DREDGE AND MINE WORKERS

Grey River Argus, 17 May 1938, Page 7

DREDGE AND MINE WORKERS

NEW AWARD SOUGHT Case Argued Before the Court The West Coast sittings of the Arbitration Court were concluded at Greymouth yesterday before His Honour. Mr. Justice O'Regan, and Messrs A. L. Monteith (employees’ assessor) and W. Cecil Prime (employers’ assessor). The Court was engaged throughout the day hearing an application for an award by the Nelson Industrial District Gold Dredge and Alluvial Mines Employees’ Industrial Union of Workers and the Westland Industrial District Gold Dredge and Alluvial Employees’ Industrial Union of Workers. The case for the applicants was stated by Mr. F. L. Turley. Secretary of the Unions. Mr. D. I. MacDonald (Secretary of the' Canterbury Employers’ Federation), appeared on behalf of the Mataki Gold Dredging, Ltd., and tne Rimu Gold Dredging Co., Ltd.; and thirty-eight other employers who were named as respondents. After hearing lengthy evidence and submissions on both sides, the Court reserved its decision. | UNION PROPOSALS. The Union sought a 40-hour week from Monday to Friday inclusive; Is 6d above schedule rates for shift work, and the following minimum weekly rates of pay were asked for:— Assistant Dredgemaster, £6 10s; Engineer, Fitter and Turner, Carpenter, Electrician, Blacksmith, Welders and Burners, Engine-Drivers, Ist. class, and winchmen, each £6 6s; Engine Driver, 2nd. class, Diesel Attendants, Amalgamator, each £6; First Greaser £5 12s 6d, Second Greaser, Fireman Strikers, Linesman Labourers, each £5 7s. Boring Plants:—Drillers £6 6s Od; Panners-off, Pumpmen, each £5 12s 6d; Labourers £5 7s Od. Stumpand Clearing Bush:—Bush Foreman, Sniggers, each £6 6s Od; Bush Winchman (steam or electric), Tractor Drivers, each £6 0s Od; Other men engaged on clearing work, £5 7s Od. Construction Workers: —Head Rigger, Other Riggers, Winchmen (steam, electric or other power), Crane Drivers, Shovel Drivers, Rivetters, Welders, Burners, Cutters, each £6 6s; Winchman (with ticket), Holder-up, Lorry Drivers, each £6; Labourers, £5 7s. ' Alluvial Mine Workings and Sluicing Claims:—Tram Layers, Screen Attendants, Pumpmen, Motormen.. each £5 12s 6d; Men in Charge of Wash-up, Men in Charge of Concentrates, each £6. Other terms sought were:—

On dredges where only one man is employed on shift with the winchman, shall be deemed a first greaser; where two or more men are employed, at least one shall ue deemed a 'first greaser; where five or more men are employed, at least two shall be deemed first greasers. Height money, Is 6d per shift extra, to Riggers over 35 feet. AH men working on alluvial claims to be paid 2s per week extra as gum-boot and overcoat allowance. Mat-men, wash-up men, cloth-men, storemen and day-men on dredges to receive gum-boot and overcoat allowance (2s per week), also all men on boring plants. Where workmen supply own gear’ Is per day to be paid, also to all workers covered by the agreement. Overtime to be worked as required, and except where otherwise provided, all time worked in any one day in excess of eight hours to bo paid at time and a-haif Cor first two hours and double time thereafter. A worker required to work overtime after 6 p.m. to be paid Is 6d meal-money, unless notified on the previous working-day overtime would be worked. Where workers turn out and go to work and are notified there is no work tor the day, a minimum of four hours to be allowed, unless they were notified on the previous day. No man to be relieved on any' one job before he has completed eight hours. A minimum of four hours’ pay to be given on any Sunday a man is called to work, also treble pay after eight nours on Sunday's. Where men are required to work over 6 hours’ overtime, the Company to supply' meals and allow a suitable meal-time. The following holidays to be paid for at ordinary rates: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Labour Day, King’s Birthday, Annual Meeting Day of Union. Work done on any of the above holidays, or Sundays, to be paid double ordinary rates. All such holidays to be paid for irrespective of what day of the week they fall on. All jobs covered by this Award to close for Christmas on December 23rd. or before where the 23rd. falls on Saturday, and not re-open until January 3rd. or later. All days between above dates not otherwise provided for to be paid holidays. Employers to pay the seven days’ holidays, allowed by last Award, as they fall due, or are liable to fall due up to March 31st., 1938. Payment of wages to be made in cash each fort night, during working hours. A wage of £5 10s per week for night-watch-men or caretakers for a 40-hour-week worked over seven days, with extra 14 days’ holiday on pay, exclusive o*' all other night holidays. Wash-up men to be paid Is extra per shift when so employed. Other machinery clauses were also scheduled

EMPLOYERS’ PROPOSALS. FURTHER COUNTER PROPOSALS.

