SWEATED STOKER SLAVES.

NZ Truth, Issue 146, 4 April 1908, Page 5

SWEATED STOKER SLAVES.

THE GREEDY GAS GRAB-ALLS.

Cited Before the Arbitration Court.

The Bounteous Birch Barracks for

His Bosses.

On Friday afternoon of last week the Arbitration Court heard the Wellington Gas Stokers and Ookers Union's dispute with the Wellington Gas Company. Mr Rear don appeared for the Union, and Mr H. Birch, managing engineer for the Gas Company, for the employers. The Union's principal demands were m regard to hours of work, wages,. holidays, and sanitary acconimodadation. For some time past the week's work has consisted of seven shifts of eight hours each, worked as follows :— Morning, 5 a.m. till 1 p.m.; afternoon, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. ; night, 9 p.m. till 5 a.m. These the Union wanted to be fixed by the Court, so that the Company would be bound down to them . At present the wages are 10s per shift for leading stokers and 9s 3d for ordinary, and they wanted these increased to 12s and 11s respectively. As regards holidays, the custom has been for men Who have been stoking for ten consecutive months to receive a week's holiday on full pay, but the Union wanted New Year's Day, Anniversary Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Prince of Wales' Birthday, Labor Day, Sovereign's Birthday/ Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and the employees' picnic day to be the recognised holidays ; all work done •. on these days and on Sundays io be PAID AT DOUBLE RATES, The Union also demanded that the employers should provide accommodation to the satisfaction of the In- . sp^ctor of Factories, to enable the stokers and cokers to change their clothes and have their meals apart from the other employees. This demand was agreed to by the Company. In his open-ing address Mr Reardon pointed out that the work was unclean, unhealthy, and enervating m the highest degree. The men had to work sev-m days a week m conditions that allowed only the survival of the fittest. The most healthy men could last only a limited number of years at the work, and then, after years of profit-making by the employers, they were thrown out into a cold and uncharitable world. People talked of the white slaves of Britain, he added, but there wer,e wltfte slaves m Wellington as well. And Mr Reardon was not far wrong. The Union's evidence, which included the testimony of a medical Iman, Dr. A. E. Cousins, showed that the men have to work m a very hot place, on a dirty floor, and amid fumes arising frpm coke, and a srijell of sulphur. These latter tend to set up bronchitis, for which complaint Dr. Cousins has lately treated some of the stokers. The men become so bathed m perspiration that they were, able to wring out their vests as if they were wet dish-cloths. Yet, when m this condition, they are often sent out into the yard from the retorthouse, cm a cold winter's night, to carry m a sack of shale that could easily be placed m the retort-house before the shift started- work. Of course, the men develop chills. Another ailment they are liable . to is anaemia. Further, to show the exacting nature of the work, a witness stated that a pair of trousers usually LASTED ABOUT SIX -WEEKS, a pair Of working boots about eight weeks, and sox and vests about a month. And then, wfrat lovely accommodation the fat Gas Company provided for its employees. There is one bathroom, for over a hundred of the Company's workmen. In this the workers (other employees as well as the stokers) change their clothes before going on to' the shifts, and bath after work. The place is m- a most filthy condition. There are 'no lockers or cupboards for the men's clothes. Instead, they have to be leftabout at the mercy of any dishonest employccr:.. Oh several occasions valuables have been stolen from workers' pockets. The sanitary accofnmodation consists of one filthy closet. For working seven days a week m these conditions, the poor'devils receive £3 4s 9d to £3 10s a week. But, says the fat man, each worker gets a week's holiday mch tear on full pay. Does he? ' "Truth" has already exposed the shameful system by which the monopolistic mob cheated the stokers of thciir well-earned holiday, Then we find that the Company has the blasted cheek to offer some of the men a twopenny cigar apiece as a Christinas -box I The Union's evidence was not rebutted on oath. The bounding Birch made ah address to the -Court that was packed with some of the most idiotic, egotistic drivel "Truth" has ever heard. He did mention one fact that *he had offered the men an advance of fivepence a shift. Holy smoke ! Five brown coppers a man. That is, not more that £225 a year for the whole of the stokers, and the Company made a profit of £34,000 last year ! The egotistic Birch promised to meet the Union's demands re accommodation, but HAD THE BRAZEN EFFRONTERY to declare that it was the duty of one of the shifts, to * keep, the place clean. That is, after a shift had finished its proper work,, it was supposed to clean out a place used also by 'over seventy employees who are not stokers, and who were io do nothing towards keeping the bathroom clean. Judging from the lordly Birch's claptrap, one* would have imagined that he owned the whole bally show. Now, twenty years ago Birch was a tinsmith m the employ of the Company. Now he is managing engineer of the concern. "Truth" would by no means blame him for thus- bettering his position were it not for his attitude towards his fellow workmen. Ever since he managed to get a little power m his dirty hands he has given them as many sly kicks as he possibly could. He has been constantly antagonistic to them., - and ever trying to prevent anyone from bettering his own position. But the bally Birch is. a good Christian, don't you know. He goes to his little Wesleyan chapel twice a week and four times on Sundays, and on Monday bangs his fel-low-man on the nose (metaphorically speaking) for all he's worth, as all good Christians should do.