CARPENTERS’ AWARD

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8682, 16 March 1914, Page 8

CARPENTERS’ AWARD

WELLINGTON DISTRICT

MINIMUM WAGE Is 6d AN HOUR. The Arbitration Court has filed its award in the dispute of tho Wellington branches of the'Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. This is based for the most part on the provisions of the award recently made in Dunedin. The district in • which the award shall operate is defined by a radius of fifty miles from the Te Aro post office, and the term of the award will bo two years as from March 16th. The main provisions are as follows : Hours of Work. —Tho hours of work for carpenters and joiners are to be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Saturdays, when work will cease at noon. Provision is made for the shortening of the dinner hour between May Ist and August 31st so that work may cease at 4.30 p.m. Wages.—The minimum wage for journeymen carpenters and joiners is fixed at Is 6d per hour. A shilling a day extra is to be paid to the man in charge of an outside job where four or more workers are employed. Overtime has to be paid, at the rate of time and a quarter, for. tho first two hours, time and a half thereafter up to 10 p.m., and double time subsequently; time and a quarter for time worked between 6 a.m. and the ordinary time of starting by those required to make an early commencement. Double time is to he paid for work done on Sundays and specified holidays. No worker must be required to work more than six hours continuously without an interval for a meal. Piecework is prohibited except in respect of stairbuilding. AVork shall not he sub-let (labour only). 1 Suburban work is defined, in the case of employers carrying on business in the city of AVellington, as work performed outside a radius of two miles from the Te Aro post office, and in the case of other employers, as work performed outside a radius of two miles from the employer’s place of business. If the place where the work is to b© performed is beyond the twomile limit, tho employer must either pay the workers at the rat© of three miles an hour for the time occupied in travelling by road in excess of two miles, or pay their tramway or other fares to and from such work once each day.

Country work means work done by a journeyman or apprentice which makes tt necessary for him to sleep away from home, and includes work performed on the eastern side of AVellington harbour. AVorkers must be conveyed to such work free of charge, or their travelling expenses must Jje paid, but only once during the continuance of the work if such work is continuous. Journeymen and apprentices employed on country work shall be paid an additional sum of 2s per-day for six days in the week, hut the employer may in lieu thereof provide them at his own. expense with' suitable hoard and lodging. Power is given to employers to alter the hours in regard to country work.

Provisions for conveniences for workers, storage for tools, and facilities for sharpening are included. The rates of pay for apprentices will be as follows; —First year, 10s per week; second year, 15s; third year, £1; fourth year, £1 6s; fifth year, £T los. The proportion of apprentices employed shall not exceed one to every three journeymen or fraction of three. The five-year term of apprenticeship includes three months’ probation. An important clause is that which provides, that an apprentice who gains a two-years’ course certificate in carpentry and joinery _or building 'construction, at a technical college, shall he paid during the- last two years of his apprenticeship at the rate of not less than 2s per week in excess of the ordinary apprentice rates. , A clause is inserted relating w under-fate workers, and preference to unionists is provided for. Cabinetmakers’ Clearance. —The following clause was agreed upon by the parties and inserted at their request: —“All woodwork done in any factory or workshop occupied by or on behalf of any party to this award shall be deemed to he work coming within the scope of this award,'provided that (a) the union shall accept clearance cards from members of any ’ f at niture trade union, and, further, the said union shall grant clearance cards to any of its members wishing to transfer to any furniture trade union when not engaged at work coining within the scope of this award; (b) the same class of business at present carried on by the parties to this award shall be continued to be so carried on.”

Exemptions!—The Gear Meat 00., Ltd. (Wellington and Petone), the Wellington Meat Export Co., Ltd. (Wellington and Ngahauranga), the Wellington Harbour Board, and the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board are exempted from the operation of the award, on condition that they pay not less than thp wages and overtime fixed by the award.