REQUEST FOR WAGES INCREASE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 6 August 1941, Page 3

REQUEST FOR WAGES INCREASE

MOV E BY TRADES l OEM H. Christchurch. Aug. 5. Reasons lor the demands made by unions of miners and other workers for a wage increase, to offset the increase claimed to have taken place in the cost of living, have been published by the West Coast Trades Council. They include a comparison of grocery lists, issued by the one shop, in 1939 and 1941, which are said to show an increa'se of 43 per cent., ol 8s 7d in the £. Demands for the increase have also been recently made by men in the State Miners' Union: and the Brunner Miners’ Union, in a resolution adopted a few day sago, says ihe Government should call upon the Court of Arbitration to pass a general increase in wage rates. It is understood that the demands have been passed on to the Federation of Labour for consideration. The council’s statement, in part. is as follows: “Sections of miners on the West Coast are demanding wage increase of 10 per cent, for contract workers and 20 per cent, for wage workers. Apparently the miners do not accept the stabilisation of wages policy agreed to by some (if not all) of their representatives at the last Federation of Labour conference. “Is the miners’ demand for a sub stantial wage increase justified? Let us first deal with the rise in the cost |of living since the outbreak of war.” continues the statement. “It'is true that a few foodstuffs have not risen greatly in price. But every housewife knows that numerous items of grocery show considerable increases. A con: parison of 1939 and 1941 price lists tells its own story. Very few items have failed to move upward a penny or more. Meat is dearer. The so-called workers’ luxuries, tobacco and beer, cost more. Clothing, other woollen and cotton goods, boots and shoes. hardware—all show phenomenal increases. “The Abstract of Statistics.” continues the article, “shows a 29 per cent, increase in prices of imported goods from the month previous to the outbreak of war till February of this year, and there is plenty of evidence to prove that prices have increased since. “So if the claim for higher wages is based on the increased cost of the means of life, it is amply justified.” says the statement, which goes on to refer to claims allegedly made in the I Research Bulletin of the Federation of Labour for June. 1941. that “New Zea - j land employers are doing extremely j well in spite of (or is it because of • the war." It concludes with these I words: "Therefore a substantial wage ) increase is not only just—it is an