ARBITRATION COURT.
NORTHERN COMPANY'S CASE.
MR. RANSON'S ADDRESS.
EFFECT OF THE UNION DEMANDS. The hearing of the seamen's dispute so far as the Auckland district is concerned was concluded at the Arbitration Court on Saturday. The following is our report of the address by Mr. Chas. Ranson, manager of the Northern Steamship Company, delivered on Friday, afternoon: —
Mr. Chas. Ranson, manager of the Northern Steamship Company, said: In addressing the Court I would say, at the outset, on behalf of the Northern Steamship Company, Limited, that we do not propose to deal' at any length with the matters set out in the particulars of dispute filed in this matter by the Auckland branch of the New Zealand branch of the Australasian Federated Seamen's Industrial Association of Workers, and numbered 1 to 19, so far as they affect sea-going vessels. And our reason for not doing so is that the matters there mentioned refer to the conditions under which seagoing vessels, plying outside river limits and extended river limits, are proposed to be run, and we are informed that these particular matters have been referred to, and will bo heard by this Court at its sitting at Dunedin, to be held at some subsequent date, and at which we are instructed the whole of the matters mentioned in these clauses, 1 to 19, will be exhaustively gone into. But I would submit to the Court- that special conditions be provided for my company's sea-going boats, which nearly all run services of a special character. And it is considered that to attempt to deal with these particular matters to-day, when they will be again gone into at Dunedin, would be going over the same ground j,t\vice, and so unduly and unnecessarily taking up the time of this Court. I need hardly add, however, that should the Court rule that these particular matters should be gone into fully at the present time, we will do our best to place all the information available before the Court to assist in coming to a correct view of the position from our side of the case; but if we can be relieved of this portion of the present demand the hearing will bo materially shortened. In opening my remarks on behalf of the company, I would respectfully submit that no reason whatever exists for the action taken by the Seamen's Union in citing my company and other shipowners at the present time. Indeed, our relations with the union since the award of 1898 have been so harmonious and amicable that we were unaware that any cause for complaint existed, and we cannot believe that the Auckland seamen are responsible for this dispute being brought forward. Since the making of the last award in this matter no change of circumstances has arisen rendering any alteration necessary, for no complaints have been received from our men," no increased trade has been done by my company, the-business done has been less in volume in many, important items; in no cases have freights been raised; the expense of carrying on the business of shipowners has increased, and,.! generally, there is not only no justification'' for an advance in wages and payment for overtime, but there is fair ground for asking, for a reduction of the rates now paid. And, indeed, it seems to me the union have failed to show why any increase should be made in wages. As showing the good feeling between ourselves and our men I may state that some of our present employees were in our service at the time.of the striko in 1890, and are still in our service, which further shows they must be satisfied, or they would have left for other employment had they any ground of complaint, either as to pay, time ashore, or in any respect affecting their comfort and advantage, In many respects I will point out the conditions of labour in this company's service are of a more favourable nature to most other steamship, companies, as the men get home two or three times a week, and the running of our steamers is so arranged as to allow the men in the Thames and Coroinandel trade to get to their respective homes as often as practicable, which is very frequent, and it is believed the men would rather accept 10s a month less from us than join another service, where they had not the same privileges, and we ask the Court to reduce the wages to what they were beforo the award given by this, Court in 1898, viz., 10s below what they are at the present time. I propose to deal ; briefly _ with the various items constituting the union's claims as dealing with extended■! river boats. " : "•* ■' - ' j
No. WAGES. The payment of increased wages per month will, if ordered by the Court, render it impossible to carry on tho business of my company, except at a serious disadvantage, and certainly with no prospect of profit for the shareholders of the company. The result of such an addition to the present expenses of tho company would be directly as follows: — A general rise is asked of 10s per month for seamen and firemen working tinder four-hour watches, and firemen and trimmers working six-hour watches 30s per month, and this is unreasonable and exorbitant, and we cannot entertain it. And this because the work in the Northern Company is nothing like so arduous for men working six-hour watches, owing to the work not being continuous* the voyages being so short, hardly ever exceeding 12-hour runs. As compared with seagoing vessels, the work is easier, because the Northern Company's boats, being smaller than the sea-going vessels, the amount of coal to be shovelled is so much loss, in some cases a man in the river service having to shift only 2cwt per man per hour, as against 16cwt per man per hour in a sea-going vessel, the firemen in the latter receiving no more pay than the former. The increased amount payable would bo £1788 per annum for this item (wages) alone, and this with no possible increase in earning power, and with tho prospect of reducing profit-producing business, and with possible reduction in the present freights. On this item alone, therefore, there is the serious addition to expenses above-mentioned, and this of itself would be such a tax upon the company as to seriously imperil the carrying on of its business; and, when to this is added the further items of increases demanded, and which I shall deal with later on, then at once arises the question as to whether tho business could be carried on at all, except at a loss. No. 2.—OVERTIME IN PORT. Clause A: Overtima in all ports, bays, and roadsteads shall be from five p.m. to seven a.m., except as otherwise provided, and shall be paid for at the following rates, viz.: — Able seamen, Is 6d per hour; trimmers, ls6d per hour; greasers, Is 6d per hour; donkeymen, Is 6d per hour; firemen, Is 6d per hour; lamptrimmers, Is 6d per hour; boatswains, Is 6d per hour; ordinary seamen, Is 6d per hour. With reference to clause A, at present overtime is paid to all the Homo trade vessels at Is per hour for A.B.'s, firemen, and trimmers, and 6d per hour for ordinary seamen, and this is a fair allowance, for it has always been customary in calculating overtime to pay the same in proportion to the wages earned by the men. This was fixed by this Court by the award of 1898, after an exhaustive hearing extending over several days, at which evidence was given which must have satisfied the Court of its sufficiency. These remarks apply to all classes of overtime under this heading, and I need only add that with reference to item C, boating cargo, that only one vessel boats cargo, and the work is not of such an arduous character as to render any higher rates reasonable. With reference to D, this would apply more particularly to vessels trading to tidal ports, where is is impossible, owing to working a tidal service, to so arrange that the men shall not work in meal hours, but in such ease the men are always allowed meal hours afterwards. , As to E of No. 2, we ask that the corresponding clause 24 in the Dunedin award of 1899 bo adopted, viz.: "That it shall bo optional with married members of the crew to work overtime at the homo port, or to go ashore so long as not less than half of the crew remains on board. Selection, where necessary, to bo made by the ..officer in charge." At present overtime is paid as follows: — £827 16s per annum paid to 14 of the company's vessels. Tho increase asked would be £500 at the least over and above the £827 163 in respect of homo trade vessels alone, and to this must be added tho overtime, corning to a very large sum, asked in respect of river and extended river boats referred to later on.
No. HOURS OF LABOUR IN PORT. Clause A: The hours of labour for seamen in all ports, bays, and roadsteads shall be eight, viz., from seven a.m. to five p.m., with two hours for meals. During the beforementioned hours the seamen slia 1 ' work as required. This we agree to. Clause B: When vessels leave port after one p.m., and the deckhands have to take their dinner after the vessel's departure, the watch on deck from twelve noon shall be allowed one hour for their meal time, and the men whoso watch below is from twelve to four p.m., shall be paid one hour's overtime at meal time rate. The vessels in extended river service will be affected by this clause, but the special trade (tidal service) in which the vessels are engaged renders it- out of the power of the shipowner to prevent the working of the men occasionally at meal hours. There will be increased cost in overtime for watch. below .where vessels leave or arrive
in meal times, and we contend that inasmuch I as the owner cannot help himself no charge | for overtime ought to be made. Clause C: In all cases of vessels leaving I port between five p.m. and seven a.m. the deck hands shall give one half-hour free of overtime for clearing decks in connection with tfio unmooring of the vessel, any time | worked over the said half-hour shall be paid for at ordinary overtime rates. This shall also apply to the watch below when leaving port between the hours of seven a.m. and five p.m. This applies to all vessels leaving port during the evening or nt night, and I consider that if necessary one hour for all hands is little enough to prepare and get. the ship away, say-half-an-hour , before and half-an-hour . after departure to clear up decks, etc. The last part of this clause is not applicable so far as we are concerned, since all hands are at work during the working day from eight a.m. to five p.m. Clause D: Firemen, greasers, trimmers and donkcymen shall give eight hours' work 111 each 24 hours, except as otherwise provided in sub-clause Gof clause 3. Any work done beyond the said eight hours shall be paid for at overtime rates, or an equivalent in time in monetary value shall be allowed off in port. This, I presume, applies to firemen and greasers working four-hour watches, in which case, only Ngapuhi firemen are affected, but as they only do eight hours in each 24 hours there is no increase in expenditure. Clause E: Firemen, greasers and trimmers working under the six-hour watch system, having completed a sea watch of six hours or portion of the same shall, on the day of arrival in. port, give the balance of time to complete the day's work of eight hours, always provided that no men shall work after five p.m. without payment of overtime as provided in sub-clause G of clause 3. Clause F: Sea watches in the engineroom and stokehole on days of sailing and arrival shall count as a portion of the eight hours' work. These clauses seem to me interdependent, and I propose to deal with them together. The effect of these two clauses together, it appears to me, will be, so far as expense of working the vessel is concerned, the 1 same as clause 20 applying to vessels trading in extended rivet limits, in which it is asked that only eight hours' work shall be done in each 24- hours, and I estimate the increased expenditure would amount to £600.