The employers sought a forty-eight hour week in six shifts of eight hours. All employees not engaged in regular shift work to be on the job 81 hours, out of which 30 minutes to be allowed for meal time Wages to he paid on hourly basts, as follows:— Winchman 2s 41d, First Greaser 2s 3d, Second Greaser 2s lid Engineers 2s 6d, Fitters, and Turners 2s 6d, Mine Carpenters 2s 6d,' Electricians 2s 6d. Blacksmiths 2s 6d, Welders (experienced) 2s 6d, Welders (learners) 2s lid, Engine-drivers, Ist. class, 2s 6d, Engine-drivers, 2nd. class, 2s 41d, Amalgamators 2s 41d, Fireman 2s lid, Strikers 2s lid, Linesmen (not electrical) 2s lid, Diesel attendant 2s 2d, All Labourers 2s lid. Boring Plants: Drillers 2s 6d, Panners 2s 3d, Pumpmen 2s lid, Labourers 2s lid. Stumps

ing and Clearing Bush: Head Bushmen 2s 6d. Sniggers 2s 3d, Bush Winchmen 2s 3d, Tractor Drivers 2s 2jd, All Labourers 2s lid. Rates of pav for alluvial mines, 2s per hour, with permission to non-paying claims or workings for the employees to be paid a lower rale of pay, provided the results of a secret ballot taken amongst the men concerned s.iov. that the majority are in favour o such reduction in pay. Minimum rates for construction workers:— Skilled workmen 2s fid per hour, semiskilled 2s 2d to 2s 4d per hour, unskilled 2s lid per hour. Dredgemasters, assistant dredgemasters, registered electricians, works managers of alluvial and sluicing claims receiving to be paid a salary oi £oo or more monthly, and to be considered as staff employees. Overtime to be time and a-half for work in excess of hours prescribed. Sunday work to be paid at rate at li times standard time for first, six hours and twice standard time thereafter with a minimum payment for four hours. If overtime work is for purpose of repairing, the extra time required tc effect repairs to be paid for, at ordinary rates and not at overtime or holiday rates. Eight days’ holidays at ordinary rates. Wages to be pair twice monthly. Wash-up men. when so employed, to be paid 6d a day extra. Several other machinery clauses were listed. Mr. Turlev said that the dispute was one that the Unions regret tec very much having to bring before the Court at all. but they had been unable to do very much with the em ployers towards a settlement of the dispute. The award had expired or October 12, 1937. A Conciliatior Council sat on November 15. The employers refused to give any improvements. A Council sitting was again held last Saturday, but again there were no results, the employers refusing to go very far with the wftble matter because the Union representatives insisted on breaking down the 48-hour week, this the employers refusing to budge from. The Union representatives har made appeals to the employers tc complete an agreement, but the attitude of the employers had been tc deprive the workers of an increase it wages they have been entitled to fot over six months.- He thought thi* phase of the question should be taken notice of by' the Court when de ciding wages, by dating any’ wage increase back to January’ Ist. last, ot making an increase sufficiently higl to allow for loss sustained by workers during the last six months through no fault of their own, nui due to the pressure of work on the Court. He had handled the makin.c of Awards for twenty years, he said but hadn’t met a set of employers whe adopted the attitude taken up by the employers in this case. The ques tion of hours appeared one that tin employers were fighting with then backs to the wall, refusing to reduce hours by one fraction in spite of the fact that they’ couldn’t show any industry in New Zealand, except th; dairying industry, in which more thar 44 hours a week were worked ovei the whole year. He presented i chart showing how the 40-hour wee); could be worked over the six clays There was no question of the industry being unable to stand the small increases. The employers generally' had been reaping a wonderful harvest in profits with the exception of one or two small dredges and alluvia mines. These latter would, definitely, be better out of business. The industry to-day was not a gamble and it was known before dredge l were built to what extent they wonk, pay’, and he instanced the Grey' Rivei Dredge, producing the prospectus If they looked at the prolits of Nemona, Worksop, Argo, Mossy Creek Maori Gully, Okarito, Gillespie’ l Beach and the Rimu Dredge, Hoki tika, the Court would be able t< gather an idea as to whether the small increase proposed by the claims would be any handicap. The same applied to alluvial mines sucl as Addison’s and Golden Sands, botl of which had paid good dividends There were very few dredges or alluvial claims unsuccessful when they were first thoroughly’ tested. O. course there were the wild ca: schemes which never had a hope oj paying their way, but were purely e gambling rake off for individuals whe should never be allowed in the mining industry. It surely could not be the policy of the Court to penalise workers on the result of unscrupulous speculators. It might be argued that the firs award since 1918 in the dredging industry was made after the introduclion of the 40-hour-week legislation This was true, but it was exceptionally early in the operation of the 40-hour-weck, and a big discussion took place as to whether the Court coulo make the award, but representatives of both sides met and on the resuming of the Court, it was announced an agreement had been reached, but neither side was to be prejudiced by the proceedings. In 1918 when gold was about £3 18s per ounce, an agreement was made in Reefton with the dredge owners-for a forty-seven hour week, 5 shifts of eight h*urs and the last shift of the week seven hours, This was reduced by an allowance of half an hour for crib time, and holidays were allowed from December 24th. to January 7th. inclusive In spite of these conditions operatine in 1918, the so-called good employer of to-day, with modern machinery turning over double tne amount o! material with gold at double the price in 1918, refused to give condi tions as good as those operating in 1918. This was a case for the Court to tell the employers they had been most unreasonable in the question of hours. Shifts worked should be in the manner provided for in claims, with Is 6d extra for back shift. In regard to wages, their claims were very modest, representing an increase of 5s per week on the present wages to about equal to the wages provided in the Harbour Board Employees' Award. The greasers, engineers, crane drivers and riggers were lower than that award provided for in a 40 hour week, and conditions on the Harbour Board Dredges were 100 per cent, better than on gold dredges These wages were all for eight-to-fiy'e work in most cases. Greasers’ classification had been drawn up as the result of trouble over the last award, He referred to the isolation question. These workers lived where living costs .were higher, and social services supplied in cities and towns bv either the Government or local authority,

