The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, October 7th, 1936. ALLUVIAL MINERS' HOURS

Grey River Argus, 7 October 1936, Page 4

The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, October 7th, 1936. ALLUVIAL MINERS' HOURS

The awarding of a forty-eight hour week for dredge and alluvial gold mine workers on the West Coast brings their industry into a category that is now exceptional in this country. Many industries have obtained the 40hour week, and several the fiveday week, while the Court in the great majority of other cases that it has dealt' with has made 44 hours the maximum. There arc, however, several anomalies outside of the local gold mining industry. Night workers in more than one industry have not yetsecured the 40-hour week, whereas it might have been anticipated, from the nature of their working time, that they would have been among the first to obtain it. These exceptions are doubtless among those the new legislation allowed for, it being left for the Arbitration Court to make the decision as to hours in every dispute. Tn Ih e case of the gold industry here, the Court had a. criterion in the form of an agreement reached in conciliation which provided for a working week of forty-eight hours. Its incorporation of thosp hours, therefore, in the award was not surprising. It could have been wished that the _ hours question had been left for the Court. At the same time the employers were doubtless influenced in the matter of wages by the knowledge that the Union assessors were agreeable to a week of forty-eight ’ hours. There are manv exponents of working-class principles who set at least as much store by hours as by wages. On the other hand, th e employers hi the gold mining industry claim that their’s is quite the exceptional one, where costs cannot be passed on, and where the price of the product is fixed in a manner far removed from the control of the vendor. It is conceivable that wages in certain marginal cases might be a factor determining whether a gold-mining venture would be either started or continued or dropped. Still, as a general principle, the majority of undertakings in operation must be the criterion. There is admittedly great diversity in return. There should possibly be sonic means of so- adjusting wages and conditions that where a claim is paying, the workers, who produce the gold, should enjoy hours and pay on a par with thos c prevailing in industry generally. The present, incidentally the first, award in th e local alluvial industry, makes for some improvements in wages, without bringing the hours into conformity with those of industry generally. In one respect, therefore, the present set, with possibly some exceptions as to the minimum, is not unsatisfactory, but in the other, that of th 0 hours ol labour, it is by no means a good one. The exigencies of the industry arc not to- be overlooked, but it is for the workers arduous, and therefore it is reasonable to contemplate the eventual improvement of the hours. There is night work, and exposure to variable weather. The capacity i of the industry to pay is not. as above remarked, to be judged simply from that of the least pay” ing units, and this consideration has also a bearing on hours, since it is simply a- matter of a comparatively few additional

liaiids. As I lie aw;ir<l goes, Hie question, of hours is open to review, those awarded being de creed without, jirejndic,. to a later readjustment. The (Jovernnieut, has made it known that, in instances where awards made ar ( > incompal idle with the spirit of 1 he rem-iif. legislal ion, they may lie made so by legislative means. There is meanlime an opportunity to lost. 111 c cffcel of Ihe ward. Even admitting that this industry is exceptional, there remains also the question ol whether

those units which arc uneconomical for the purpose of according workers norma] conditions are to be considered other than as eeo-, nomical from any public standpoint. Thai, of course, is a_ matter meantime for Ihe consideration of th e Government.