Clause G: When steamers are to lay in port all night, and whether the fires arc banked or otherwise, all firemen, trimmers, greasers and donkeymen shall cease work at five p.m. irrespective of whether they have completed their eight hours or not. If necessary for anyone to remain in the engineroom or stokehole during the night, one or more men shall be appointed for that duty and shall be paid overtime for such work. Up to the present it has been customary for the chief engineer to determine whether necessary for men to remain on' watch with banked fires, and we claim it should remain so, and not to ' count as overtime.
Clause II: When a vessel arrives in port between the hours of eleven a.m. and halfpast twelve p.m. the deck hands shall be given one hour for dinner after the vessel's arrival. This applies only to extended river service, and is a matter of arrangement to suit tides, therefore cannot be avoided, but except the watch on deck all the men could get dinner before arrival in port, and this is the usual practice, or else all work and have dinner after the vessel gets in. It is absolutely unavoidable, and we ought not to be penalised for it. - Clause I: When a steamer arrives in port in the morning and sails again the same day, the four a.m. to eight a.m. watch on. deck shall be allowed a watch below from eight a.m. to twelve noon; in the event of a ship arriving ill port between four ' a.m. and eight a.m., the unexpired time of the sea watch is to be deducted from the watch below between eight a.m. and twelve noon. In ports where shore labour is not readily available to relieve the four a.m. to eight a.m. watch the seamen can bo called upon to work between eight a.m. and twelve noon, and shall bo paid overtime _ for any time worked between these hours in excess of- the unexpired time of the sea watch. This is something entirely new, and if recognised must introduce a very large amount of overtime; either that, or twice the number of hands would be reouired to work the vessel, and it is obvious that this number of hands cannot be accommodated on vessels of the size owned by the Northem Company. This claim affects my company seriously, for many of the boats arrive in the morning and leave the same day, and to employ other men during the unexpired portion of these watches would involve a very heavy expenditure. I cannot say what the increase would be on this item, but it would be very considerable.
No. 4.—HOURS OF LABOUR AT SEA.
Clause A : Deck hands—Watch and watch of four hours each. This is customary, and we do not object to it.
Clause B: In stokehold— of four hours on and*eight hours off. On steamers where only two firemen, greasers, or trimmers arc carried, watches of six hours each shall be kept while at sea, but no fireman, trimmer, or greaser working under the sixhour watch system shall bo compelled to work these watches continuously - both at sea and in port. As now arranged on vessels where only two firemen aro employed they work six-hour watches at sea, but .they have breaks during their time in port, varied as to length of such breaks by the time-tables, so that the men do not keep watch continuously, and this arrangement we have no intention of altering.
Clause C: Between the hours of six a.m. and five p.m. seamen on watch shall perform any work required of them. Any work performed by them outside these, hours shall be paid for as overtime at schedule rates, with the exception of work necessary for the safety of the ship. Clause D : Firemen, greasers, and trimmers shall work as required during their watches. Clause E: When the watch below is required to do any work other than what is necessary, for the navigation or safety of the ship, they shall be naid overtime at schedule rates. • With regard to theso clauses, this is a custom that now obtains on all coasting vessels.- e ...
Clause F: In all cases where stokehold or eroom hands are called from their watch below, for the purpose of discharging ashes, either before arrival at, or after leaving, port, they shall be paid overtime for such work. In those vessels where three or more firemen are carried the' ashes are discharged by one or more men in the stokehold. In other cases the custom is for the fireman coming on duty to discharge tho ashes, there being only one fireman on watch at a time, and this arrangement has worked satisfactorily, and with it there is no necessity to call men from the watch below for this purpose. Part of tho time mentioned in heading 3, section C, might be used for emptying ashes.
Clause G: Six-hour watches shall not be worked "on intercolonial steamers, or steamers trading to or from tho Islands in the South Pacific. The latter part of this clause'does not affect us, but on the subject of six-hour watches generally•>we claim that sea-time, that is the time during which the men take their watch, should not be counted in the eight-hour day's work of tho men. From the men there are 1, hardly ever any arduous duties demanded, and it is, therefore, submitted that this sea-time should not count for the eight-hour day during which they are engaged in the work of handling cargo, and other matters connected with tho working of the vessel. Time-tables are specialty arranged so that the men shall as far as possible have Sunday . in port, and at the port where their' homes are, and in other ways the men enjoy far better times than those who ship in long sea voyages. The usual voyage is as follows:—Take the service of tho Auckland-Paeroa trip for a fortnight, as an example. This shows that the men never work more eight hours in port and three hours at sea. Tho average overtime per man per day for firemen and seamen is on hour and a-quarter to one hour and threequarters respectively, which shows that our men work less than nine hours and a-half per day, as compared with the time, eight hours, in long-distance sea-going vessels, with infinitely harder conditions, owing to absence from home and time in port at only long intervals and for short periods. This is but a slight additional length of time working for them, but the additional cost to tho company is very serious, for to pay men overtime, allowing sea-time to count as part of , the eight hours, as now demanded, would enormously increase the cost of running, and would be inflicting on the company a loss it should not be asked to bear. No. S.WATCHMEN. Clause A: Members of vessels' crews employed in port as watchmen on Sundays or holidays, or keeping watch during the night, shall bo allowed time off at the i - ate of hour for hour; when time off cannot be given the hours worked as watchmen shall be paid for at overtime rates. To concede this demand would involve an increase in expense of £2265 per annum,' and it is submitted that this should not bo granted. The articles under the Shipping and Seamen Act provide that the whole of tho men remain on the vessel, and so the safety of the ship and the wharf at which she lies would be assured. At present the practice as to Sunday work is, that when making up my time-tables I, as far as possible, give the men the benefit of the Sunday off. As to sailors- keeping watch on Sundays, it is absolutely necessary that someone should be in charge of vessels on Sundays when lying at the wharves, to
protect valuable property in the event of fire or bad weather, and the Harbour Board bylaws make this imperative, and the rule at present in forco is that an officer, a steward, and a sailor shall remain in charge of each vessel. - This duty is taken turn about by the men, so that the rest are free to go home, and in the small steamers, where only two sailors are employed, the officer takes turn about with the men in taking charge of the vessel. This is the course wo submit should be continued as being convenient and reasonable alike to the men and the shipowner. On the larger vessels one man is on -watch all day on Sunday, and is relieved by an officer at nine p.m. On the smaller vessels, the officer takes turn about with the men. Taking the Clansman as an example of the larger vessels in port, every Sunday throughout the year the Sunday watch can be taken in turn by six of the men, thus each man is only re-, quired once 'every six weeks. Since seamen and firemen contract by articles of agreement to work the vessels at so much per month, it is contended that the owner has the right, without any extra pav. to use the men for above purposes free of cost, and, as'a matter of fact, if the ship were at sea on Sundays, the hands would be called upon to work her, as on other days, that is so tar as the navigation of the vessel is concerned. This being so, the owner is penalised, punished, or taxed, for giving the men their Sunday in port. The increased expense, as I have, said, would be £2265 per annum. Clause 13: Sundays or holidays shall not count,as time off for keeping watch. This is the usual practice. v Clause C: "in the event of men having time off, due to them which cannot conveniently be given before the end of the month in which it was earned, it shall be paid for at' overtime rates. This is the usual practice. Clause D: Night watch in port shall be from eight p.m. to six a.m. ~ This is the usual practice.
