved then,) coining back on Sunday morning. * . \ . ■ John 11. Dobbie, fellinonger, Kaiti, said lie Ijncl been in the business m Now Zealand for 34 years. Thought the domain! of the Union in wages was reasonable. The pullers bad to bo experts. Generally the whole of the work- was of a dirty and arduous na/AiVP. Hf.d UP smokeohs. Thought in-view of flip class of work smdke-ohs were' necessary. Boys at 19 should do a man’s work. Had done' it himself, ‘flip lipurs of work depended on the number killed,. At present worked from 8 a.in. to 5 p.m.' A half holiday on Saturday was hardly practicable; After tho butchers stopped the follmongers had to stop another hour or. so. pore out clothes very quickly. painters’ boots also suffered badly. At present the Company provided basils, for gloves/ aprons and leggings. IPS rate paid at the'Kaiti works'w'as the lowest he had seen in the colony. Had been working in the distppt' eleven vears. The man pt the cur-ing-dolly had to be an expert In pie-picking ' there was an offensive stench. By Mr. Cederwall: Had worked m all the .departments in fellmongery. If there was a heavy killing qn Friday it would take 104 hours to tyonk it out. At Nelson Bros, when be was there could smoke at work as much, as they liked. Knew of no award which gave fell mongers a spipke-nli. There wore no boys working at the follmongers at Kaiti. The fellmongery started an hour after the butcher's. The .only reason he knew of why more should be paid here than in Canterbury was that it cost more to live here.

By Mr. Way: Gisborne was the most expensive place he had ever lived in. Outside that lip' thought the work was worth the wages demanded. Pullers were skilled men. By Mr. Cederwall: The conditions of work ' were the same as at the. making of tho present award: The appliances had been somewhat improved. Alfred Ingraig- puller, Nelson Bros., said the wool was put in five classes. Bowron. Bros.' representative in Gisborne paid his dolly-curors Is 3d per hour. ' The representative, who worked on contract,'thought the men were worth it. He was not bound by mu award, By Mr Warren: Had woAed about five years for Nolson Bros.' Tho conditions wero tho same now as at the tinio of making the present award. Did not think it possible that a half holiday could bo arranged. if tin: pullers started at 7 a.m. they would UnvQ to do some work at night,

By Mr. Way. In any case would have frequently to work overtime. John J. Springny, onginoor, Nelson Bros., said ho thought the wages asked for firemen wore reasonable, hut general laborers should have more Ilian demanded. Tho firemen at Nelson Bros, had live boilers to look after, and they often were going all at once —there was seldom less than four. Other firemen thought, two boilers wore quite sufficient. The work was continuous for tlio whole of tlio eight hours for all of tlio seven ’days. The work at tho Ivaiti works was easier, thoro being a trimmer provided. Several laborers in tlio stokehold should got 9s or 9s Gd. On tho waterworks job men were getting 9s for pick and shovol work. Tlio shifts lycro 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., I p.m. to 9 p.m., and 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., and they kept shifting round each mouth. By Mr. Cederwall: ’flic firemen were north' 10s a shill. He got only about 10s Bd, although a higher grade man. He did iiot got what lie nas worth. Did not perhaps work 39 days per month, but often worked 21 hours per day. ~ <tS>B.v Air. Warren: lie ' called the groasieis and cleaners general laborers. The firemen had to wheel all their coal except alien they wore absolutely unable to do so, when air

other man was sent in. Had bad previous experience of engineering work in various capacities. By Mr. Way: it, was part of the general laborers’ work to clean, the boilers. Thought an engineer with a first-class ticket'was'worth 12s. Titos. Jackson, recalled, said lie recontlv saw three men polling the skin from one sheep. On one moh recontlv sent in the men wore getting exhausted'. Their tallies came down from ten to eight and seven, and the sheep had to bo sent out in order that some work might he done. It was hardly fairtto) impose fines -for broken skins, as f ?6ii many skins'* the knife bad to be used very frequently. The fact that at Nelson Bros.’ boardinghouse board had been increased from 10s to Dls, and meals from fid to Is was to him a clear indication that tin* Company* allowed that Uncost of living had increased bv 40 per cent. 'The- libai diuglionso was not run for profit—it was rim for the convenience of the men, who got everything at cost prim. By Mr. Warren: Did not know •that at Nelson Bros, hoard had been charged for at 12s for many years By Mr. Way: Had heard board bad been reduced lately, but did not know if it was now 10s. Air. Way said that prior to the

