CLERICAL WORKERS' AWARD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23109, 6 August 1938, Page 19

CLERICAL WORKERS' AWARD

Sir, —I feel I must support "Always Conservative" by detailing my experiences as a clerk. It has been my privilege to be associated with a large concern for the whole 16 years of my business career, and I can say this, that I and many others never found it necessary to ask for an increase wages. Twice a year wages were reviewed by the executive, and if an increase was merited the person concerned got it. The few that did ask always received a sympathetic hearing. We had our fortnight's holiday each year, and, in cases too numerous to mention, employees, even junior clerks, suffered no deduction in wages for absence <Ui account of sickness, even of long duration. Of' course, wo had to produce n/cdical certificates of health when wo first joined the staff.

Reasonable use of the telephone for private purposes was never questioned, and an occasional hour or so perhaps to visit the dentist was given without probing into the reason. Except at rush periods, the working of overtime was looked upon by. the management with disfavour, 'although we youngsters used to think it a good way to make a profit of Gd or so on the tea money; in fact, the frequent necessity for working overtime meant only one of two things—the clerk was overworked or incompetent, and stall' adjustments followed. We were permitted to buy anything wo desired from stock at wholesale cost, and our orders were delivered free to our homes. In fact, our friends and relatives were inclined to use tlie warehouse as a shop. Throughout the depression the firm held on to its office staff, and drew on its reserves to make wage increases where deserved.

Now, the spirit of give and take has gone—concessions to employees appear to bo regarded as rights, and there is less incentive to qualify in competence for wages drawn. Clerks are paid not for the work they perforin, but for what they should theoretically bo able to perform. In desperation, executives, who in the main have been through the mill themselves, are forced to curtail staff privileges, and in many cases discharge overpaid staff. The value of a clerk's services depend not merely on his own ability at figures, but also on his specialised knowledge of the peculiarities of his employer's trade, methods of accounting, and office procedure. If his capabilities or position do not now warrant his artificially increased wages, what chance has he of obtaining employment as a clerk in another trade or even in a similar'trade at the same wages? The benefits of unionism, I maintain, are illusory, so far as clerical workers are concerned. Executive.