Clause E: Vessels lying at anchor in any port, bay, or roadstead at night, and a watchman being required, one man shall bo appointed for that duty, and shall receive time off at the rate of hour for hour, or overtime ; at schedule rates. _ Under no circumstances shall time off be given at sea: For vessels lying at anchor, whether at night or during the day, it is necessary for the safety of the ship that a watch be set with officer in charge of samo to see that all is well. The custom in vogue at present is to set.an anchor watch, divided among all the crew. In any case, to speak of overtimo for such duties is unreasonable, and we submit should not be entertained. No. HOLIDAYS. Clause A There shall be eight holidays during the year, viz.: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Birthday of the HeirApparent-, Labour Day (second Wednesday in October), Birthday of the reigning Sovereign, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. The award of gave five holidays, viz., Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Queen's Birthday, Good Friday, and Labour Day, and no ground has been shown for an additional three days as holidays. And the increased. pay of 12s per day, instead of Bs, as now paid for working on holidays, makes an increase of 50 per cent., which works out iii the year to a large amount over and above what is now being paid, and we maintain that five holidays, as given in the award of 1898, are ample. t Clause B: Should any of the foregoing holidays fall on a Sunday, the following or any other day observed as the holiday shall be given in lieu thereof. This is the custom HOW. ; ' • Clause C: At sea ell the foregoing holidays shall be observed as Sundays. We claim that the men should work at sea, if required, on each of these holidays. No. 7.—OVERTIME ON SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS. Clause A: For arriving, and leaving any port, bay, or roadstead or*. Sundays or holidays, each of the crew shall be paid the sum of 12s. This is unreasonable, and would involve a material incroase to us, for •* we cannot avoid departing on Sundays or holidays, for if we did the public would bo put to serious inconvenience. To insist upon this claim is to cause an additional expense per ■ annum, which certainly our company ought not to be asked to meet. Clause B: For leaving any port, bay, or roadstead prior to midnight on Sundays or holidays, having been in the same port the previous night, provided no work is done during the Sunday or holiday, each of the crew shall be paid the sum of Bs. This we cannot consent to, as being unreasonable and involving an extra expense of £300 per annum.
Clause C: When any work other than that described in Clause C, heading 3, beforementioned, is done during a Sunday or holiday, and the vessel sails 011 the same day, each of the crew shall be paid the sum of 12s. It is an exceptional case that we work cargo on Sundays or holidays, but if we do we pay overtime as provided by the 1898 award, and this we say should stand as at present. Wo ask that Clause C, heading 3, before-mentioned, shall apply to give us half-an-hour prior to and half-an-hour after leaving to unmoor ship, take on board mails, and cleaning! up ship generally.
> Clause D : When excursions are run on Sundays or holidays, and are limited to any time between eight a.m. and five p.m., each of the crew shall bo paid the sum, of 12s, but should the excursion exceed the foregoing hours, or any work be performed before eight a.m. or after five p.m.. Is 6d' per hour shall be paid for such excess. This clause I have dealt with under the head of holidays." We do not run excursions on Sundays, but we do on holidays, and the increase asked for would amount to £90 for the vessels engaged in this work. Clause E: Firemen, trimmers, or "Teasers kept, on watch to attend banked fires, or to work in the engineroom, on Sundays or holidays, shall be paid the sum of 12s each. As to this clause, I have made no calculation as to the .precise effect of it, but it would tend to increase the expenditure, but when men are required to work in the engineroom on Sundays or holidays then we pay at overtime rates. I draw the Court's attention in reference to this clans© to clause 10 of the recommendation of the Dunedin Board of 1901. which is as follows—lo. When a steamer is under banked fires night or day the whole watch shall, if it be necessary in the opinion of the chief engineer to remain on duty in.the engineroom and stokehole and perform any duty that may be required. No overtime _ shall be paid for cleaning tubes nor for discharging ashes after leaving port." The total increase in respect of headings 1 to 7, inclusive, amounts to £5500, but this does not include increases alluded to, but not stated in figures. No. B.—SIGNING OFF. Twenty-four hours' notice on either side shall be the law of discharge in the port where the ship lias drawn out her articles, but should the ship be laid up at any other port of the Australasian colonies, the crew may accept their discharge with wages then due, but shall be entitled to a free passage back, to the final port. Engagements may be determined in the colony at any time after the ship's arrival at her final port of discharge in the colony, consequent on the completion of a round voyage, by 24 hours' previous notice on either side, all notices to be given to or received from the master of the ship only. Any man discharged at any place, other than the port where the articles are drawn out shall be given a passage back by the first vessel proceeding to the home port or to the place at which the man shipped. We .agree to this if provision is made that this right shall not apply where a man is discharged at any port for misconduct. No. 9.—TIME OFF. When time off is given in lieu of cash payment for overtime, it shall be equivalent to the same in monetary value. That is to say, seamen and trimmers shall be allowed two and a-half hours and firemen and greasers two hours off for each hour worked as overtime. Time off shall be given at the home port or at the place where the men reside, or by mutual agreement between the officers and men time off may be given or accepted at places convenient to both parties. It shall not be necessary for men to provide substitutes to fill their places when, time off Is given. Under no circumstances shall time off be given at sea or on Sundays or holidays. As to clause 9, this is the practice in vogue at present. In giving time off we give time off equivalent to monetary value. If from any cause wo hove been unable to givo time oft' . during the month, we pay the men in cash for their overtime, as provided by the award of 1898. When time off is given we never ask the men to find a substitute. . v. ■/ No. 10—UNION REPRESENTATIVES TO VISIT VESSELS. The representatives of the Federated Seamen's Union shall have permission to visit men on board vessels in their own time— during meal hours or when tho men are off duty. In the award of 1898' the Court declined to make this a condition, and nothing has since arisen to cause any change desirable. Such visits would only tend to' unsettle the men and interfere with the work of the vessel, and, therefore, would only be likely to endanger the friendly relations at present existing between employer and employed. And, moreover, the men have ample time to call at the union's office, as it is near at hand and easily accessible, and they could then discuss any matters necessary with the union's representatives. Mr. Justice Williams has held that the Court could not order otherwise. No. BENEFIT SOCIETY. : It shall not be compulsory for any employee to subscribe to or become a member of the Union Steamship Company's Mutual Benefit Society or any similar society or club insti-
tuted by the Union . Steamship Company of Now Zealand, Limited, or any other shipowner. Any member of the said benefit society may determine his membership at his own option, and such'determination shall not act prejudicially against the member or members from obtaining . employment. . - No: 12—PAYMENT OF WAGES. t All wages .to be -paid on the first of each calendar month, or .within seven, days after, or as soon thereafter as tho vessel arrives at any port where there is a branch of any bank. Referring :to clause 11, we hav-e .110 benefit society, and as to clause 12 wages are paid by our company on the first day of each month, or as soon thereafter as vessels arrive ill port; so would agree to this. No. 13.—MEN TO WORK IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CAPACITIES. In the case where the stokehold complement is three firemen it shall not be permissible for the shipowner or engineer to cause any of these men to work in the engine-room as a permanent greaser, and all : men shall serve in the 5 capacity as they appear on the ship's, articles. Provided the men (firemen and greasers) are paid tho same rate (which is now the case), the chief engineer should have the entire management and arranging of his men and work them to ; tho best advantage, whether as firemen or greasers, has nothing whatever to do with the employee or the union. No. 11.CLEANING CREW'S . QUARTERS. The shipowner shall allow a sufficient time out of the vessel's working hours for one man to clean and keep the men's living quarters in a clean and sanitary condition. We have no objection to this. No. 15.—SUNDAYS IN ISLAND TRADERS. Vessels trading to the Islands in the South Pacific, where a conflict occurs in the observance of Sundays, shall observe the Sunday of the port, and tho same terms and conditions regarding overtime , as are applicable to Sundays in Now Zealand shall apply to all crews, who arc called upon to work on Sunday. This does not affect our vessels. No. 16.—MEAL HOURS IN PORT. Excepting r.~ otherwise provided the meal hours in all ports, bays, and roadsteads shall be: Breakfast,. between the hours of seven a.m. and nine a.m. ; dinner, 12 noon to one p.m.; . tea, five to six p.m. It would be inconvenient in many instances if any hard and fast time were fixed, as vessels aro frequently being loaded between twelve and one, as tidal steamers sometimes have to leave between twelve and one, and the men get their meal hour when the vessel leaves. Every effort is made to keep the meal hours regular as far as possible, but to insist upon the hours being fixed would entail inconvenience and loss of time to the owner, while to leave things as at present would not bear hardljj 011 the men. No. 17.—MEAL HOURS AT SEA.
