ARBITRATION COURT

Grey River Argus, 24 February 1906, Page 4

ARBITRATION COURT

(Continued from Page 1.)

At Mr Kirby's (request witness was asked to prepare a memo showing the difference in the price of meat in ,1902 and 1905. A WHARF LABORER'S STAND-

POINT

John Keating, wharf laborer, for

12 years, stated that his average earnings per week for the past two years was close on £3 ; for last year £3 7s. Last year was the busiest he had experienced on the wharf. If the employers' demands were conceded men would have to live on the wharf night and day in order to earn- a living as the men who hung about the wharf would get preference ; of i^mployme^it. When a man like him working constantly could only average the amount he had stated it followed that if wages were reduced as asked by the employers the average earnings would be very small. He had assisted Mr Mason and had found no difficulty in engaging the labor required in the hours stipulated. The wharf laborers were generally married men He did not know why men came and went as laborers on the wharf.

His Honor: Is it not the custom for new arrivals or those passing through, to take temporary work on the wliarf whi^e (they l,ooked. round ? — They gravitated to the wliarf.

To Mr Carter: From January 2nd to 9th this year he had worked loading the Petone with white pine and his wages for the period totalled £3 9s. The port was quiet after the Petone left. His first pay from the Union Company was on Jan. 20th when he got 10s or 10s 6d and he put it down that he was being punished for working for the Black ball Company. On one night after wards men were called at the sheds and some who were absent were called out from their homes though he and others were available at the shed. He could not instance any particular case where men had been punished by the Company but it was an understood thing that if men went to work for another company -such men would have to do what was called on the wharf "penance" This was so much so that men asked to work, and he himself had, refused altogether because of the dread of this penance hanging over them. This practice had been very prominent for some years past He did not know whether representations had been made by the Union to the Company on the subject. A hatohway man was necesary when loading timber and also when general cargo was being handled. Timber could be more quickly loaded with slings of the weight suggested by the employers. Meal hours were very frequently worked on the wharf at present. A half an hour crib time ?.i 4 a.m was unnecessary. The "preference to unionists" clause had not entailed any hardship on em ployers; the union had absorbed all the floating labor. The standard of labor now was about the same as three years ago. The older men were better than the younger having more experience. To Mr Kirby: To arrive at his average earnings he had not taken the total amount earned by him from the Union Company and divided it by 52 ; he had included the money earned from the Blackball Company.

Did 50 pave from the Union Com pany last year average £3 11s 8d? — That is probably correct.

Did you earn £5 19s 7d for the week ending Feb 14th 1906. ? — Yes. Are sufficient men available to do the work of the port? — I really do not know. The men employed by the railway were available for shipping. Timber would have to be got down from the mills much quicker than at present to keep the Kittawa's four hatches going and employ four gangs for three consecutive shifts. He had no experience of other ports and doubted if the employers' proposals worked well in other ports. When he relieved Mr Mason his wages were £3 6s or £3 ss. The employers should be prepared for such contingencies as men being wanted after the time for engaging them has elapsed. (Mr Kirby: That's an impossibility). There might have been trouble between him ,and Blanch but he did not ascribe his non-employment by. the company to that cause. Too much discrejtiionaKy power wasi at times bad — it was better to have a rule. His questioner iknew very well that men whose work would finish at midnight, would not knock off between 11 p.m and 1 a.m for crib. Whoever framed the proposal must also have known that but he. gave him credit for his ingenuity. To Mr Carter: He had never had such a busy week as that ended the 14th inst. He understood that the record amount — £130 — paid in any one week had been paid during that week by the Union Company. Mr Kirby said that the reoprd week's pay for this port was £323. At 9.20 p.m the Court adjourned till 10 a.m on Friday.