INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19351, 11 December 1924, Page 10

INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES.

ARBITRATION COURT. SITTING AT BLENHEIM. (Peb United Press Association.) BLENHEIM, December 10. A sitting of the Arbitration Court this morning granted an application from the local furniture workers to have the recent dominion award brought into force in the Marlborough Industrial District. Musterers, packers, and drovers applied for a new award. Their demands were for 22s 6d a day and found for musterers (Sunday work double ittes); packers, £4 10s a week; yqulhs-Mirst year £2, second £2 10s; the nroportion of learners to be not more than one to four; drovers, £1 7s 6d a day and .ill expenses. Special provision was sought that there bo no exemption from the award for permanent station hands. The abolition of weekly work was also demanded. The respondents, the Marlborough sheepowners, filed counter-proposals asking for the rc-enactmont of the old award or an adoption for Marlborough of the new Canterbury award. It was pointed out that it would be anomalous for two contiguous industrial districts like Marlborough and Canterbury to bo under different conditions and rat es of pay. The court reserved its decision. The court will leave for Wellington tomorrow, en route for Auckland, where the last sitting of the year will bo held. TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES. (Peu United Press association.) CHRISTCHURCH, December 10. The new Christchurch tramway employees’ award made by the Court of Arbitration provides for a general increase of 3s 4d in wages. The increase in wages of approximately Jd per hour will mean an increase of nearly £3OOO in the Christchurch Tramway Board's annual wages bill. CONCILIATION COUNCIL. TYPOGRAPHICAL DISPUTE. A SATISFACTORY AGREEMENT.

(Pee United Press Association.)

CHRISTCHURCH, December 10.

After a long sitting yesterday, and another session to-day the Conciliation Council settled the wages and conditions affecting the Typographical Union of New Zealand. As the dispute was a dominion one there wore representatives from both the North and South Islands on tne council. A slight' increase in wages on the present award rates was agreed to, and the conditions were on the lines of the previous award. A complete agreement was arrived at. The Conciliation Commissioner (Mr W. H. Hagger) presided. The following minimum weekly rates ol pay were fixed: —Linotype and intertypo machines—first division £5 10s, second division £5 Ss ; monotype' machines—first division £5 7s, second division £5 2s; monoline, typograph, barotype, simplex, and other composing machines—first division £5 2s fid, second £4 11s; rates for night work, 10 per cent, extra; bulk hands and machine correctors, £5 2s fid tor day work and £5 I2s fid for night work; second stone hand, £5 17s fid for night work arid £5 7s fid for day work. The present “efficiency speed” for operators clause and the present clause regarding probationers were agreed to. The divisions were fixed as follows: —First division, the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin and a radius of 10 miles of these cities; second division, towns outside this area, but in the monolino and other machines section the first division was*for places of a population of over 6000 and the second division for towns of under 6000 inhabitants.

The piecework clauses in the present award were accepted, and the present hours of work for time workers were also agreed to. These were 42 hours a week. The union asked for a 40-hour week for day work and 38 for night work. The employers offered 48 and 45 respectively. Holidays as in the present award were agreed to.

The call payment clause of the present award ivas struck put, and provision was substituted that tod money should be paid at the rate of 2s fid for journeymen and Is fid , for apprentices. Conditions relating to piecework and the guarantee of hours to efficient piecework operators were agreed to as in the old award wdth a few minor alterations.

For hand and jobbing work the wages wore: For cities and towns with a population of 6000, £5 2s 6d a week.; for plaqej of under 6000 inhabitants, £4 15s a week; casuals, bulk hands, and others to be paid as under the old award (night work to be paid 10 per cent, extra). The present hours of work. 45 per week, were agreed to. It was decided to eliminate all reference to piecework for hand and jobbing workers. All the clauses relating to apprentices were dropped, as this matter is now covered by special legislation for apprentices. Tiie general conditions bearing on the work of machine and hand workers were fixed on the lines of the old award. After some discussion it was agreed that the award should come into force on January 1, 1925, and remain in operation until March 1. 1927.

Mr Ferguson thanked the employers for the generous way in which they had met the men, and referred to the satisfactory result of the council’s sitting. Mr A. G. Henderson replied that the employers had been determined to improve (lid conditions of the lower-paid men, and they bad no regret at what had been' done. : Ho thanked Mr Hagger for his patient hearing of the dispute, a dispute which was one of the most difficult, and certainly the most technical dispute in the dominion. Mr Hagger said that a conciliatory spirit had been shown by both sides, and he was delighted that the council had settled such a difficult dispute. It was always advisable that a dispute of that nature should be settled by the Conciliation Council.

REWANUI STATE MINES.

DISPUTE REGARDING WAGES, (Per United Press Association.) GREYMOUTH, December 10. The Rewanui State mines were idle today owing to a dispute between the firemen and the management in regard to wages. Tho men claim that as they are in charge of boilers they are entitled to firemen’s rates of pay, but the management, contending that they are assistants, is paying the assistants’ rates. A conference will take place to-morrow.