must, be provided by’ the men themselves. These workers lived together , in comparatively small communitie-?, ; and the cost of transport of commodities they’ required was usually very | high. This increased their cost of Jiving and from that point of view a higher wage should -be paid than to workers in the cities and towns. Isolation increased the cost of family maintenance, also of secondary ecltica lion, as for those at Okarito, Gillespie’s Beach, Worksop, etc., as compared with Greymouth, and ordinary’ commodities used in the household were easily 25 per cent, higher in these outlying places than in Greymouth. When the industry was not prosperous and the Government wished to keep the industry going, there might be reasons for not increasing wages. When the commodity’ these workers produced had more than doubled its price in New Zealand cur-1 rency during the past, six years, the| increase in wages was long overdue and should have been granted by the employers long before now. It was| desired to have in the preference clause the proviso that, it shall not be lawful for any employer to employ, or to continue to employ, in any | position subject 1o this award, any person not for the time being a mem- j ber of an industrial union bound by , the award; provided, however, that! any non-unionist may’ be continued in I any position by an employer bound' by’ the award during any time while I there was not a member of a Union! pound by award available to perform! J particular work required ana readvj .'to undertake it. Workers who be-' ’ came unfinancial should be dealt with , in the same manner as a worker not | . a member of the Union. Attention , was drawn to Subsection 4 of Section 18 of the Amendment Act, of 1936. [which gave workers the right, to join J the Union. [| Mr. Turley said that with regard to ( the Ikamatua dredge, the estimated annual profit was £54,500, a turnover I of 19 per cent, for 14 years. With . regard to greasers, it was decided to ’ alter the schedule to first and second . greasers, to get over the dispute in ’ regard to motormen. In one case the [ 1 Magistrate gave an opinion and the , other case was referred to the Arbi [ tration Court for an opinion. It. was I submitted that in alluvial claims the II men should get 2s a week extra for , gumboots and overcoat allowance. He ’ proceeded to call evidence. ’! Ivan Erie Scott, head rigger on the .Grey River dredge at Ikamatua, said , I that the work of a rigger was to s handle every- piece of steel, and leave , it safe for the bolters and riveters. [ It was difficult to balance a long piece 'of steel and to balance the load, the , j rigger would go up with it. It was ( dangerous work, if anything went j wrong with the crane. He was reIcently involved in an accident when I a three inch king pin in the crane, ' which had crystallised, broke and the [ crane had fallen. Had witness fallen ’.on his face, instead of his back, the J crane would have fallen right, on top of hint. | To Mr MacDonald: Riggers were , i employed only by construction companics. A Thomas E. K.'French, a winchman [ employed by’ the Mataki Gold Dredg- [ ing Company, with eleven years ex- , pericnce, said that they all tried t> ' get out of the dirty' work of cleaning ‘ boilers. ’Die heat was intense. An extra Is 6d per day was not unrea- . sonable. It. would hardly- pay' for the '.washing of the clothes. He did not ; see any difficulty in working a fortyhour week of five days. I To Mr McDonald: The boiler was ’ cleaned after the ordinary- dredging week was finished, on a Saturday i night, at Mataki. This involved th? payment of extra wages. The aim of dredging companies was to get. ’n as much dredging time as possible each 1 week. i To His Honour: He had never seen [ the Mataki, dredge lose more -than twelve hours at any one time through floods. I His Honour: The reason why I ask- ; ed the question, was that in past ’ years, dredging companies operating in the Buller River were quite satis- ’ lied to get in three quarters of the ; year in dredging lime. ’ ’ To Mr Monteith: Two shoremen ' were winchmen, and one held a sec--1 ond class engine driver’s certificate. 1 Anybody- could take up the position of ‘ stacker. Thomas Hubert Lee accountant and ' company, secretary Reefton, who was called by’ Mr Turley said that he was . secretary’ for the Nemona, Argo and ■ Worksop Dredging companies. Ne-’ 1 mona Dredge had been working since 1 July 1936. It had paid £lB,OOO in divi- ' dends to date. The capital of the ' company was £lB,OOO. The company ' was still working satisfactorily. Argo 5 Dredge had been working since October 1935, and had paid £23,200 in divi- - aends. The extent of the reserves in ’ each was £2,000. The company required a new ladder costing £l,OOO. ’ The capital of the company was £24,- ' 000 with £20,000 paid up. The Work- ' sop Dredge had a capital of £16,000 : It had operated since August 1934, and paid her capital back exactly. 1 , There was a reserve of £l6OO. Spare ' parts on hand were valued at £5OO. It would take four men extra to work a forty’ hour week on both the Argo and Nemona dredges. It would certainly take three. Only three men worked on a dredge per shift. He had been unable to formulate a scheme to work a forty hour week. I To Mr McDonald: He was interested in six additional companies. With ' a trading company, bigger reserves were put away, but not so with a ' dredging company. The other six companies were not so successful. The first Mataki, with a capital of £33,759 paid up, had paid £7,030 in dividends to date. He could not say what the reserves were. | Mr Monteith: You are not helping us much then. I know of a company which had £17,000 in reserve. Continuing, witness said that Barrytown Dredge had a capital of £128,750. It had been operating under a year and no dividends had been paid so far and no money had been paid 1 to reserves. Stafford dredge had a capital of £37,500 fully’ paid up. It had been operating for four years and had paid a dividend of 6d tor 5s shares. The dredge was recently sunk and was sold for £240. Then there was the Nganere Gold Dredging Company, yvith a capital of £205,000 (under construction) on the east side of the Blackball township above the Argo Dredge. There was then the Okarito dredge with a capital of £35,000 which had been working about five years. For the 5s shares, 5s 2d had been paid back in dividends, and the company’ had £2OOO in reserve. The final' one was Gillespie’s Beach, which started dredg-' ing In January 1934. It had a capital of £35,000 fully- paid up. The dividends