present award nightwatchmon got £3, but that had boon reduced. The Union nowvnsked for £3 3s. Ml-.. Warren said the employer*

were in a’ bard position. It was very hard for them to' get evidence from the men against demands of tlio men. The demands- were.sent to the

employers in July, when a conference took place.' No, compromise was come to. These demands were filed in November. They heard nothing more until March, when the sitting of the Court had been fixed. Then received, demands in excess of the July demands. There had been no conference on those. demands up til the preceding day. _ As tlio delegates wore not empowered to make an agreement the matter lufd to he adjourned. Ho had gathered nothing front the evidence to justify tlio demands made. The employers thought the wages demanded were too high and the arrangements impracticable. The freezing companies here had more disadvantages than works elsewhere. The cost of freezing .was greater because of tlio higher temperature and they consequent extra consumption of fuel. The port charges were greater than those -at the large ports. The wharfages at Gisborne, were (is 8d for mutton, 7s 3d for lamb, and 2s Gd for beef and sundries. In Gisborne the wharfage on tallow and pelts was 2s Gd, Wellington Gd, Lyttelton 8<1; coal —Gisborne Is. Wellington Gd, Lyttelton' Bd. In the district tho work was intermittent. It ‘ had been proved that the more, animals put through tho cheaper per popnd it was. During the slack season skilled men had to lie kept on. . This ’ included freezers, and.« certain, number of

-tmtCIIOTS: Th-.: season- Ah-hV- extoiidcMover a less spaeS'Tif time than in other, districts. If these demands wore acceded to the companies would be in an even worse position. The whole question of hours of work seems to depend on the starting time of the butchers. T|ie question was thoroughly thrashed 'out - when the present award was made. *To fall in with the men’s demands would he inconvenient ant! expensive? The hours of labor at present'- worked were fixed by the Court after careful consideration; and the conditions of work bad not changed since then. This bad been 'admitted by almost every witness examined. The phi*

ploycrs held that work must start by rotation. 51on working on byteproducts' could nor start- their work until the boast was killed. If they all started-at 7 a.m. some, men would have to wait for an hour or two before they could do any work. It was not to be though’ that hecaip-o file employers had power tq start jhe men at, G o’clock that it would bo done every day—at the Taruheru works the butchers had only started three times.at an earlier'hour. The employers wanted power to start the .preliminary work earlier than 7 a.m. if found noortsarv. The jinijra of flic men w]iq Iqiiiled’ qul. i,hc' meat' ' a very serious matter, Nelson Bros, depended on the tide to get their meat down tho river, TJjis matter was also thoroughly investigated ■when the last award was made. The loaders were liable to be called put to wnrtf for eight, hours between 12 and 12, arf)l tile' Can j-oiibury jtwqrd was similar, ' The" crpplqyers reqogr wised tho general rate' for overtime as time and a quarter, and there seemed no reason why a butcher should get time and a half. The employers f,qu]/I ijpt gen w]iv the .butchers should' he limited tq a cetffivin number of ' cattle' or sheep. ' It was usual to let the men do as uuinv as they could in a proper inanhop. They could mat see tvh.y overtime should, be paid tq ;i in a n 'simply because lie could kill quickly, Tjib clause was in no other award, Overtime at 2s was asked for freezers. The companies asked that all overtime be at time 4nd a quarter. The Union was demanding i] high fnJo for butchers, but nothing bad been' brought forward tq justify tlio increase. The. most which had been agreed to elsewhere was 235, for freezing- sheep and jambs. The Union had tried to make it point about the sheep being driven. The driving was allowed, but it was contended that there were other places ' Where tjtt much was done. In Gith'tefb'ury the”:"prices