From the commencement of this agreementwhat is technically known as "seven-bell" meals for deck hands at sea shall be abolished, and in place thereof the deck hands of the various vessels shall take their meals together, as follows: Breakfast, eight a.m.; dinner, twelve noon; tea, five p.m.; the watch on deck to be allowed one hour,' with the exception of those men who have to relieve the man at the wheel, who shall take one half-hour each. Wo are quite willing to adhere to these hours as far as possible, but the arrivals and departures at tidal ports render it impossible to keep always to fixed hours without similar inconvenience and loss of time. Arrivals and departures must be timed by the tides, and men get their meals as soon as the vessel has commenced her voyage. , . No. 18—PREFERENCE OF EMPLOYMENT. - In tho engagement of labour employers shall give preference of employment to members of the Seamen's Union. We ask that this be not conceded. At present no distinction whatever is made between union and non-union men, but the best men obtainable are got. Seeing the valuable cargo and the lives of passengers at stake, let alone the vessels themselves, no questions are asked as to whether a man is union or non-union, so long as ho is known, to be the best man, and we therefore submit that the direction in the 1898 award should be - retained, viz., that the owners shall make no difference between union and non-union men. No. 19.—APPLICATION OF CONDITIONS. The foregoing terms and conditions shall apply to all employers who own or charter vessels which trade 1 in New Zealand waters, the intercolonial trade, or the islands'; in the South Pacific. As- to this clause .the conditions for seagoing vessels should not apply to my company, which runs services of a special character, but special conditions should be applied to such services. • No. 20.—SPECIAL CLAUSE. ■ To apply to vessels trading within, river and extended river limits in the Auckland industrial district: —The men. employed in all vessels trading within river or extended river limits in the Auckland industrial district shall, with the exception of Sundays, give eight hours' work in each 24 hours. The work to constitute that eight' hours shall include working cargo, shifting ship, coaling ship, general ship duties, such as painting, cleaning, : etc:; and also the time occupied in steering or keeping a lookout while going from one port to another. When called upon to do so the crew shall work the eight . hours at any time during the day or night, and' when the eight hours has been completed overtime shall commence and be paid for at the rate of Is 6d per hour for all work done in excess of eight hours, provided that when any vessel is to lie at the port of Auckland, or any other port in the Auckland industrial district, for 24 hours or more the eight hours' work shall be confined between the hours of seven a.m. and five p.m., with intervals for meals. Vessels engaged in " outside" running and changing the trade to river or extended river limits during the same day, . the work performed on the " outside" trip shall count as a portion of the eight hours. This shall also apply when the circumstances are reversed. For the purpose of this section the 24- hours in which the eight hours' duty shall be worked shall be from midnight to midnight. It is claimed that, looking to the advantages the men enjoy in this trade, to the Sundays in port, nearly always in port at night, where possible in the port where the men's homes are situated, the constant breaks in the work owing to the short trips, and the fact that the men under these favourable conditions are paid the same wages as men in sea-going vessels, it is submitted that no overtime should be payable. We are able to show' that frequently the men are not at work eight hours a day alongside th,e wharf. We claim also that wages should be reduced to men in this service, as it is not reasonable that the same rate should be paid to men in sea-going vessels with comparatively little time on shore, and that only at considerable intervals and for short periods, and who are exposed to all Ifinds of . heavy weather, at sea, as is paid to those who are engaged in this river service. Indeed. I have no hesitation in saying that nowhere else in New Zealand do-the men work tinder such favourable conditions as in Auckland extended river limits, and on the whole, therefore, we claim that no overtime should be allowed. To allow what is. asked in this special clause would invelve an increased expense to the company of £1545 per annum.
INCREASED COST TO NORTHERN ' COMPANY. Wo have as far, as possible, and with what we take to be the interpretation of the various claims, estimated the probable increase in cost to my company, and we find that it totals in all £6900, a sum'which it is utterly out of the question to make good in any manner. .The price of coal also has been raised by one shilling per ton since the last award, and this means an: increase in the expense of management to us of £1200 per annum, in addition to the £6900 abovementioned, and there seems no reason to hope that this is at all likely to bo reduced.
I submit "that We have shown that dealing solely with the increased expenditure demanded by the claims put forward it is impossible for my company to entertain them, but I would ( add. that in addition the future is likely to show the following causes of loss: Since the last award the Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act has been passed, throwing a new and heavy responsibility on the company in respect_ of injury to its servants, and when it is mentioned that the company employs some 371 men, - and to each of these men the company is liable to an extent amounting in some cases to £400, and that . insurance against such liability would involve a cost of £1500 or thereabouts annually, it will readily be understood how enormously the cost of running a shipowner's business has been increased. This amount alone would absorb quite onehalf of the profits declared at my company's last balance-sheet. To this must be added the very probable loss of freight, owing to the imposition by the Commonwealth of Australia of a severe tariff on New Zealand products, thereby rendering the growing and export of maize much less remunerative, and so causing a considerable shrinkage in freight of maize and kindred products from coastal ports by our steamers, and thus greatly decreasing the ■ maize output. Again, wool is so low, having fallen from 6d to 6id in 1897 to 3d in 1902—just half what it was in 1897— that it is problematical, nay, indeed, highly probable, that wool will cease to be a staple product of the farmers, and so the freight on
:t v- r ' ... ■ .. - ■- ■- 1 - - - - ■■■ v ■ this article will be Very seriously diminished 1 and thus another source of ; profit producing | will bo lost to; the company. rln kauri gum - ' the game falling-off* may be looked for, with I : similar losses to our vessels. > The production » of kauri ; gum has been rapidly and seriously 118 | decreasing since 1897, as • the - following I figures, extracted from the New Zealand $1 Herald, will . show. The receipt of gum . -V. | » from all sources in Auckland : has been £as I S follows:—1898, 10,695 tons; 1899,11,367 tons; ' Sfitp 1900, 10,529 tons; and 1901, 7,474 tons; the litis falling-off of 1901 as compared with 1900 . * J•§ representing a decrease of, say, 3000 .tons, or 1 a diminished production of nearly one-third. -| ; Tho gum carried by our company in 1899 1 was 5126 tons; in 1900, 4954 tons; and. ia > f I 1901, 3418 tons; showing a decrease of .1500 § < tons in freights on gum carried by Ay com- *", I s pany's steamers. We estimate„ this < falling- '< § off means a loss to us of ; £1000, for we lose ' ' § | not only freight on the gum but also, the' pas- |: : senger traffic to and fro of the guradiggers f * and: others, and the freight of stores, etc., to § I the different fields. _ Again, too, tho raining '- i | industry in this province is in a very bad way, <•_/■' 1 with very few exceptions, ' arid : the tradaj 1 > both in passengers and freight," between ' |! Auckland, the Thames, and Coromandel has • ' I very seriously fallen off, and the competition - , I of oil-engine vessels in the Northern trade," " J which can run so much more, economically .1 than steam vessels, all materially help.to re-. f duce profit earning business to our vessels.,' y Now, all this, I respectfully submit, points v/'- fl-j not to an increase, but to a reduction of the ' * ,M present rate of pay and allowances, for it is Ipt, j| difficult to see how expenses can bo reduced. | Tho number of hands employed in nearly ail J of my company's vessels cannot bo reduced,l--and so lessen working expenses, for the v ,,.;fi| pine an Seamen's Act, 1894, insists upon*a'' f certain number of men in each vessel, and : : 1 so no fewer number can bo carried. I would ■:;£:• '•§' also point out that with regard to our coastal v - : § boats in many, cases the bar harbours that / *■ 1 have to be navigated render it imperative ■ | that somo of the boats should bo limited by - | depth of water on the bars, and so neces-' \ v>§ sarily reduces tho carrying capacity of the vessel, both for cargo and passengers, and " | thus renders the freight earned comparatively Vil less, and yet at the same timo the officers -i 'jn and crews are paid . the same rate which ' "f M obtains in larger, and, therefore, greater , j§ profit carrying boats. It seems appropriate 'JJB here