were £18,063 16s 4d. He had no idea' j of the reserves of this company. The j attitude of the employers had at nt d time been i nreasopable in concilia- ( tion council proceedings. Any' increase in wages or shortening of , hours would affect the future opera- ", tions of the companies. During the j past 13 months the returns of the Worksop dredge had averaged 22.(5 ; ozs per week and the average dredging time was 121.46 hours. The total ( recovery’ was 1183 ozs 5 dwts. 1 he average dredging cost was £156 8s 5d per week and therefore it would be seen from the results of the last 1 < , months that they were right on the borderline. An expected improvement did not materialise, the ground remaining poor. A lot ol dredging time had been lost through striking buried timber. Under the circumstances, a 48 hour was necessary. j I Mr. Turley asked that Mr. Lee be regarded by’ the Court as an adveis? witness. I i His Honour said that Mr Turley ( could examine on the matter intro- ■ duced in cross-examination. I To Mr Turley: He did not mention that the Seafford Dredging Company I had got £15,000 insurance. If sufficient precaution was taken, he would I agree that goldmining was an invest'rnent not a speculation to-day. I I His Honour: I think the witness has | been a very- fair one. I I Mr Turley: Yes, much better than I expected. 1 | James Martin Dennehy, Works I Manager of the Golden Sands Elevating plant, Barrytown, and also a shareholder in the company, said that lit was six years since the plant was I first developed. The capital of the 'company was £7,000. About 5,000 hact been paid in dividends. there was some reserve. The company paid award rates and a bonus of Is per day. , „ I To Mr MacDonald: The award for alluvial claims was 2s per hour, but his company being a fairly’ prosperous one, paid a bonus of Is per day’. Other alluvial claims, he thought, were not very successful. I Harold Robinson, a railway employee, of Paroa, said that up to a , few weeks ago he was employed by the Addison’s Exploration Company’, at Marsden. It was an alluvial mine He worked on the job five days short of two years and obtained holiday pay for twelve months, after 17 months work. They worked in wet places in the paddock, requiring new thigh 'gum boots every’ three months. These ' cost 35s and he would use three to” four pairs a year.. Damage was also I caused to clothes. Such work as ! I shifting a tram was regarded by the . Company as a breakdown. It would ,1 require a man to live on the job, to I chase the Company’ on tne overtime J clause. A breakdown job was deI fined in the award as a definite stoppage of the plant. . I J Douglas Charles Faris, Acting-Sec retary’ of the Dredge Workers' Union, I said he had visited al) the dredges ! during the past twelve months. Four Ito six men were employed in or .[around the Argo dredge during the .'day shift, whilst there were two men i employed on the back shift and the 1 night shift. The same circumstances I applied at Nemona and Worksop ,1 dredges. Until recently the only J method of getting to Gillespie’s Beach ' dredge was by- pack-track over 15 ,'miles from Weheka. A road was .' now being constructed. The cost of J packing food was heavy. There were no bathing facilities for single men. Providing the tide was suitable, proI visions could be packed along the i beach to the Okarito dredge, a disstance of five miles from Okarito ■ township. The Worksop dredge was >’ 3i miles from the main highway and I a river had to be forded. All men ; at Addison’s Flat required to wear I gumboots, oilskin overcoats and | aprons, and the manager and men had informed him that they were i given an allowance of Is 6d a week,' The Barrytown dredge was one o p the best in operation, as it was lit ■ | with floodlight, but even with a' , ( board track it was possible to get ; off it and got “bogged.” Witness • 'would say that a dredge worker : working on the back shift or dog-1 | watch was entitled to more pay. If offered either job at the same monev, ■ he would take the day job. I .I To Mr. MacDonald: like coalminers, he considered that late shift | men should receive extra payment. I [ In order to provide uniformity, bow-' i'ever, an ajl-round increase was. ; ■ sought. | I I This concluded the case for the ■■ Union. THE EMPLOYERS’ CASt. Mr. MacDonald claimed that Mr Turley had not produced evidence in ' support of his claims for alterations to th'e proposals. He thought that Mr. Turley was unfair in his implica-, tions of alleged unfairness and tinrea-' h sonableness on the part of the employers. He refuted such allegations. He opposed the suggestion of | retrospective payments, as the Union I had failed to agree to reasonable proposals in the earlier proceedings. | Mr. MacDonald said the parties had been unable to reach an agree-1 ment after two Conciliation Council sittings. The employees Asked that' the award be made operative lor twelve months only, and the employ-1 ers sought a three years’ term. The' majority of the clauses in dispute, ex-1 cepting wages, hours, ana overtime,' arose from the Union’s application for substantial alterations of conditions.! The price of gold to-day- was almost identical with that at the time when : the employees agr.eed to the last' award in 1936. The Westland dis-| trict had a most romantic history, the highlights of which undoubtedly, centred around the of gold j Much of the present prosperity’ of the district was derived from the fortunes I made in gold in the past. However, | the “gold rush” days were over, and to-day, while the recovery of gold 1 was still one of the most important factors in the prosperity of the province, the industry was run on much more commercial lines. While an element of gambling might exist in a minor degree, it was practically eliminated. The investment of capital depended on careful estimates of the margin of receipts over costs of production. It was known that one Company, the Austral-Malay Tin, Ltd., with a capital of £200,000, was investigating the possibilities of op. eration on the West Coast, but be-1 cause of the high labour costs under | the existing award, and the general ■restrictive conditions imposed on the' industry in New Zealand, this company had withdrawn from the New Zealand field. This was a case where, probably, 40 men would have been given continuous employment had the 'Company commenced operations. It must be further realised tnat much of the capital invested in the industry

