LAUNDRY PRICES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23405, 22 July 1939, Page 16

LAUNDRY PRICES

"RISE NOT JUSTIFIED" FINDING OF TRIBUNAL AUCKLAND APPLICATION SAVING TO/THE PUBLIC { i _ i [ay TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL *KKT*ORTKII J ; WELLINGTON, Friday ] "The position is such that the <, tribunal has come to the conclusion , that a general increase in prices in the i industry is not justified," said the ( Minister of Industries and Commerce, \ the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, in announcing to-day that the Price Investigation Tribunal had submitted its report on , the application of the Auckland' Laundry Association for the approval of the tribunal to a general increase in prices and that this report had been considered by the Government. J lie finding of the tribunal, after a careful review o£ all the available evidence, was that permission to increase prices could not be approved. The Minister stated that the association comprised 14 laundries, the accounts of six of which were submitted to the tribunal in support of the application. In addition to the accounts and further information which had been provided, several witnesses came from Auckland to give oral evidence before the tribunal. The tribunal found difficulty in dealing with the application by the laundry trade in Auckland in that the laundries concerned comprised one large unit and several small ones, and that the circumstances of the large concern are very different from those of the smaller ones. In consequence it became necessary for the • tribunal to investigate the position of the businesses concerned separately. It would be seen, therefore, that a most searching investigation had been made and that the*tribunal had in consequence been able to obtain a most comprehensive picture of the industry as a whole. Mr. Sullivan added that it was estimated that if the increase were given effect to the increased cost to the Auckland public would be at least £IO,OOO per annum, and that if, after the increase had been given eflect to, all laundries in Auckland brought their prices into line with thoso of the members of the association, the increased cost to-the public would be substantially greater. The tribunal's finding, he said, must result in a substantial saving to the Auckland public. REASONS EXPLAINED HIGHER SCALE OF WAGES negotiations in hand FULL STATEMENT LATER , As'negotiations regarding the matter of iaundry prices in Auckland are still being conducted with the Government, the Auckland Laundry Proprietors Association declined to comment on the statement by the Minister of Industries and Commerce, the Hon. .D. G, Sullivan, when the' matter( was referred to it yesterday. The secretary of the association, Mri" W. E; Anderson, said /a full explanation would be made when the negotiations were completed. Explaining the reason for the proposal to increase prices, Mr. Anderson said that last October the Arbitration Court issued a new award for laundry workers in the Wellington industrial district, ordering a general increase in wages. With the consent of tlie Department of Industries and Commerce, the Wellington launflry proprietors increased their prices. "The Otago and Auckland employers agreed to approximately the same rates o' -wages as fixed.by the Court in the Wellington award," Mr. Anderson continued "In Auckland: the increased wages have operated since Maj -6, and the employers have found that a slign increase in prices is necessary to enable them to carry the increase in wages agreed, upon, although the increased prices proposed are not as higl as those ruling in Wellington.