to point out that although the work of ~B firemen, greasers, and trimmers is much ' 1 lighter in these smaller boats than in the I larger ones, yet the same wages are paid in " | one as in tho other. If I am". allowed to | refer to previous awards I think wo should . | draw attention: to the fact that in 1897 tho " i .Seamen's Union demanded Is an hour over- 'i time, while now they ask Is 6d and in some' * t cases more. Again in 1897 the Union'asked . p for five holidays, . now they ask for eight. « Then they asked for 8s and not less than 4s _ || per day overtime for holidays and Sundays, / M but now ask for 12s per day without any \| minimuman enormous advance, for which |j there is not the slightest justification. - It is H hard to find a reason for the present demands. f!j It cannot be tho flourishing state of husi- , ; * | ness, for we have shown that docs not exist, < * H and failing this no reason whatever - exists jg \,s| for it. Such demands. only justify ' tho view ' that they are made without just cause, > and *V i| without any - consideration for the circum- " M stances surrounding the carrying on of ship- M ping, business at the present time. .May I -;|| also remark that the members of the Court, 1/ travelling as I understand they did recently , 1 in our boats in the Thames and Coromajxlel „ {j trades, in connection with the late milling « ' b dispute, would no • doubt themselves notice, tj tile difficulties we have to contend witty iu ~ ,jf our arrangements to meet tho .tides, and yet ig so to arrange "as to suit tho • convenience.of •," ' B the •: public generally, would themselves; see » 'i' 1i? that even under present circumstances wo aro ■' 3 taxed to the utmost to give satisfaction/ 1 And to add any increase to the present ex- ,*' f| pondituro would, wo submit, be unreasonable v •' and should not have been asked for byi.tho|M| g Union or granted by tho Court. f FREIGHTS ON FARM PRODUCTS. • | I will hand in correspondence.. that\ has t | passed between the Raglan .Farmers' Club ; i and the - New'. Zealand Farmers' Union tof :' § date October and December last year and I ourselves, as showing that even ■ then' the | farming community required concessions, in freight which wo were not able to '• give, -.arid % the position is not, as I have already pointed | out, improving for tho farmers. These, I |Q|| now read : — - • .. G To Mata, Raglan, October 30, 1901.. |. Manager, Northern Steamship . Company,■ | Auckland. Dear Sir,—At ' a meeting of , the 11 Raglan Fanners' Club 011 Saturday last, a, ; "I resolution was passed, "That the Northern .-f'j & Steamship Company be asked to rcduce. tie" _.' ; freight on wool from Raglan to Ouehunga to | four shillings per bale. ' In asking you to . H favourably consider the matter, I beg to draw . your attention to the fact that the present price of wool 'is exceedingly low, ..and • )&&£}?s§ | the cost of getting it to market ,is a.tax 6n|'<;,ig | local growers which they can; now ill afford | to pay. —I am, etc., (Sd.) Frank W. Gkeen, ,|, hon. secretary Raglan Farmers' Clu'.-. . | Northern Steamship Company, Limited, /■<.'' [i Auckland, November 6, 1901. Mr. Frapk <, | W. Green, hon. secretary Farmers' Cli\b, ! : | Raglan. Dear Sir,—l am in receipt of your gfl|| letter 'of the'3oth ult., conveying a resolu- I tion passed at a meeting of the Farmers' ' j Club, and have to reply that I regret I can- . I not see my way to accede to. the request,' I ,5 ■would remind you that last season the freight 3 of wool was voluntarily reduced from 6s to 5s per bale, without any request from farm- J& ers, and I cannot now reduce it still further, , as our expenses have increased, and arc in- | creasing, and the tendency iu all steamship . companies is toward higher freights. * r n Wages are high, coal and other ships' stores j . have risen, yet we have not added to < the • burdens of settlers by increasing freights, *■ , j but under the circumstances are unable to I make reductions. — am, etc., (3d.) CHARLES . R ANSON', manager. Northern Steamship Company, Limited), yj * ! Auckland, December 3, 1 1901. ; : President . ! New Zealand Farmers' Union, Pukekobe, S Dear Sir, —Mr. Coates called 011 me to bring before my notice the question of the freight charged on wool from coastal ports, and I explained to him fully how that we had reduced the rate two or three years ago, and ~ had not since raised it. • 1 ' Under these circumstances I cannot see my ' • way to further concessions, especially in view of the heavy expenses wc incur, and the high rate of wages. You are no doubt aware that we are cited along with other steamship < ."7 ' ! owners to appear at the Court of Arbitration ]* to contest a demand for a higher'scale of ; wages by seamen and firemen, so that in view S of these facts the tendency, is towards highei >' rates in freights. , I may state that at the port of Raglan we ' reduced tho rate ,on wool last year from 6? to 5s per bale, but have been obliged to decline a request from farmers for a further re- .ii duction.— am, etc., (Sd.), Charles Ransojt. ;-
manager. New Zealand Farmers' Union, Pukekobe, •: V December 5, 1901. Charles Hanson, Esq., manager Northern Steamship Company. Dear Sir, —Yours of December 3 duly to ' hand, and contents noted, and when I find a company such as you represent ar© not, after ''"IV due consideration,. in a position to. make * * further concessions of the freight charges- on wool, but in consequence of certain demands, now pending." the tendency is towards higher ' ...■ j rates, it is then for us as a Farmers' Union , \ ' to seek redress in another quarter, as we are , t of opinion that the rate of wages 1 now pre- I vailing, both on shipboard as well as on shore, ara far too high, in proportion to tha money earned by the agricultural community, -i f _ ] who indirectly has to pay these men. I,will>;"v&' lay your letter before the next meeting of Vrexecutive. In the meantime. thanking you,' I am, etc., (Sd.), J. H. Weight, president. , • - OVERTIME CHARGES TO MERCHANTS, |f§ With regard to overtime paid by mer- - chants, to which my attention was.called by ,> a subpoena served on me on' Saturday last, and which I was questioned on at "this Court,: V;i I would comment as follows: > On this point wo say that no profit is de-.\fV rived from this payment by merchants, as th«»ss§' following statement, will show. In order I'SAlprovide for the sale-keeping of cargo coming -.'-fr down late for shipment,, my company has rented from the Auckland Harbour Board, a . shed for the reception of such cargo, and pays £104- a year rent for such shed. The ■, amount of overtime recovered from mer- iJgi'fcchants in respect of river cargo was £5+ for "vji the year 1901, thus showing a loss, so far a* v this item is concerned, of £50, so that thusfMlf meeting the convenience of the shiopers re- - „■ suits in a loss to the companny of the latter - amount. We would prefer to be without it,' S _ for it would be infinitely more convenient to us and better for the men to have the cargo- '""fy alongside arid shipped within the ordinary business hours. We had to adopt this system - • | of charging overtime to the merchants whose , iV J cargo was not. brought down before half-past j.. four p.m. for the sake of the men, as before : -,\ adopting this system cargo came down at all >. hours, and on steamers leaving at geven?j|gsoJ p.m., the men were working right up to the „» time of- sailing, having no opportunity of getting homo. Now the vessels are invari- ojisM ably loaded, and ready for sea a little after ' J. i.-l five p.m., making it much lighter for the men. And although we accept cargo for river 'J/, boats after half-past four p.m.. and charge merchants the overtime, the cargo goes into | the , shed rented by us from the Harbour , Board, unless of an urgent case, and cargo j urgently required, and the merchants as a ! rule prefer paying the overtime for cargo;tojipjk be put in the shed that we provide, Tather than our sending it back, and they, pay 'double Mltf! j cartage, and it goes'on next day, our company running,steamers daily to these ports. . Following is a statement of the overtime received from merchants for six months:— • Overtime in connection with extended . river steamers, Whangarei:- July, j8.3.-ilO*^W-
' c— — ■ ■ ■■; — ;j .v-..-... ~. -.-j.•.- '' ■ fid: August, £3 7s 6d; September, £3 16s 9d; pfpjf October,' £4 -7b M 5 - November,- £4 18s 6d; I December, £7 Os 6d. vv _ ' - ..■ •HI fp§«- Overtime in connection with outside steamq &l.ters." Waitangi, etc.: July, £3 16s 3d; Aug'CCAS^'bst,"'£s 15s; September, £5 63 3d; October, / £3 10s 6d; November, £4 14s; December, £8 ss. - \ _ ; *