had been invested on the basis ot , gold remaining at a price of about , £7 an ounce, and costs of production being unchanged. To increase these costs, was not only unfair to shareholders and investors, who had put their money into the industry, but was definitely detrimental to the, industry in shattering confidence in it, and thus tending to undermine the prosperity’ of the West Coast to the i extent that it depended on gold pro-1 duction. Heavy rains and floods l meant loss of time;, also breakages and buried timber. He submittect that it was far oetter for workers who were in more or iess isolated spots, to be earning money on the sixth day- of the week than doing nothing—as they would ne, it the Union’s claims were granted. In ad- . dition, it was impracticable, in many 'cases, to increase the staff to the extent which would be necessary, even I if a forty-hour, five-day week were, ■practicable. Accommodation hack t been made available in many cases I for the crew which it was necessary to maintain on a dredge, assuming that it continued to operate on an ordinary week of 48 hours, and it. would be absolutely- impossible to fino ; and accommodate skeleton crews to I work a forty-hour week; and the nett result would be that the em-| ployers would be forced to /pay the 1 existing crews very substantial over-, (time. He submitted that the fortyhour week legislation was not designed for this purpose, but was designed where it was practicable to give employment to more men at ordinary rates of pay. It might oe called a legislative accident that the industry had to face up to the argument of a forty-hour week to-day. He submitted that tne Government had in mind factories, coal-mines, thej , building industry, and others, when , 1 the forty-hour week legislation was introduced. The employers had fully investigated the possibilities of operating the industry on a forty, fortyfour, and forty-six hour week, and | they contended that it was impos-| smle for the industry to operate under any fewer weekly hours than forty-eight. In addition, the employers state quite definitely that the men would not be satisfied to have to work the shorter shift which such a reduction would necessitate. Reduction in hours in the industry must mean either reduced gold or an increase in the crew to put through the same yardage. The industry was un»like an ordinary factm-y industry, which could in many cases speed up production to meet increased wage costs, or increase prices to meet these costs. While it might be said that some companies would-oe able to continue operation under the enormous increase in costs which would result from a reduction in hours, it could safely be said that many more companies would go out of production, meaning loss of capital and less employment; in addition to which the industry would become unattractive to new capital, and the prosperity of the Coast as a whole, and of many individual townships on the Coast, to the extent that they were dependent on gold mining, would su.Ter a very serious blow. The serious situation of the sluicing claims, he said, became apparent from a study of the number of companies which had ceased operating since the existing award was •made in 1936. The total capital invested in dredging on the West Coast was £1,715,050 and in sluicing £325,950, making a total in both sections of £2,031,000. Golden Sands, Addison’s Flat and Moonlight Goldfields and the Deep Lead Company, were the only sluicing companies to have paid any dividend. The latter .paid £l,OOO in dividends, but the rest of the capital was losT money. Two dredging companies, Brian Boru anct Stafford, had ceased operations, the latter certainly because of an accident. Four dredging companies with a capital of over £900,000, had yet to commence operation in an in- ; dustry wljjch could not increase the price of its product, but which was now faced with a claim for substantially increased costs. He submitted ■ that the extravagant nature of the ! Union’s claims in the present case was sufficient to condemn them. They did not take into consideration in any | way the circumstances under which the industry operated, and to grant . them consideration to the extent | would only result in reduced employi ment, further loss of capital, and a ■very serious blow to the Coast’s prosI perily. He submitted that the claims represented an increase of 52 per cent, in wages costs on the present cost. Due to the increased costs of 16 per cent, in 1937 the grade of gravel, which could now be dug at a profit, was in excess of 6d per cubic yard. This meant the abandonment of all gravel having a value of between sld and 6d per cubic yard. Any I further increase in costs would increase the amount of gravel abandoned, therefore reducing the life time of the claim. He strongly objected to .various clauses in the Union proposI als, including an increase in the number of existing holidays. The ' employers were opposed to the <ug[gestion of the Union that greasers should be classified, and that further : where only one man was employed as a greaser he shall bq paid a special rate. He submitted felt men shoula I be paid according to the work they I were doing and evidence would show I that the work of these- men was not of a special The height | money clause affected construction jobs, and he submitted there was no , reason for any extra payment. This | work was of a similar nature to structural steel work which was covlered by the Boilermakers’ Award, and in which there was no such provision, 1 nor was a claim for it being made by I the Boilermakers’ Union. He con- . eluded by stating th.jt it would be absolutely impossible to operate the I gold dredging ancT aiiu viai mining industry of Westland aid Nelson efficiently ■ on anything less than a forty-eight-hour week. William Gordon McKay, engineer and contractor, said that he had been building and running dredges for the past 17 years, covering in all 12 dredges. He knew of several companies curtailing operations owing to increased costs. One, the Burma Malay Company did not go ahead with the construction of a dredge near Kumara because of the wage demands. They waited''to see what the attitude of the Court would bo. I He thought it was quite impracticable to operate the industry on a 40-hour week. Mr Turley’s suggestion of one extra crew would not work, as the day men and engineer would have to be relieved, as well as the shift-men. Probably three, four, or more extra men would be required. The relief, men would not be able to work at, their occupation throughout the week,' resulting in paying skilled men to do t