paid were: Freezing sheep and lambs 235, preservers 20s. ’potters 18s, bullocks 2s. qalves a in! pig-: Is, rams (other .than lambs) ifi. There were largo increases asked for coolingfloor' hand and gift-room jiauji.,. In Canterin'!& siicli men were paid 10id an hour, The demwut' of 9s was. out of proportion to the work done and to tho wages paid elsewhere. The labor was not skilled. Home of the feihiHinirery bands wani.crl 1 s 3;| per hour', j'n 'Auckland tiie.V- were paid Bs, the same as in Gisborne. In Canterbury Is per' hour was paid. General hands ut pres-jouj, go); 8s which was "the rate in'Auckland and Canterbury. In the preserving department tlie demands were also too high. Freezing -chamber hands wanted Is Gd an hour, with 2s for overtime. The 2q '1(1 i'i'jp ibonuni'd fm firemen 'was' not understood by the. employers. The firemen had worked at the lower rate for 2) years, without complaining. At the present time boys were being belter paid in Poverty Bay than in the industry anywhere else in New Zealand. Boys between 15 and 10 were paid at present los, and 20b was demanded, tin Canterbury wage being 12s (id. Throughout the list there was tin same discrepancy. In the holidays Boxing Day had been inserted, and overtime was demanded at the rate of double time fqr eight hours and time'and a 'half’on double time for hours over eight. The employers would like to give a hiilf-hqliday on Saturday if it -were possible to get through the work which had to - he done. The whole of the demands seemed to have been ..made from a butcher’s point of view. At Tomo an a tho men worked the hours in force in’. Poverty B'TV before the award’ was l'mulo, and a half holiday was given oil Saturday in the slack season. In their counter prtfpjsals tho employers had agreed to Day CB foe seven' nights’ - work of iw-j.'vc hours by ntglitwatchmejl. Tim employers thought that in a place like Gisborne it was hard to have to ample y only unionists, and they erntbnded that the Union did not control the majority of tjie workers of the district.' Both ivcirks employed 30-1 men in 1900 and 318 iu 1907.

Mr, .Way: These figures include nil managers and peoplet not under tho award. Mr. Warren : No. The secretary of the Union said lie had sent down to tho Registrar a list of 145 members of tlio Union. Both companies wore prepared to meet, tlio men as regards to dressing-rooms. Although it was not tlio practice for butchers to wasli down, it was thought that

they did it all over New Zealand. The work did not take long, and the man only washed his own hoard. Each man occupied about oft. by 7ft. Ji one or two men were put.on to do the wltolo of.tlio washing down, it. would bo a big job.and would always have to be paid at overtime rate, in the agreements made with the men there was - nothing objectionable. The clause regarding holding wages to stop men leaving without notice was necessary. Tlio practice lias been in force for years in Poverty Bay, and was still in force at Tollmans.

The clause regarding ball a day’s work being demanded when men arc called out might work both ways. If •there was only enough work for half

a day for half the men, the other half may not bo given work foi tile day. The men bad to recognise that the works-had a eerluiii amount of work to do which would havo to be. done at some time or other. The ini-it should take the good with the biid. Tlio employers thought it unreasonable to close Llieii: work's twice a day for a quarter of an hour each time, to allow tin* whole of the .men lo have a smoke. Elsewhere the only spells allowed were, to butchers and freezing chamber hands and the spoils were only for toil minutes. If tile demand was granted it would be a serious item for flic employers. The men demanded the supply of gloves, loggings, aprons and smoks. The employers objected on various grounds. At present, gloves were provided for freezing chamber bands and some men in tlio fcllmongcr.v. If it was

made compulsory for the companies to supply these things the men would not be so oarefill of thein as if they

bid to pay for tlu-'n themselves. As to the cost of living be was sure it

took no • more to keep a mail here than anywhere else.Robert Peterson. slaughterman-. Nelson Bros., said lie had been working only for this season in Poverty Bay. Before that lie worked in Victoria and Canada. 'Ha!f-a-crown per beast for cattle was a good rate. At Islington tic got 2s per beast with a bonus of Gd for good bides. Had no .recollection of stating to the actingmanager at Taruheru works that 2s was quite good enough for any man. Could believe tliaAJiVo men at Taruheru works had KUlcd .45 beasts in

