CONCILIATION BOARDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11731, 13 August 1901, Page 3

CONCILIATION BOARDS

CARTERS' DISPUTE.

The Conciliation Board resumed the hearing of the carters' dispute yesterday morning at the Harbour Board Buildings. The Rev. A. H. Collins presided, and the members present were: , Messrs. E. W. Alison and W. H. Lucas. Messrs. R. Way, G.

Davis and B. Keane represented the union,

The Union Oil, Soap and Candle Company applied for. special consideration of their case, which was promised by the . Board. The case for the bakers' carters was then opened.

W. T. Alclerton, carter, employed by Geo. ! Kent and Sons, said he received £1 17s 6d I a week, and started work at six a.m. and. | finished at hours from half-past five p.m. j to six p.m. The carter was supposed to see ! that his customers were good marks, and ho collected moneys to the extent of £4- a week. Pie considered he could live on £2 2s a week. He was now better treated than under his former employer, who paid him £1 10s a week. He delivered on an average 250 loaves a day. Ho considered that- the hours should be arranged between master and man.* It would not pay a master to give £2 5s a week to.a carter delivering 100 loaves a day. Did not consider it fair to ask for overtime after half-past five p.m. Ho' thought 60 hours a week a fair average. Edward Burton, Mount Eden Road, bread carter, employed by John Burton, baker, Grafton Road, said he averaged 11 hours a day for stable and delivery work. For the first five years in his employer's service witness received £2 5s a week, but now received £2 2s a week. The reduction he attributed to reduced hours and keener competition. The bread trade for tha past I a years had boon run on extreme cutting lines, which loft no living wage for either master or man. Masters themselves worked from 12 to 14 hours a day. The reason was that the fair men had been cut down to the minimum of the low men. The masters would have better results if tho men worked shorter hours and wero placed on tho same level. Tho man with long hours was inclined to loaf, and with shorter hours would display more energy. Bread carters averaged 12 hours a day. The bread carter acted as salesman and collector, and held a position of trust. Witness collected on an average £1100 a year. It would bo unwise to allow boys to collect moneys, as tho customers could put them off, and they were generally unreliable.. The cost of living to witness was now 5s more a week. than it was seven years ago, mainly because houso rent had increased. Witness now received ft bare living wage, and continued, owing to his wife's good management, but could save "nothing. He considered that £2 _5s a week was a fair wage for a good carter and collector. It would bo possible, for a baker's carter to return to the stable at five p.m. Witness considered the union demands fair, with the exception of the demand regarding boys, in respect of which he thought a sliding scale might bo introduced. Witness' average delivery was about 350 loaves a day. He preferred 48 hours a week delivery alone. The stable work averaged an hour a day. exclusive of cart washing and Sunday work. No average boy driving a baker's cart was capable of undertaking financial responsibility under',l9 years of age. If a carter with 12 hours beforo him got through in 11 hours his employer would soon find extra work for him to do. Overtime was a bad thing to establish. Witness saw very little of his children owing to the hours he worked. A baker delivering 100 loaves a day would not be in a position to employ labour. A good boy and thoroughly competent should receive the full wage. Wit- '' ness commenced delivery at eight a.m. and ■ finished about six p.m. The hours could be minimised by putting extra carts on tho road and increasing the price of b&ad. Masters worked longer hours than their men. The price was bread was so low that unless a master had a big volume of trade his profit was very small. •. In answer to Mr. Alison, Mr. Way; said it had been a mistake all through that the union demanded that attendance on the horses on Sundays should be paid for, but it was intended that any extra work, in the way of cleaning harness and stable work, should bo paid for. Continuing, witness said he considered that no matter what quantity of bread was delivered by the eartor, ha should receive a uniform wage. Basing tho wage as a living one, it would bo unfair to place a man with a family and in want in tho responsible position of collector. William Quedloy, employed as carter by .Tames Corley. Hobson-street, said that ho received £1 15s a week, which was inade quite for the support of his wife and seven children. Ho considered £2 5s a week a fair living wage.and 53 hours a weok reasonable. He averaged ; a delivery of 200 loaves a day and a working time of 9£ hours a clay. Customers would be willing to pay an extra id per loaf if the men got the benefit of it. He considered the demand with regard to boys reasonable, as if they were not possessed of ability they would not be employed. „ Mr. Buchanan handed in a list of names of master bakers who had not boon cited, and asked that they be joined in the dispute. Mr. Lucas said that the case had been adjourned for three weeks in order that employers not then cited should be joined, and if the employers had not done so it was their neglect. .V. • ' Several bakers present said that they had not been cited, and the chairman, on referring to the lists before him, said that their names were included. Mr. Geo. Davis (secretary of the union) said that their names had'been handed to the clerk of awards, whose duty it was to cite them. The Chairman said that the Board would roquest the clerk of awards to cite these persons to appeal on Wednesday morning. Porcival Wesley Friend, East-street, Newton, carter, employed by W. Buchanan, gave corroborative evidence, and said that he received £2 a week and bread allowance. He usually got back to the stable at a-qviarter to four p.m. and finished at half-past five p.m. Witness considered the union's demands fair and reasonable, and was present at an employees' meeting, at which they wero unanimously adopted. He considered that eight hours' delivery, not including stable work, was a fair thing. A reasonable. wago for a : lad to assist on a cort was 8s" to 10s a week. f j He considered that the price of bread should be raised to 3d a loaf in order that employers might be enabled to pay the union wage. . By Mr. Alison Bakers' work and carters , should be entirely distinct. ■ By Mr. Smerdon : Boy labour was so much , employed that it threw competent mon out : of work. " # The. Board adjourned at this stage till ' ednesday morning. '•