unskilled work. There was no pos- ' sibility of the companies being able < to increase the price of gold while the duty of 12s 6d was levied irrespective of the price of gold or the ' ability of the company to pay. Witness had employed a large number of men, and had found them to be completely satisfied. On one job recently, the company advertised 12 positives at award wages, and received 67 applications. The greaser was a totally unskilled man. Winchmen required a certain amount of skill. Witness considered there were no motormen on the dredges at. present. To Mr Turley; Witness thought, that greasers’ work on the dredges was one of the easiest jobs on the West Coast, and one requiring the least, intelligence. Winchmen were skilled workers. The engineer and winchmen did not have to be on the job 48 hours in the week, but they had to be available. The Burma ; Malay Co. had decided not to go on . with the dredge in October last, due largely to the uncertainty of labour conditions. They had just received the Union’s demands. Witness con- ' sidered the lifting of the gold tax ' would help companies which were ! likely to close down to keep going, although it would not cover the cost I of the 40-hour week. | | Thomas Gilooly, dredgemaster at| at the Barrytown dredge, said that, 'he formerly held a similar rjasition on. the Mataki dredge for four years. The floods caused delays of 24 hours, while the paddocks had to be cleared of silt. In his opinion, five extra men would be required to work the 40hour week at the Mataki, including a certificated foreman, winchman stackerman and two day men. He did not think it was feasible at all. If there was any increase of wages, or decrease in hours, the Mataki ' Company did not intend to take up a further area of freehold ground pr P °To d ’Mr Turlev: Coal could not be loaded on the Mataki dredge m ad. I vance and he would be at a loss to [know’what to do with the extra men ' at times. To Mr Montieth: There was a gtea difference between the operating Ss of bl E and smafl dredges. Ban.town, for instance, had operated only 96 hours a week, owing to buried [ timber. Mataki dredge, he thought, had a reserve of £4OOO. George Ernest Poole, general manager of the Bundi Tin Dredging Co., said that he had been associated with gold mining, in Otago, Australia and on the West Coast, for 40 years In his opinion, work on the West Coast . was- preferable to Otago, from climatic and accessibility points of , view. He would say that there was ,!no justification for a higher rate o 1 wages on the West Coast than in 'Otago As far as the Bundi Company ! was concerned, the 40-hour week was i not practicable. . To Mr Turley: The wages paid under the previous award had nothing to do with the Bundi dredge closing down. IL had closed for a check up of the original prospecting. This had I been more than substantiated, and • there was every possibility of the ' dredge resuming operations. To Mr Montieth: The dredge had gone into land that was not bored, and this was the reason why a check ; up had been decided upon. Albert Edward Langham, secretarymanager of the Kumara Goldfields, • a private sluicing company, with a capital of £17,750, said that the company would have to cease operations ■ immediately if there were any. in--1 creased costs. . To Mr Turley: He had paid his ' men over the award rate. He had allowed men off on Saturday afternoons Eight men were employed. To Mr Monteith: The Government had granted a subsidy of £2OOO, and £13,750 had been paid in as capital. ■ It had been an unpayable proposition ’! from the outset. There were three members of the company.

