THREE SHILLINGS BONUS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17661, 23 December 1920, Page 6

THREE SHILLINGS BONUS

PAYMENT IN AUCKLAND. RETROSPECTIVE TO NOV- 1. REPLY TO UNIONS' CONTENTIONS. The bonus of 3s a week recently granted by the Arbitration Court as from November 1, is now being paid by employers in ; the Auckland district. The full bonus is only being paid to adult male workers ; engaged on a weekly wage. Those paid at i an hourly rate will receive a bonus ai the ■ rate of |d an hour, while females over 2C I years of age receive Is 6d per week and i females under 20 years and youths and • apprentices Is per week. [ Mr. S. E. secretary to the Erar ployers' Association, stated yesterday that I none of the employers were taking excep- • tion to the payment of the award. > Referring to the recent resolution passed ' by trade unionists in Auckland in which j it was stated that the standard of living was decreasing, Mr. Wright stated that ) this might possibly be so in the case of r the men with large families. The Asso- ' ciation's trouble, however, was with the ' unmarried man just out of his apprenticer ship. The contention of the Union 1 officials was that these men must be paid 3 a wage equal to that received by a married 3 man with domestic responsibilities. To agree to such a proposal would serve to condone and to encourage extravagant > habits among a large number of young i men, which they might find difficult to 1 overcome later on when they undertook > the responsibilities of married life. He " said the amendment to the Arbitration Act was not by the Government at. the request of the employers, but at the request of the Court, which desired to deal with the question of bonuses more . fully than it was able to do befqre the amendment was made. Mr. Wright said that the announcement by the trade unionists that a class war existed was very ingenuous. In view of the workers' pub- ' lished statement regarding class conscious- '" j ness and the emphasising of the contention that the working classes should hang . together, the discovery of the existence J of a class war was rather late in the day. ' The question of payment of the cost-of- ' living bonus of 3s a week was dealt with by the Newmarket Borough Council last evening. It was decided to pay the 1 bonus to all employees, whether members 5 of unions or not.