about 81 hours, each man getting 23s for the "day. The slaughter-house at Taruheru was not a good one. , A niiin killing cattle should earn 25s a clay. No'competent man should work for.less. The work was veryhard. ■ By Air. Cederwall: After doing a day’s, work .at butchering had gone pu bon'oing. Often’ did 100 to 150 beasts at bonoing in ten or twelve hours. By Air. -Way: Mas not a member ■ of tile, Union. The' men .were only asking for a very fair tiling. ’1 en sheep was a very good hour s wont. Ho could do ten, and he thought be was as good as anybody. A man doing ten Poverty Bay sheep was doing over a fair day’s work. Never knew of any other work where butchers had to wash down. In "V ic-. toria, Deliniquin woollies weic paid for at tho rate of 35s and frcezeis •it 255, and the freezers were much easier than Poverty Buy sheep, which were the hardest he had ever seen. Could get a better tally m Canterbury. In Canterbury tlie men' hardly killed ton sheep a day lor the season, while in Poverty Lay t.*vmen were on sheep prartica-ly all no "‘Walter J. .•'Wright, acting-foreman of tho Taruheru fellmongery, _ said that if the butchers started at ( a.m. the trimmer would get the Skill first The skin tlien goes through Die washing dolly, and it is dollied for from three to five minutes. It is then put through a hydro to extract the smplus water. Then they* are -stacked ready to be painted. From the slaughterhouse to after passing Hie hydro the processes would take an liimT; The SiUuS uTC* thou painted to remove wool, and they are tln;u taken away and put on racks. That concluded the process o:i the. pelt until the paint had bad time to operate. Skins were milled 24 hours, after being palntetL After tlio butchers worked from i a.ni. witness’s men bad lo wait two hours after they ceased work. The follmongers gradually got behind m dealing with the skins Ironi the butchers. if the demands were given effect to one or two hours’ overtime would have to be paid (o follmongers. By Air. Way: Started at 7 a.m. and worked till 5 p.m. As a rum quid tiling coul;l dp tlio work in. that, time.. If tlio butchers tyovkod from 7 a.m. to 4 p in. the 101 l mongers would have to work for two hours after that. Very frequently had to woi'k after 5 pint. Perhaps in some jveqka yWv. would oeiup back every night. Dili not think the work could be arranged so that there could be a half-holiday on Saturday. There could be a halfholiday if the butchers did not work' on Friday afternoon. Could not see it possible to so alter the hours of work that the work could .ho dona by coining curlier ftp Friday and Saturday rtnorning. John Rees Jones, works manager at the Kaiti works, explained what had to bo done by the tinsmiths, who demanded Is 4d per hour. The bodies of the tin were stamped out bv machinery, as also were tho tops a ink bottoms. The tinsmith had only tq solder tlip scam oil lliu. body, anil r.-.-.ldcr. the,' tops and ' bottoms on. A boy could do the work as well ns a man. There were about, 15 working in tlio department at present,, about six being under 21. The fcllmongers would have to work two hours after the butellers ceased work- The boiling down took an hour, though some, work was done in the lnorjmigi If a man was allowed 1•' minutes some of them took 25 iniuutos to get back. A fireman with a certificate of service wan paid On per day. There wore icin' engineers at the works. They all had first-class tickets. If there was- a half-holiday on Saturday skins would have to staftyt pvdi. till Monday pf lm looked to qn Sumday. Friday's killing could not be dealt with in a half-day on Saturday without a largo amount of overtime. On the days of tho last race meeting in Gisborne the slaughtermen refused to work. Tho whole of them quitted; work. If Boxing Day was given as'a holiday, and if ('lil'istmaa Day ami lloxln.g Day. fell host a Sunday, it" would be,'roughly, fourdays that stock ivoukl have to waif to'be killed- Any work (hat could bo dlstrllpit.pd during the off season was given, if possible, to men who worked-during the season, By Ma. WuJ'i l i'w<( 0!' three married nicqV. were 'kept on during the cff'-seßson. Often kept sheep for four (lavs before killing at times other than holidays. Did not know if sheep deteriorated hy being kept, fop so long, jlid mv kiiftv that SpiciJ, had siren tlio iiieu a half-holiday to go to the races. Would lie surprised 7o hour that Spiers did so without authority Ironi Mf. Cederwall. The tin-work had previously been done by boys. The men at present got 3s per day. Bov or man he must lie paid 8s for the work. By Mr. Coder wall; -Jf Spiers told the ’men 1 hey may go to the races it showed that the 'company had cn-