Recalled, Thomas H. Lee stated .to Mr Monteith that 4000 of the_ shares in the Argo Company were given to the vendors of the property. No bonus shares had been issued. The Maori Gully Company had £9OOO or £lO,OOO in reserves, the reason being that the claim was nearly worked out, and it was the company’s intention to shift to new ground. Mr Monteith: Do you know anything about reserves in any of the other companies? We have found a fairly substantial reserve in this one instance. Witness said that he was not conversant with the companies other than those he had named.

John Martin Bunt, chairman of directors, stated that the Maori Gully Dredging Company had between £ll,OOO and £12,000 cash in hand, and this, with £6OOO paid in dividends, would not return the total capital invested in it. The present area was practically worked out, and it would be finished within three months. No reserves had been accumulated out of prolits. The money in the bank represented largely capital and the writing off of the area. To Mr Turley: The wash-up last week was 66 -ozs. A total of 118,000 was paid into the company, and 6000 shares were issued to vendors. The capital of the company was £24,000. Mr MacDonald said that he would leave his case as it stood. Mr Turley intimated that be desired to reply to some of Mr MacDonald’s contentions, and the Court adjourned at 6 p.m. till 8 p.m. MR TURLEY’S REPLY. In reply to Mr MacDonald’s argument, Mr Turley said he would prove! to the Court that Mr MacDonald’s| remarks were very wide o£ the mark.; In the first place, the Southland; award had not been made. It was! only an agreement. I His Honour: It will come beforej us at Dunedin. ' ’

Mr Turley said that it would, but, he said, the Federation of Labour most strongly objected to it. He had told Mr MacDonald at Nelson that the Southland agreement was a bosses’ agreement, which the men in the district agreed it was. Mr MacDonald had made lengthy reference to the matter of greasers and motormen, and the Union had asked for a change in the classification, because the first or only greaser was much more important than two men, being next to the winchman. They were provided for at a higher rate than a general hand in the previous award, and there was justification for claiming a higher rate. Quite a lot had been made out of the amount of monies that had recently been invested, the figures totalling over £2,000,000. All of these companies had been floated after boring, with the knowledge that the 40-hour week legislation was on the Statute Book. They had not been floated in the dark'

at all. They had been floated, the companies knowing quite clearly’ that the 40-hour week would operate in the dredging industry, yet they were still able t 0 find the two millions. Mr MacDonald had set out a large array of figures regarding the price of gold, and its fluctuations. He had conveniently left, out the fact that gold had gone up 100 per cent, in recent years whilst wages had not advanced by nearly that amount. There was no doubt that the companies which Mr MacDonald had mentioned had, with few exceptions, had a wonderful rake off in profits. The figures given in evidence proved that to be so. A lot. had been made of Mr McKay’s evidence regarding Austral Malay Tin, statements, he said, which might lead the Court to nelieve something which did not. exist. If it existed in regard t.o that company, it! also existed when all of the large! companies had been floated—four of I them with a capital of £200,000 each,! and all of them when the conditions existed. The agreements referred to by Mr MacDonald had been made after a round table discussion, whilst the Nelson award was made by the Court, so that the workers had no responsibility in regard to it. Mr MacDonald had referred to unavoid- | able mechanical stoppages, all of ; which conditions existed long before , most of the Coast companies had j been floated. The conditions referred to in the Stock Exchange reports ■ mentioned /existed before any companies were floated.