> 7" Outside, total overtime, six months, 1901, 3- jr&. £31 7s; river, total overtime, six rat nths, • 2901, £27 6s 3d : total, £58 13s 9d. *i * Paid-to Harbour .Board for rent of shed ; .-on.No. 3 Jetty, per annum, £104; receipts :foi evertime in extended river services, per - 1 annum, £54—£50.' The total overtime re-i'.-i'/ ceived for twelve months is, outside, £62 " 14s; insido, £54: total, £116 14s; while, the company pays £827 16s per annum overtime to the men.- .< criticism: of THE UNION CASE. • V - Before concluding 1 think it well to make Bome few comments on some of the matters mentioned by lir. Belcher in his opening ad''7 dress. "First, v/ith reference to his statement that the Customs returns enow an increase in ~ shinpmg coastwise, and from this he asks the : Oburt to conclude that as a consequence more I business has been dono and greater profits made. Now, there could not be a greater fallack than this, for if he considered tho matter , / •, carefully he would have seen that although there may have been an increase in shipping coastwise, yet that only means an increase in tho aggregate, and not in individual instances. Indeed, the fact that there has been ;such.an increase leads to the conclusion that there being more ships ,to do the work the earnings of individual owners must of necessity have fallen off unless business has largely increased in volume and freights have been ' higher, and this is well known has not been .' V- the case, but the. contrary. Certainly the • figures I have given tho Court show that the conclusion I suggest is probably the correct one, fo; 'n our own Caso there has been a material diminution of business, and there . is every reason to fear a continuance of the , present state of things. The increase of such shipping docs not then warrant Mr. Belcher's deduction and his inference thereforo carries no weight. As-to Mr.. Belcher's suggestion that a uniform rate of pay should bo estab- . lished all ovei tho colony, lit forgets, or, perhaps, he will hot sec. that the condition of things varies in .different parts of the colony. To ask that men working in the oouth, with its exposed coast and frequent bad weather, the rough weather especially found about Cook's Straits and elsewhere in the South, should be paid the same wage as those engaged in the Auckland extended river limits with short voyoages, in many •eases sheltered waters, and much easier • conditions of work, is to show that lie has not considered the real surroundings of the services differing so much from one another. I "think on fair consideration ho would admit that men working under such favourable conditions at Auckland should not ask for the same pay as those engaged in the much more •arduous and trying work of the South. As : to his reference to the conditions of Sundays and holiday.work, my answer is that we have always recognised our men's right to consideration in respect of such work, and we have always paid the overtime prescribed by the 1898 award, and in some instances have for years given our men concessions, irrespective of tho award altogether.' And I have already ■ • • B&id we never work our men on' Sundays, except under extreme necessity, and where ■ .there is no help for it. Indeed, I may point .'out that although the 1898 award expired on February 28, 1899, our company has rigidly adhered to its terms, and in some cases has "done more than is directed. Mr. Belcher • speaks of vessels coming into port and taking • lip inside running, and of no consideration . being shown the men when coming from outBide work to take up inside work, where extra "work is dono, but he again 11 eg.cots to make inquiry, or ho would find that we havo invariably paid for any such extra work when men come from inside to outsido running. Dealing with his remark that I had stated at the bearing by the Court of the evidence upon which the 1898 award was made that we .only , worked our men eight hours a day, and his suggestion that we should not now object to pay overtime for work beyond the eight hours, he well knew, or if he did not ho might have . known, that in speaking of eight hours I meant eight hours in port, for there was then no question of making sea time part of the eight hours, so that I could not have referred to anything else except work in port. Now, however, ,an entirely new claim is brought forward, namoly, a demand that tho sea - time shall form a part ' of tho i <' eight hours, and which, as I have shown, could not be conceded if shipping business is to be carried on. And may I ask why, if this demand is a proper one, was it not brought forward at the last hearing, which in all occupied 13 days, for if it is fair now it was equally fair then? ' There can bo no (answer to such a question, fop- every conceiv- ; able matter on behalf of tho men was thoroughly thrashed out on that occasion, and the present -• demand must only bo made not > because it s is a fair and reasonable one, but because -it 1 is thought . that something may bo got by it in the way of an increased tax upon tho shipowners. Mr, Belch assumes to say that one or two of our vessels are not sufficiently manned according to the Act. I presume he means the Shipping and Seamen Act, 1894. But lie is entirely wrong here, for all of our vessels are fully manned as required by tho Act, and some with more men than the Act requires, and where the Act does riot requiro any particular number of men. our boats aro all amply provided with good and sufficient crews. I ' submit Mr. Belcher has no right, if ho wishes to aot fairly, to make such assertions, when he knows he cannot establish them. "When he speaks, too, of complaints from the men, I can only assumo ho should have produced such complaints, or else withdraw such an assertion. For we are glad to say we know of no complaints, and wo do not believe any of our men have had any cause for compjlaint, owing to tho pleasant footing on which, wo stand with them. I. have referred at an earlier stage to tho fact that many of our men have been with us for years, as showing the relations existing between us, and I- need hardly repeat that tho men would not stay with us if they were not satisfied with the conditions under which they work. It rather seems to mo as though Mr. Belcher suggests the grievances, and then asks tho men to support him. As to the increased rates of pay Mr. Belcher demands for the men, has he ever stopped to think that if ■ an increase in wages is directed then the settlers and the travelling public will have to pay it in increased freights and passage money, and that now particularly is not the time when the farmers and the public generally ' can afford to pay any additional tax of this kind, with'every tiling tending to foreshadow dull times for everybody, and nothing pointing to the contrary? Ho cannot have considered this or he would not endeavour to bolster up a demand which is as unreasonable as it is inappropriate in choice of the time for making it. His action seems guided only by an intention to obtain all he can for the men, let who will suffer if he succeeds. Ho speaks, too, of the competition in Australia and points out that the pay is higher there and should be the same hero. The answer to this is twofold, first, that tho population of Australia is so much larger than that of this colony, that an infinitely larger volume of business in freight and passengers can be obtained there, and secondly that withstanding such greater openings for business, at the present time the rate of pay is only to be continued as it is now, until Juno next, when the unions in Australia have voluntarily agreed that unless there is an improvement by that time there shell be a very material reduction ill rate of pay. Such a state of things hardly helps Mr. Belcher, but I think rather tells against him. But no, he shuts his eyes to the fact that at the time of the 1898 award, under which we are now Working, was made, the mining industry was flourishing, as, indeed, were several industries, kauri gum, maize, wool, for instance, and consequently our business was practically at its height, and yet with the knowledge .the Court had of these facts it then fixed as fair the rate of wages now paid, and ho ignores tho fact that since the date of the award tho mining industry has to a large extent collapsed, that wool, maize, and kindred products and kauri gum have all declined enormously, and wo are in tho position to-day of being infinitely less able to pay the present Wages than we were then, far less the increased pay ho now asks in wages and overtime. He apparently will not take this view of matters, and I can understand his being afraid to do so, for upon him is thrown the onus of showing such an increase of profit to the shipowners as will justify his unreasonable demands, and this he cannot do. Perhaps I hardly require to mention it, for the matter is a small one, but it shows Mr. Belcher's indifference to the correctness of his statements, for , be knows, or should know, that when he says the return fare, Onehunga to Now Plymouth, is £2 7s, the breakwater at the latter placo ' takes 2s of this, and that the return fare of £2 5s only represents a charge of twopence ' ' • Per mile. Not a very extravagant sum this surely for such a voyage. Mr. Belcher speaks of our paying a seven per cent, dividend, and of our buying the Ngapuhi out of the earn- * ings of the company. Ido not propose to go ;• into detail over such a matter as this, but the dividend on our shares as originally issued was nearer 4i per cent, than 7 per cent., not a large return on a shipping com- . pany's capital; and the Ngapuhi was not built out of the earnings, for my company issued j* - additional shares, for the purpose of providing payment for her. ■ These aro only Jfurther %£] instances of the rashness with whicn Mr. •j. Belcher makes unjustifiable "assertions to the i \ '*> Court. He speaks, too, as though the enor- ; mous increase he asks would not affect the company, he ought to have known before his demands were made, and must be convinced by the figures I have placed bfeore
