LABOURERS' WAGES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16468, 19 February 1917, Page 8

LABOURERS' WAGES.

CANTERBURY DEMANDS.

WAR BONUS OF 10 PER CENT.

[BY TELEGRAPH. — ASSOCIATION.] CHRISTCH.URCH, Saturday. TnE Arbitration Court has_ issued an j award in the general labourers' case, y which came before it last week. The case j, attracted considerable attention, because . of the elaborate details placed before the n Court by the union, wives trf members ' q going into the witness-box and giving de- 1 g tails of their household expenditure, their „ husbands' earnings, and information as t" j j extent to which debts were contracted, j g The latter point was urged with good } purpose to prove to the Court that the t, existing wage was insufficient to enable 5 labourers to pay their way. The uniou o asked for a wage of Is 4|d per hour for J general labourers, in lieu of the Is 2d per o hour being paid. ,The Court has awarded i the following rates of pay : — j I Tunnel men at rock tunneling work or J v sinking shafts over 10ft, Is 6d per hour; 1 tunnel men at clay tunneling work and 4 men in charge of derricks or scaffolding, la 3d per hour; all other classes labour, c Is 2d per hour. 1 ' The award also provides that so long ' as the Empire remains at war, and for 1 three months afterwards, a war bonus of c 10 per cent, shall be "paid in addition to I these rates, and further provides that the * war bonus may, at any time during the 8 currency of the award, be continued c wholly or partially, or may be increased c or terminated as the Court may deter- f mine. 0 \ t £ THE COST OF LIVING. J 1 G VALUE OF THE SOVEREIGN. { . 1 1 t NOT AN ACCURATE GUIDE. c i [dv telegraph.—OWN correspondent] c CHRISTCHURCH. Saturday. c In its memorandum to the Gene- | ral Labourers' Award, the Arbitra- y tion Court says:—''The only ques- » tion submitted to the Court was as to the minimum rate of wages for 1 general labourers. The chief argument, used in support of the claim was the de-' creased purchasing power of the sovereign ] I since 1913, as evidenced by the tables ! I issued by tho Government statistician, 1 llt has, however, been repeatedly ; ! pointed out, both in New Zealand 1 : and in Australia, that the purchasing 1 power of the sovereign as shown in such ' , tables is not an accurate guide as to 1 1 the actual rise or fall in the cost of living, ' | especially in tjjfc case of a particular class ■ of the community, the tables being based ' upon tho supposed requirements of all 1 classses. Speaking of similar tables pre- < pared by himself, the Australian statistical! says: ' Whenever abnormal conditions arisen—for example, through drought, war, or other extraordinary circumstances—which involvo corresponding changes in the ordinary usaees of a com- ; munity, the assumption that tho price j indexes and cost of living move together pronortionately, is more or less invalidated. : Obviously they cannot do so, because 1 all sensible people change their regimen 1 according to new conditions arising. It 1 may also be noted" that in abnormal times, the change in the regimen compelled by the abnormal conditions will probably vary even from one locality to another. Hence at such tinvss, although the price indexes show the variation in the value of money based upon the normal composite unit, they are not quite satisfactory for the purpose of showing the measure of adjustment necessary on a reasonable basis to equal the value of wages or other, payments with those of the former j period.'" x I 'Hie memorandum proceeds: *' It has ■ also to be remembered that the increased cost of living, so far as it has been caused by the war, is a burden which has to be 1 borne by the whole community, and that, ( to relieve one class of its proper propor-. tion of that burden simply means adding that proportion to the burden already 1 being borne by the other classes of the community. The lowest-paid worker, how- 1 ever, is the least able to bear such burden and should bo relieved to some extent if reasonably possible. Having regard to; these considerations the majority of the Court are of opinion that they would not be justified in permanently increasing the existing rate of wages for labourers, and that the most they can properly do is add to the «ages payable under the award a war bonus of 10 per cent., and the award is mado accordingy. It may bo noted that in New South Wales where the cost of living is much higher than in New Zealand, two Judges alter an exhaustive inquiry L ,decided in August last that the minimum wage should be Is l?d per hour, or 0s 3d per day, or £2 15s 6d per week "Mr. McCullough desires to record his dissent from thin decision, as he thinks that the addition of the war bonus does not satisfv the reasonable demands of the worker, and that there should also have been an increase in the rate of the minimum wage." . ... • - This decision has an important bearing on wages generally, as general labourers wages are to a considerable extent regarded as a standard of comparison.