deavoml to meet the men. Me. Coderwall, in closing Ills case, daid it line! heon clearly proved by witnesses that the conditions of work at the present time were the same as in 1904. Tlio companies considered they had no case to, answer. The various witnesses in regard to hours were-all at variance as to the time in which they could get through thenwork, and Ingrain. Blair and others had said it was impossible to get the. work done so as to allow of a halfholiday on Saturday. In his opening remarks Mr. Way had said that his (the speaker’s) eompipiy hud made a profit at . £l3, pOd/ He would be pleased to know where lie got the profit from. Mr, Justice Cooper had held at the hearing of the last award that- the matter should not be considered. It would be impossible to grant tire Union’s demands regarding hours of labor. It had been shown that cooling-floor men must start at 3 a.m., and that fellmongory men had to work after the butchers ceased. His work? could not promise fo provide lavatory and dressing-room accommodation for each department. They liad only a small water supply, and had great, difficulty at present in supplying the works. In no works was a smokc-o3i given to all departments, and ten miputgs was rim generally accepted duration of the spoils. ■ He quoted a number of awards in other parts of the colony

which gave tlie same wages as those in force in Gisborne.

Mr. Warren said that although the cost of working in Gisborne was greater than anywhere else, the produce did not realise more than other North Island meat. The question bad arisen about Nelson Bros, agreement, and he would ask that tlie companies be given power to enforce penalties for. damaged skins, etc. He submitted that the award must, be oil a give-uml-tuko basis. He concluded by thanking tlie Court for its patient hearing of the case. Mr. Way. in closing his case, said that with the exception of tlie freezing chamber hands, the. whole of the witnesses agreed that, the work eould be done between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. It must have struck the Court that the most of the work was commenced at 7 a.m. Granting the Union’s demand would inflict no injury on tlio employers. In Auckland wharf laborers, witliput an award, got Is Gd for handling frozen niytten, overtime being at tlio rate'of 2s. The freezing chamber men were working in a freezing chamber at Is 3d an hour, while lumpers on the .barges were getting ss. The men in the freezing chamber had to get a sweat lip* which was very unhealthy. General laborers got Is an hour for open-air work, and these men in the freezing chamber were surely entitled to Is Gd. The evidence was all to the effect, that 80 par day was a good tally. He thought it had been proved that Hie killing of sheep was harder here than elsewhere.^As to cooling-floor hands (here was no work carried on in the colony under more disgusting conditions. Outside work was paid lor 7s per day, yet these men bad to live in this filth and get :io more pay. In the blood-crushing room the plan bad to work in air permeated with fine dust of dried blood. ‘ The Auckland award for-fo.U-mongcry hands bad been quoted by Mr. Cederwall. He (Mr. Way) based tlmt award on the Gisborne nffeird. The company said boys could do the tiiismitlniig, but they kept on engaging men. It was a fact that the work was very important, as a slight mistake might cause a lot of trouble. As to boys, be thought age should :iot be taken into account when the ,vork was merely- laboring. Tlie high rate of overtime wus demanded so that the company would prefer to give the holidays. After' being confined in tlie freezing works for week liter week they needed holidays. He submitted that tho company had no power to hold a week’s wages. The agreement as to fines might bo altered to a' largo amount. If any men were entitled to a smoke-oli it was those who worked in the noxious fumes in the . blood and manure rooms. The fellmongery hands were very much tlie same. The evidence showed that tlie men had only about seven months’, work, and then bad to shift about looking for work. The cost of living was very high. In Auckland a four - roomed cottage could be : rented for from 8s to 10s, while in Gisborne .it- cost 12s 6d to Iss. Living was even dearer than in Wellington.. It was not right that else other side should argue on awards two or three years old. If it were right there would he no necessity for that Court and they Jtlie Union) could lay down rules for people who would live and work 25 years hence. It had been shown that the wages of tho working man had increased by 8 per cent., while the cost of living had increased by 39 per cent. Nelson Bros, had paid a dividend of .7 per . cent., and the balance-sheet showed that the Gisborne Freezing Company was in a very, good position. Three years ago the companies pleaded poverty, and expressed doubt as to how they would fare during the following three years, hut they had prospered very well. The whole of the evidence showed that the men were entitled to mote of the ' piofits made. He asked the Court to consider the high cost of living in Gisborne, the . disadvantages of living in Gisborne, tho fact that the work was casual, that the work was amidst wretched surroundings, and that the companies were making enormous dividends.

At" 8.50 p.m! the closing addresses wore concluded, and the sittings elided. The President announced that tlie Court would have to Leon--sider—cne* evracnce - beTo"nr"iirirKiirg _ rire' award.