the Court and which I am prepared to verify, that to grant any increase would very seriously affect_ the. company's position. So here again, with short-sighted policy he ignores everything but the obtaining for the men not what they aro entitled to, and which we Would readily concede if they were so entitled, but what ho in his irresponsible way says they should have. Speaking to Mr. Belcher's demand that the union representatives should be allowed to visit the men on board the vessels, I have already quoted Mr. Justice Williams' ruling that the Court could not order this. I would say here that it is with no hostile feeling to the men, as suggested by Mr. Belcher, that we object to this; but it must bo patent to everyone that to have a union representative on board the vessels must tend to distract the attention of the man they may visit from his work, and is almost sure to ' create a. feeling of unrest among the men generally. By all means- let the men see the union people if the> 'so Wish, but let it be at the union's office, and not on board ship. Reference was made by Mr. Belcher to the i Whangarei service, and he stated that when a man got any time of? he had to got a substitute to take his place. There is not the slightest foundation .for such an assertion, and it ought never to have been made. For the fact is that in this trade each man on board the Wellington gets two days out of every 28 off, without any deduction in any shape or form, for the time is given to each man .is an absolute holiday on pay. And, moreover, although the 1898 award did not so order when any extra work, was done such as outside the ordinary work of the ship, putting coal on board for the company's use at time when bad weather prevented sailing vessels getting out, the men are paid overtime, and have been so paid for the past two or threo years, for such work which is over and above the ordinary work. Does this state of matters justify Mr. Belcher's assertion, and why did he not inform himself upon the point before he made such a statement? It is useless to ask why, for there is no possible answer. Then, again, Mr. Belcher refers in no friendly terms to Sunday running, as showing want of consideration for the men. May I inform him of what lie could ■ have known if ho had taken the trouble to inquire, that in several instances the men actually waited upon the captain and asked him to request me to arrange the timetable for the steamer to leave on Sunday, so that they could have the afternoon and night of Saturday and part of Sunday in port. And when the request of the men is assented to we are told we are treating the men harshly in working them on Sunday. Here, again, comment is needless, for this is; only another of Mr. Belcher's assertions unfounded 011 fact, and one can only assumo that if his figures are as incorrect as his facts we can place but little reliance upon them. Mr. Belcher says there should be one head in each ship, and that head should bo the master. Wo agree with him, but wo say that as to the men in the engine-room the chief engineer should have supremo control, for ho is a better judge of a fireman's capacity and conduct than the captain can be, and, therefore, 'on the chief engineer reporting that such a man should be discharged, the man should bo discharged by the master without any further question. Mr. Belcher's statement that the men's quarters are untidy and dirty hardly comes well from his mouth. The men's quarters are in accordance with the Board of Trade requirements, and if they are not kept in good order the men themselves are alone to blame and certainly not the company. Upon the evidence adduced by Mr. Belcher I would point out that the witnesses called by him have utterly failed to establish any ground on which overtime should be paid in extended river service. All his witnesses have stated that they were well cared for in our company and satisfied with the conditions under which they worked, but naturally would like more pay if they could get it, but in effect they say if we cannot get an increase then we can make no complaint of our treatment by the company. All of which in 110 way shows any ground for an increase, for no reason whatever is advanced in support of any advance. As to tho evidence of Arthur Goodman, late a fireman on board the Gairloclh, if it has any weight with tho Court it should be largely discounted when his demeanour and manner of giving evidence is borne in mind, for there can be no doubt that ho entered tho witness box with a mind strongly prejudiced against the company, and with every desire to say all he could against his late employer. Some little disagreement with the chief engineer of the Gairloch which led to his dismissal had evidently decided him to endeavour to balance matters by speaking as .vindictively as, ho could of the company. As Your Honor pointed out, if tho man had any- grievance against tho company for a broach of the . award of 1893 he had his remedy by applying to the Court for an inquiry. William Crotty's evidence was, I submit, all in favour of the company. He referred to one long day— a quite exceptional day—in which the men would not have been asked to work even the ordinary time but for a misunderstanding on tho part of the master of the vessel. And ho had to admit in cross-examination what he might as well have said when being examined by_ Mr. Belcher*—that. on this particular occasion the men had a day off for this extra work. He stated he had no complaints to make, and admitted that his experience of extended river limits was limited to a few trips to Wliangarei and a few runs to Waiheke, an island quite close to Auckland. Fireman Metcalf had no fault to find with the company, and had been in our service upwards of four years on tho same ship, a standing proof surely that he is satisfied with his position when lie could have obtained, according to Mr. Belcher's statement, employment at better wages down South. Arthur Morgan stated he had only had three trips to Wliangarei and one or two to Waiheke, and on this he bases his knowledge of extended river service, and expresses his opinion as to what improvements would be made in it. Surely if tho union wanted evidence as to this particular service men of long experience in it could have been called, and not men whose very want of familiarity with it renders the evidence valueless.
Thomas Landlass, A.8., late of Wakatere, is a disappointed man, having left his ship owing tc one day of extra long hours due to tho steamer acting as flagship to the Ponsonbv Regatta and having to go into Calliope" Dock, and as the steamer was working under 1893 award the captain had not the power to pay any overtime. It would in this case have been far better for the men to have worked as directed by, the officer of the ship, instead of refusing, and then represented the matter to me on the Monday morning, as I explained to the crew when they interviewed me 'on the Monday morning. Mr. Kneen, secretary Auckland Seamen's Union: his evidence only goes to show that my company have strictly adhered to the award given by this Court in February, 1893, and _ has only pointed out one or two exceptional cases of extra long hours, but not showing it a general practice, but omitted to show tlio time men are often given time to themselves in the extended river service. _ He only speaks of it as' in his opinion it .could be worked so and so, but no evidence to show it could be worked, as wo maintain it could not. Will the. Court permit me. to. refer to one matter which I had overlooked -until now, and that is tho position of the vessels employed by us as tenders to the ordinary boats As I said in addressing the Court at the hearing of tho alleged dispute in 1897, we have six small boats which act as tenders to feed tho larger vessels. These tenders are a positive source of loss to my company, for although a necessity in order to carry ''out tho trade at various places whero the size of our regular traders prevents them entering bar harbours, vet they aro not by any means continuously employed, and a liberal wage is paid to the men employed on them, they providing themselves. I repeat all that I then said, and I submit that no increase should be mado in respect of the men employed in these- tenders, their services being comparatively light, not continuous, and liberally paid for. I have thus commented upon Mr. Belcher's statements and the evidence called by him, because I felt I could not pass them over in absolute silence, but I would say generally that he has no right to make such statements, which in more than ono case he is unable to substantiate. I feel entitled to say this, because tho figures I have quoted in my address to the Court and the assertions I have mado I have no. hesitation in saying are absolutely correct, and have all been prepared only after such careful examination as justifies mo in my belief of their correctness. I trust thev - may be of assistance to the Court, and if, as I believe, no doubt can be thrown upon them, I-look confidently to the Court declining to bo influenced by, Mr. Belcher's statements, and to an award being mado by which either a reduction in the present rates of wages and overtime will be ordered, or tho present, rates and conditions continued.
In concluding I would ask the Court whether my company is expected to attend at the various further hearings of matters at Wellington .and Dunedin, or whether the matter when concluded here is closed so far, as the Auckland local , shipowners .are concerned. If we are compelled to attend the further inquiries it will be a source of considerable ; expense and great inconvenience and loss to the various local ; shipowners, for we are not allowed by tho Act to employ professional men, and must send our "respective managers to represent us.
