THE THRESHING MILLS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16549, 13 May 1914, Page 5

THE THRESHING MILLS.

WAGES AND CONDITIONS. j ARBITRATION COURT'S AWARD, i Tho Arbitration Court bar. aeiiveml j its award in tho dispute between tlio ! Canterbury Agricultural and raster;! 1 . • Labourers’ Union and a large number i of owners of threshing mills in Canter- : bury. _ | Tho hours of work are left to j tho discretion of tho employer, ; but a worker shall not be required to I work by moonlight or by lamplight or ; other artificial light except in c-ss of < emergency, when ono hour shall bo allowed. The minimum number of hands to be employed in each mill is fixed as follows:—Driver, feeder, three stackmen, two bagmen, ono strawman, ono water man and, in camp, one cook. It will not bo a broach of the award if an employer is prevented from having the full complement of hands on account of accident or 'absence of any worker through illness or any other cause beyond tho control of the employer, but he must make up tho full complement of hands as soon as reasonably practicable. No youth under eighteen years can bo employed on any mill. Jho waterman must attend to his horses whether tho mill is working or not. The minimum wago for workers employed by the hour on threshing mills is Is 3d an hour. Piece-work limy be worked at not less than the following rates: —Fourteen shillings per thousand bushels of wheat or barley. 12s per thousand bushels of oats. Except as afterwards provided, these rates shall cover all work involved in shifting or setting tho mill. Ragmen shall be paid Is per one thousand bushels in addition to tho above rates. Once in each week, on a day to be named by the employer at the beginning of the work, the employer must, at tho request of the worker, pay any sum not exceeding 75 per cent of the sum due to tho worker. All men working on a mill must assist in shifting it, and must be paid not less than Is 3d an hour when shifting from stack to stack. Tho employer must supply a cook’s galley, cooking utensils and coals at n charge of Is 8d per man per week, "id the food supplied shall he provided eii the co-operative system. _ A sleeping wharo also must, be provided, and it must be not less than 20ft long, Bft wide and 7ft Gin high in the centre, .and must be properly ventilated. Ono week’s notice must be given on each side to terminatean agreement. In settling disputes a representative of the men shall bo chosen from each mill in camp and all trivial disputes not in contravention of tlio award must be decided by the representative of the men and the driver, ns >’ representing the employer, provided that the dispute does not come under tho terms of tho award. Drivers and feeders are exempt from the award, which shall not apply to any farmer threshing _ his own grain with his own mill on his own farm, but it shall apply to all employers carrying on business ns threshing mill owners in the industrial district north of- tho Rnngitata River. , Tho award will come into force on May 18 and continue until May 17, . 1917. It is based on the award made in 1910, with a slight increase in wages, and provision has been added in regard to accommodation for workers.