NEW ZEALAND WORKERS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVII, Issue LVII, 28 April 1910, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND WORKERS

ALLEGED RESTRICTION OF OUTPUT.

COMPLAINT BY EMPLOYERS.

CHRISTCHURCH, April 25. The complaint of certain employers that there is a growing tendency on i the part of the workers of the Dominion i to restrict their output in various indusi tries was the subject of investigation i by a Lyttelton Times reporter. Several i large employers of labor made comi parisons between the amount of work I done in certain manufactures in New i Zealand and that done in similar in- | dustries in Britain and America, and i opinions were expressed in each case i that in no industry in the Dominion } were the results achieved by human \ and mechanical agencies in co-operation f as good as those of the older countries. ) "It might be thought," said one | employer, "that the fixing by the indus- ) trial awards of minimum wages would ) have a depreciative effect on the ov»t- < put, but this could not be generally the } case in Christchurch, as in practically } every manufactory in the city an exerJ tion wage was paid. Only those i»en J were retained who were capable of earnJ ing in full the minimum wage demand- } ed by the award, and to receive that ) wage they were required to produce } a certain output that was fixed as the J standard for the factory. In order to } encourage greater industry, those workr ers who could exceed the standard were t paid an exertion, wage in addition to the ! fixed minimum. In some cases a bonus t was paid in proportion to the amount ( of work done in excess of the standard, ! and in others menjvho displayed greatt er skill and producing ability received ! a fixed addition to their wages that t did not vary with a temporary in1 crease or reduction of their respective I total outputs. It was understood that t some of the unions had made efforts 1 to prevent the payment of exertion 1 wages, but they had .not achieved their ! object. 1 Mr F. E. Jones, who unfil recently 1 was connected with a large manufacturi . ing and packing business, said that his ( ' experience was that for some unaccount1 able reason the employer could not get any extra, speed out of the hands, who were mainly girls and youths. At times the firm had offered bonuses in addition to piecework rates for those who could exceed a certain production per week, but it had never had any effect. It was tried because of the scarcity of labor for the work, but it was seldom that any girl or boy put forward a special effort to earn the bonus. He had found that the case was exactly as stated in Dunedin. When hands first came into the factory they conld get through, a great deal more work than the others, but later on, when they had had a little more experience, they slackened offj leading the employer to the conclusion that there was some influence at work to restrict the- output. The hands were not actual unionists, but there might have been a unionist environment to account for it. The slackening off had been most marked in the last, few ,years. The reason might be that the workers were fairly comfortabjej and satisfied with their conditions,- and had no particular desire to exert ( themselves, and they could get another, billet easily enough. , The remedy did/not lie in piecework as far as he could, see, for that had been tried without effect, and the only means by which he expected the trouble to be remedied was a greater supply of labor. Up to the present the difficulty had been to fret hands to do the work. DEFENCE OF THE EMPLOYEES. Mr H. R. Rusbridge, who speaks with authority as a worker's representative, having been closely identified with trades unions in Christchurch for fifteen years, emphatically denies that there is any restriction of outputs. He says the fact of, a man being a tradeunionist has no tendency to lessen the amount of work 'he does. If there has been any diminution of output, it has been due to. inefficiency of employers. In the past, the employer was generally ~ a man who had worked as a tradesman, but now it is common for an employer to have no training as a skilled workman. Generally such a man assumes a vast knowledge he does not i possess, though he may be an adept at explaining the knowledge of his employees. It is quite a common thing for the skilled workman to feel utterly disgusted at the ignorance of the man who employs him. ' 'Speaking on behalf * of trades unionism," said Mr Rusbridge, "I can say it is absolutely untrue to state that the worker rarely gives a fair day's work for a fair day's pay." He added that any bitterness existing between Avorker and employer had beenlargely brought about by the uncompromising attitude of the paid officers of employer's associations, who had never met the Avorkers in a spirit of conciliation or compromise, but had always fought them on every point. The AA'holesale decrying of the workers by some members of associations was calculated to raise the ire of any spirited man. Mr M'Laren, M.P., referring to the suggestion that workers restricted the output, said that during his lonn: experience of trade unions, he had not known an, instance of a union or officer advising a worker^ to adopt the "go slow" process. Unions constantly rrave advice to members to seek the highest return for their services, but never that they should loaf. The unionist policy throughout was to stimulate in the Avorkers of the Dominion pride in their manhood and craftsmanship, and ' to instil in them a spirit of action to- ; wards securing full remuneration for their services. '< The winter wlnGs remind yon it's 7 time for warmer goods, and we remind ' you that avg "have suitable winter goods ] on hand. Whatever fashion calls for wo immediately purchase and offer *vt 1 economic prices. Come round to our > store aTid A r iew the display of furs, oonts, dress goods, and costumes in ] endloso variety. W. Spence, The Econo- ' mic, Hawera. — Advtt. > £ Fireside Phonograph is the one big ! hit ; the best seller of the season. Only £6 10s at E Dixon-and Co.'s § YOU TAKE CARE to obtain the best possible and mos( suitable diet to protect your health Hnw mnrh more careful should yon b* in the rhnipp or a medicine. SANDER'S EUCALYPTI EXTRACT has very rain, nblo curative- and healing actions ; bu( the so-called Eucalyptus Extracts, which are crude oils made by person! ignorant of chemistry, have done erea 1 * harm by their irritant action. Therefore, reject them ! Insist upon a pure, \ctive, non-irritant and uniform pro- g Inct. SUCH IS SANDER'S EXTRACT. i Remember, that SANDER'S EXTRACT was proved by autborirntive a exports, at the Supreme Court of Vie- -n hma, to contain antiseptic and healing substances not contained in other Ruealvptus products. Tt is quality, it small dose, that made SANDER'S EXTRACT famous, nnr? its best advertise ment, is: SANDER'S EXTRACT.—AHvfc,