And I take it the hearing, in Auckland was <■ to deal with the local services,' leaving the question of the seagoing sendees generally until the hearings down South. . ' .* The President: The case is closed so far as the Northern shipowners are concerned. I do not think there will be anything introduced either in Dunedin or Wellington that will affect your company. We are taking the evidence in Auckland in respect to the local conditions in Auckland, and we close it here in respect to the local conditions in Auckland. The union will have an opportunity in Dunedin of bringing evidence in respect to the Union Company. Mr. Hanson: Then it will not be necessary for us.to attend the Court. You will not allow any evidence. Tlid President: Certainly not. This is an independent dispute in a sense, brought before the Court by the Auckland section of the Seamen's Union, and we arc simply taking evidence in that dispute here. The case for Auckland is closed. Wo shall make an award eventually, which as far as possible will settle the conditions of employment throughout the colony, but we shall consider the local conditions, and the position of the local employers. ME. COW'S STATEMENT. Mr. Ct. Gow, superintendent engineer for the Northern Steamship Company, said: — May I bo permitted to supplement Mr. Ranson's statement, and in asking to do so, I intend to refer only to matters in the reference relating to firemen, and to special clause 20. The increase of wages asked for " able and ordinary seamen is 10s per month, and for firemen, greasers, and trimmers, working fourhour watches, also 10s per month; but for firemen, greasers, and trimmers working sixhour watches, the increase asked for is 30s per man per month. The Northern Company employ 51 firemen, and three trimmers. Wo have eleven vessels manned with two firemen, threo vessels with three firemen, three with four firemen, and one with six firemen. Of the eleven vessels manned with two firemen, three are under 100 indicated horse-power, and burn from two to three cwt of coal per hour, respectively; seven range from 130 to 300 indicated horse-power, and burn from 3Jr to lOJcwt of coal per hour; the other (the Wellington) is 490 indicated horse-power, and consumes 14j,cwt of coal per hour, in this case carrying a trimmer. Our contention is that tho firemen employed in vessels of this class, although working on tho six-hour watch system (and necessarily so, because no other system is possible), they cannot and do not do the same amount of work as a fireman working in the larger vessels, where the fourhour watch system obtains, and yet the owner in the first case, is, by the reference before tho Court, asked to pay £10 per month for firemen, and in the second case, viz., the larger vessels, tho wage asked is only £9 per month. We submit your Honor thr.t this is neither fair nor just to the small owner, as tho following case will show:—Tho Ohinemuri is a vessel of 130 indicated horse-power, the Chelmsford is only 61 indicated horse-power, tho Ohinemuri's consivnption is of coal per hour, and tho Chelmsford's is 2cwt per hour for all purposes, which is equal to 21cwt and 12owt respectively, for a watch of I six hours. The total quantity- of coal consumed per hour in the larger, say, intercolonial or coastal, vessels varies of course with tho horse-power, but taking colonial practice, one fireman on vessels of this class has to shovel from 16 to 20cwt of coal per hour, or from 64 to 80c\vt of coal per watch of four hours, which, taking the mean, and comparing with the Ohinemurh is 3i times as much, and six times the quantity which the man would be required to shovel in the case of the Chelmsford, and yet the small owner is asked to pay £10 per month as against tho rate now ruling, viz., £8 10s per month, or an increase on present rates of 30s per man r>er month. Again, and this applies generally to all my company's vessels, and more especially to the small ones, the length of tho vovages is short, varying from 254 to 36 miles, and in time from 27 to four hours. This I mention to show that there is in reality no continuous steaming, that the work at the fires is intermittent, and that therefore, although the six-hour watch system obtains throughout the fleet of tho Northern Steamship Company lor firemen, I submit that tho work done is not so severe or arduous as that which obtains in the larger vessels, running longer voyages, continuous steaming, on tho four-hour watch system, and certainly in the case of the small vessels the work is nothing liko so hoa"Vy or enervating. I have a comparison worked out to show the- work of a man on shore doing work, such as shovelling earth into a cart sft high, on a shift of eight hours per day, or to compare with the six-hour watch system, doing a shift of 12 hours per day. I have compared that with the work of a fireman on ono of these small boats, and the comparison is altogether in favour of the fireman. ' The President : The conditions are very different. . Mr. Gow: Certainly, but the point has been raised with regard to the men being, exposed to a very high temperature, and being surrounded with fires, as they are in larger ships. Theso conditions are in no way applicable to the Northern Company, and other owners of small vessels in Auckland, and I think in fairness to those owners some system should be introduced to pay the worker, not exactly in proportion, but to give him a fair wage for tho smaller boats. It is altogether unreasonable that firemen on small vessels such as I have instanced, and such as aro owned by the McGregor Steamship Company and the Coastal Companv._ should bo compelled to pay such a very high rate to firemen. In tho smaller boats we have only two firemen, and tho only system possible is the six-hour watch system, and in that case they aro asking £10 per month. I do not consider it fair, but it is for the Court to consider. I say tho comparison of tho man working ashore with the firemen on the smaller vessels is altogether in favour of tho fireman. With regard to the hours worked by firemen, the cample time-tables handed into the) Court will show that they are not excessive. They also show that many of the vessels are in Auckland overnight every week, and that nearly all enjoy their Sundays at home. X submit, your Honor, that the conditions surrounding the labour of a fireman in the Northern Steamship Company's emploly, are as good as possible, and, generally speaking, cannot be bettered in any port in the world. It has been stated by tho other side that firemen work in an unhealthy atmosphere, that the heat is oppressive and beyond endurance,' the inference being that for these reasons firemen are deserving of special consideration. In special trades and deep ships no doubt the contention holds good, it is not, however, applicable to the Northern Company's vessels, or to their business at all. As a matter of fact none of our vessels aro more than 13ft deep, decreasing to sft in depth; firemen cannot therefore bo subjected to these enervating influences to which reference has been made. With reference to clause 20 I would like your Honor to inform mo if in connection with the gas stokers and coalers' award the pay for the day shift is the same as for the night shift, and for Sundays and holidays. Tho President: The pay for each shift is the same.
Mr. Gow: Well, I will refer to that in connection with the special clause. I consider and will endeavour to show to tho Court that tho reference is neither just nor fair to the Northern Steamship Company, and therefore, of course, to other shipowners similarly situated. Under the 1893 award seamen gave the owner an eigth hours day, i.e., from eight a.m. to five p.m., for working cargo, etc., and in sea-going vessels overtime is paid for, if worked before or after these hours, at Is per hour._ If the vessel arrives or departs, or both, within tho 24- hours there must necessarily be sea or steaming time added to tho eight hours' day, for winch no overtime is claimed or paid, yet by this special clause it is provided that eight hours only shall bo given in each 24- hours, and that this eight hours shall include steaming time also, and it is claimed by our friends of the other side that this is fair and equitable. Now, it will be evident to the Court that an owner cannot, however willing ho may be, work his ship and his business to tidal ports so that the work shall be done within specified or fixed hours per day. It does not follow, however, that because this is so that therefore the men employed* in tidal services work longer hours per day than those which obtain in sea-going vessels. As a matter of fact, it is the other way about, os shown by tho time-tables handed in to the, Court, that is, that tho average hours worked per man per day are longer in tho sea-going vessels than in the extended river services; but the point I wish particularly to make clear is this, that the seamen employed in the extended river services do not givo to tho owner an eight-hour day work at the wharf, as the seamen do in the sea-going vessels, and we claim, Your Honor, that it has been shown (except in the case of the Wellington) that in no case _ have) the men engaged in tho vessels working tidal ports worked more than eight hours in each 24 hours at cargo or alongside a wharf, and inasmuch as an owner cannot arrange to do tho work required to load and discharge such vessels within tho hours of eight, a.m. and five p.m., he should Rave the right to work his men to suit his business, provided he asks only for. the same ,service at hours to enable him to _ meet the special circumstances and peculiarities of the trade. The hours so worked must necessarily be irregular. As a case in point wo beg to refer to the recent award of this Court in the case of the Auckland Stokers and Coalers' Industrial Union and tho Auckland Gas Company, Limited:"The working hours of ah stokers and coalers shall be eight-hour shifts, including Sundays and holidays." The wages are then specified and so on. I have
just been informed by Your Honour that these men work- in shifts of eight ' lours ',''' that no discrimination is made between tno e working at night, Sundays, or holidays, an those-working on the day shift; that is, 4 the hours and pay are the same for all m shifts. There are here special circurptwice in which the work required cannot bo tio, during the ordinary working d.y, that is, between the hours of eight a.m. and five p.m., and we claim that inasmuch as the -P" owner is working under similar disabilities in respect of those vessels working the extended river services, this should be recognised by this Court and the award made accordingly. . y ' , , On Saturday the Court heard evidence by Mr. G. Gow, superintendent engineer for the Northern Steamship Company, and addresses by Mr. M. McGregor on behalf of the McGregor Steamship Company, and Mr. J as. Dunning on behalf of the Coastal Steamship Company, after which Mr. Belcher addressee the Court on behalf of the union. I ' , ' ice will be taken by the Court in Wellington and Dunedin before the award is given.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11879, 3 February 1902, Page 6
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14,477ARBITRATION COURT. New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11879, 3 February 1902, Page 6
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