His Honour; They are the last lines of gold mine managers’ reports. Mr Turley. “Yes.” Mr MacDonald had claimed that owing to the isolation of most, of the dredges, it would he better for the men to work six day a week than five. Perhaps he would also introduce coolie labour, so that they could work seven days a week, and cut out Sundays altogether? It was clearly the intention of the legislature to introduce the 40hour week, and there was no logicin Mr MacDonald's statement. Mr MacDonald’s figures in regard to dredges had misconstrued a lot of the facts. Barrytown and Rimu were hardly mentioned, but everyone’ knew that the Barrytown returns had been as high as SOO ounces a month, although complete returns could not be given. There were no more scientifi-cally-bored places in New Zealand than Barrytown and Ikamatua, and the companies were well aware of what condition the under-surface was in. Mr MacDonald's contentions about costs had not been backed up by evidence, whereas Mr Gilooly had stated that it was payable at 3d per yard of wash. The evidence of the manager of the Bundi dredge showed that, the land had not been bored properly, with the result that the returns were poor. He had admitted that wages had nothing to do with the cessation of operations. It was quite clear that nearly all of the dredges had shown huge profits, and it. was a wonder that there had not boon sonic great gold rush. Mr MacDonald must have been under the impression that, the Mines Statement did not come into existence. Quoting from the latest statement available, Mr Turley said that Stafford dredge had during the year dredged 500,000 yards, for a return of over 1500 ounces of gold valued at £10,966, and since operations were commenced the return had been 4200 ounces valued at £32,024, whilst £3750 had been paid in dividends. The dredge had done fairly well, and as in 1936 it went on to new ground, the production figures for that year would probably startle Mr MacDonald. Rimu had treated 2,512,809 -yards for a return of 11,516 ounces, nearly 1000 ounces a month. Since operations were commenced, 187,944 ounces had been won, valued at £1,019,888. Dividends in the last year were £20,844, whilst to date £98,716 had been paid. The company was not. “broke” vet, and had many years of work before it. It had operated for 78 per cent, of its time in the last year, showing that dredging time had to be worked on an average. The subscribed capital was £166,672, and £142,863 had actually been paid up, a lot lower than Mr MacDonald’s statement of £200,000. The dividends would, therefore, be bigger than the Court had been led to believe. There had been no complaints from those who got all their money back in dividends, although it was admitted that a few dredges showed no profits. If there was evidence of gold mining gambles, it was contained in the doings of the Brian Boru company, for there there was quite enough evidence to hang a lot of people if hanging were allowed.

Mr Monteith: The trouble there was that proper borings were not made.

Mr Turley agreed, and said that there were many other factors. The least said about them the better. He submitted that Maori Gully was a success but would admit that White's Electric and New River were duds. Boring would have proved that, and there was no need for it to occur again.

Mr Monteith: Aren’t, there regulations to that effect?

Mr Turley said that he thought there were. Anyhow, tfip Government would not allow wild cat dredges to operate. He would ask Mr MacDonald if he seriously submitted to the Court that the industry on the West Coast was to be governed by the fact that there had been! a couple of dud dredges. He submitted that the v should not he taken into consideration at all. Vendors in White’s Electric got a certain percentage from each ounce, Whclhor there was a profit or not. His Honour: You can’t sav that Mataki is a success.

Mr Turley said that he would not say that >t. was a had loss. It was to some extent a wild cat scheme, because they had gathered up scrap iron on all parts of the West Coast and called it a dredge. His Honour: It keeps 14 men in work, as well as using the coal of a local mine.

Mr Turley pointed out that Mr Langham in his evidence stated that he had put £lO,OOO into his alluvial claim, and then had to put more in to pay wages. He and his two friends had a hobby, and no one wanted to stop them if they wanted to be gold miners. They had as much chance of getting 15d out of their claim as they had of getting £15,000 profit. .Because of that, there was no substantial reason for asking the workers to bear the losses. The other alluvial miner called showed that they could get along all right with 17s per day wages for the men. Mr MacDonald had submitted that the Union had shown that it had no sound reason for the departure fiom the present hours, but Mr Turley said that the onus was on the employer t 0 prove that the 40-hour week was

impracticable. The Union bad showed that the 40-hour week could be worked without difficulty and that profits would not greately deteoriate therefrom. Anyone working six days a week earned more than the person working five days, and Mr MacDonald’s argument amounted to a suggestion that men should be paid for five days whilst working six. He submitted that the employer should not have the advantage of a day free from payment of wages. Mr MacDonald claimed that overtime was necessary in case of breakdowns, and that the men should in some extent share the losses. If they shared the losses, they should also be entitled to share the profits—after the honesty of the employers had been fully tested because so much of the profits had been hidden that it took half a dozen accountants to find them out. He did not agree to Mr MacDonald’s submissions in regard to paid holidays, and said that if the present hours were adhered to, the workers were entitled to compensation by way of extra holidays. They wanted a 40-hour week in the first place, but if they could not get it, then they were entitled to paid holidays in compensation. He claimed that the Union’s case showed definitely that the employers’ evidence was not too sound, and that which was sound was to the advantage of the Union, for it showed huge profits whilst production was still going merrily along. The last award showed that in nothing of importance had the employers given way to the workers, and they now left the matter in the hands of the Court, trusting that it would give very serious consideration to the legislation regarding hours anj., wages.

Mr MacDonald thanked the Court for meeting his convenience by sitting during the evening, and Mr Turley spoke in similar strain.

His Honour, in stating that judgment would be reserved, thanked Messrs MacDonald and Turley for their remarks. Since he had been on the Coast—and indeed ever since ,the Court had existed—the convenience of the parties had been considered, and he had had the full co-operation of his colleagues on the Bench. The Court adjourned at 8.55 p.m.