HEARING ENDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22819, 28 August 1937, Page 15

HEARING ENDS

CASE FOE EMPLOYERS CHANGE NOT WARRANTED ARGUMENT AGAINST RISE • PRONOUNCEMENT LATER The standard wages inquiry by the 'Arbitration Court concluded yesterday. After taking two and a-half days to make thejj; submissions, the employers' and employees' representatives occupied the whale of the sitting yesterday with reading voluminous analyses and critical surveys, adding many thousands of words to the bulky volumes of evidence and reports tendered. Mr. Justice O'Regan intimated at the close that the Court's finding would be pronounced as ioon as possiblo. Associated with, Mr. Justice O'Regnn were Mr. W. 'Cecil Prime, employers' ' member, and Mr. A. L. Monteith, employees' member. Representatives of employers were Mr. D. I. Maedonald, secretary of the Canterbury Employers' Association, Mr. M. R. O'Shea, general secretary of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation. and Mr. I. C. Howard, actingsecretary of the Auckland Employers' Association. Workers were represented by Mr. J. Roberts, of Wellington, on behalf of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, Mr. F. 1). Cornwell, secretary of the organisation, and Mr. P. M. Butler, secretary of the General Labourers' Union. In his summary of the case for the > employers, Mr. Maedonald said ho contested the following points; upon which -r". the employees' case appeared to rest: ' —Firstly, that high wages necessarily produced prosperity and secondly, that low wages necessarily produced depression. Thirdly, wages therefore should be high so that-prosperity might be maintained, and the workers enjoy a high standard of living. Fourthly, that it was within the power of the Court to fix wages at a high level, and thereby improve the . prosperity of the Dominion and the standard of the worker. Deep-Seated Causes In dealing with those points, Mr. Maedonald said MrT Roberts produced statistics to show that higher wages were paid when times were prosperous, and conversely. That, ho saicl, was all those figures 'showed, and the causes were more deeply seated, as Professor Tocker clearly demonstrated that variations in income from overseas, from the sale of' pxporta. were the main reasons for prosperity and depression. When the country was prosperous it could afford to pay higher wages. When it was depressed it could not afford the same rate, and wages had to be lowered if workers* were to remain employed. In 1926-28 wages were high and rising, he continued, but unemployment increased. Wages remained high until 1931, yet the severest depression New Zealand had known developed. He admitted that" the worker should enjoy the highest standard of living lie could secure, but said it depended upon what Jie could buy with the proceeds of his labour. It depended upon the prices of the food he consumed, as well as the Tvages lic earned. History in New Zealand showed that rising wages always were associated with a rising cost of living and conversely. There had been many instances where higher wages had been cancelled by - higher living costs, and the worker was / no better off. In the past year the in- ' dex of retail,, prices had risen steeply, following theorise in wages made about a year ago. Labour costs formed a large part of production, and consequently were reflected in the prices of food the worker must buy.

• » Problem of Costs High costs might mean the ruin of many producers whose goods were sold in overseas markets, since such goods had to be sold at competitive prices, ' feaid Mr. Macdonald. Goods also produced for local, consumption must be competitive with imported goods, and "if local costs''were higher. New Zealand producers would be at a disadvantage, they would bd-unable to sell at prices which repaid costs, and production would have to be reduced. This would create industrial depression and - unemployment. Wages were fixed by what employers could afford

to pay for labour, which depended upon . the prices, secured for the products of labour. This in turn depended upon what consumers would pay for pro • diK-ts sold in open competition with those of other countries. Mifilmum Wages Mr. Macdonald contested Mr. But ler's proposition that it was within r jlic province of the Court to fix wages ai , a high level. The Court was empowered •to fix minimum • rates, he said, below . which it was illegal for employers to pay. If wages were set at a figure ■which prevented the full product of labour being'sold at prices that would lower costs, then to avoid losses employers must curtail production and •dismiss employees. Similarly, if the market were good end.demand abundant, the minimum wage prevented no employer from paving rates above that, and if the employer saw a profit in the production of more goods 7 , he was likely to employ more labour, even though he bad to pay more than the minimum rates, to secure the labour, if those rates were set at a reasonable level, a margin must bo left above that, within , tthich wages might rise and fall with variations ii} the market demand for goods, and therefore*' in the demand for the labour, which produced the goods.

Importance of Decision Finally, said Mr. Macdonald. the Court's decision would be one of farreaching importance. The influence of ♦he Court arid its decisions was wider than ever before, as awards applied to a larger,number of workers and a Creator part of the country's industry .than ever before. If wages were set at a high level in- prosperous times, it Hight become difficult to make adjustments which would be necessary should prosperity give way- to depression. , "I submit that although the country . ; has about returned to the prc-depres- - ,~6ion level of income and prosperity," concluded Mr. Macdonald, "it has not gone beyond 'that point, and is not J" a position to pay wnges higher than those at present in force. While further improvement is still possible. Jt would bo very unsafe to assume that J t■ will occur* for world affairs which affect our markets and the prices of °ur so closely are in a very unstrfjjle and insecure position ' • %