SEAMEN'S DISPUTE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 14 October 1922, Page 7

SEAMEN'S DISPUTE.

A NEW AWAJ&B

(BY TELEGRAPH —PIIK.SS ASSOCIATION.; WKLLIInUXOjN, Oct. 13. ; The Arbitration Court issued its new i award in the seamen's dispute this > afternoon.. The Court said that nearly > ail the clauses of the award were in J dispute. The working conditions pro- ; vided by th^ agreement of 1920 were in many cases productive of results that \ could not have been seriously content- j plated at the time it was formed, and the Court was satisfied that the abnormally high earnings of seamen in certain trades were due to the operation I of these- conditions, rather than to the rates of wages and overtime fixed by the agreement. The Court had re-drafted most of the conditions on what appeared to be j reasonable and fair lines. The question ] of wages had caused the Court some difficulty. The .1920 agreement con- ( tamed a provision that any increases awarded in Australia should automatic- j ally apply to rates fixed by the New • Zealand agreement. The Court 3 how-j ever, decided to ignore the AustraKan rates and the cost-of-living variation, j because the method of computing and readjusting the cost of living conducted in the Commonwealth differed from ours, and the cost of living in New Zea-. land' did not vary in constant ratio with the cost of living in Australia. j Further, the Court's attitude was to _ provide a scale of wages for New Zea- j land seamen whose families lived in New Zealand and not in Australia. The . rates of wases decided on by the Court were based on the rates agreed upon in 1920, subject to the Court's bonus additions and reductions ordered since the date of that agreement, with an ( alternative calculation based on the Court's basic wage, less 10s per week, representing the saving in domestic expenditure for a married man having his rations provided on board. The Court considered the pre-war rates too low, in comparison with those paid for slior© workers, to base the calculation on them as requested by the employers. The Australian rates were at present higher hv £1 5s 8d per month than those awarded by the 'Court, but were subject to revision on November I, February 1, and May 1. whereas the rates fixed by the new award would not be subject" to variation until May 1 next. The Court agreed, owing to the unusual posit'on of seamen and ships, to reinsert the clause in regard to stop-work meet- ' ings.