PAINTERS’ AWARD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 19 December 1936, Page 16

PAINTERS’ AWARD

FORTY-HOUR WEEK NO SATURDAY WORK WELLINGTON, 18th December. A 40-hour week, with double pay for work on Saturdays, isprovided in the painters’ and decorators’ award, which covers all districts except Westland. It was released by the Arbitration Court yesterday afternoon. The minimum rate of wages for painters (including time worked by them at painting, paperhanging, glazing, graining, signwriting, decorating, pictorial signwriting, poster and display artistry, paint and lacquer spraying were not covered by any other award, calciming, distempering and lime-washing, and all preparatory work in connection with any of these operations) shall be 2s 6d per hour. Overtime at the rate of time and a half for the first four hours, and double time thereafter is provided for. Workers employed on country work shall be paid 5s a day extra, though the employer may in lieu thereof provide them with suitable board and lodging. The award expressly forbids piecework and the subletting of labour. Those engaged in ship work are' required to work 44 hours a week. In Wellington those engaged at the Jubilee Dock or at Miramar are to be paid 9d each way to cover travelling time and fares. A penny per mile bicycle allowance is provided. The award will continue in force until Ist September, 1937. In a memorandum attached to the award, the Court states: — “The principal matter referred to the Court related to exemptions. The provisions of the Amending Act of 1936 relating to hours of work render it necessary for the Court to make a slight alteration to the country work clause as agreed on by the parties. A provision has accordingly been inserted describing the additional hours worked on country jobs as overtime and prescribing therefor an extra payment of Id per hour. The conditions relating to Saturday work agreed on by the parties have been amended to bring them within the provisions of the Act. Mr A. L. Monteith (employees’ assessor) is not in agreement with the additional rate fixed for country work, nor with the partial exemption granted to freezing companies. His dissenting opinion is attached.”

DISSENTING OPINION “I dissent from the new low level of overtime payment,” states Mr Monteith. “These men have to work 40 hours per week, and then receive a payment of Id per hour overtime. I can see no reason why a painter painting a building for, say, John Smith should work different hours from a painter doing similar work for a freezing company.”