THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19952, 20 November 1926, Page 20

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES. Dj J. T. Paul. LABOUR ORGANISATION 7 . The Otago Labour Council has adopted tlie basis of unity agreed on by the Alliance of Labour and the Trades and Labour Councils. A good deal of feeling has been evinced on the wisdom of the agreement, and as the matter is now being placed before the unions it will be interesting to see what attitude is taken by such of the rank and file as attend union meetings. The Labour Council has decided to send deputations to the unions to urge endorsement of its own decision. Air J. M'Combs M.P. for Lyttelton, has been entrusted with tho work of politically organising the Otago district in the interests of the Labour Party. During the week Mr M'Combs will attend meetings of the following unions : —Painters, Butchers, Plumbers. Woollen Mills, Engine-drivers, and Moulders. The visiting Labour M.P. will discuss Labour legislation, arbitration, and kindred matters. Mr M'Combs will be in Dunedin for two weeks. APPRENTICE OF JOURNEYMAN? A case of interest to employers and employees generally, heard at Auckland recently, indicates that there is at times a laxity in carrying out the provisions of the Apprentices’ Act in regard to the completion of apprentices’ contracts, which have now taken the place of the old-time indentures. The inspector of awards proceeded aaginst an employer in the electrical trade for failing.to pay journeyman’s rates of wages to a youth in his employ. Tho employer had engaged the youth as an apprentice to the trade, but he neglected to have the rquisite contract of apprenticeship reduced to writing and registered with the registrar of apprentices within 28 clays of the commencement

of the engagement, as required by the Ap prentices’ Act. ’ine inspector pointed on that as the contract had not been com pleted as prescribed, the only alternative was for employers to pay full journey men’s rates of wages, as only two classei of labour were recognised by the award—viz., journeymen and apprentices. As thii was the first case heard in Auckland, the inspector did not press for the full penalty and the employer was fined £1 and costs. THE MINER'S WORK. “Many folk talk about the hazard anc unpleasantness of the miner's job,” writes Theoodre P. Brocklehurst in the York shire Post. “Is it so vastly more dan gerous than that of the engine driver oi the motorist, the sailor or the deep-sea fisherman, the whaler, the sealer, the air man, or the stoker on land or sea? Un pleasant! Then how is it that the genuine miner will freely tell you tha he would not wish for or like any other job? Mining is in their very blood, and they speak with pardonable pride about their fathers and grandfathers being miners. The ‘cal! or desire is as much bred and born in the pitman’s son as is the instinct in a sheepdog. Another advantage the pitman has over the builders, the quarryman, the navvy, or any other outside workers, is that wet weather does not interfere with his earnings. In addition, he gets a longer week-end off than any other manual worker. There is overmuch maudlin sentimentality evinced, presumably owing to the war having got on our nerves, which tends to obscure the real bed-rock issue.” LIMITATION OF APPRENTICES. The Apprentices’ Act has only been in active operation a comparatively short period, but already (says “Industrial Tramp” in the Auckland Star) there are loud complaints in some industries of the manner in which some of its provisions ‘ are being administered, especially in regard to the number of apprentices allowed in proportion to journeymen actually employed. At the last Trades and Labour Council meeting some illuminating information W-as advanced by some of the delegates as to how the quota permitted under the Act was worked out. It was alleged that in returning the number of journeymen employed by one employer unskilled labour such ns motor drivers employed by the firm in the regular prosecution of its business w.-y? included in the number ot workers employed by the firm, and that a quota of one apprentice to three journeymen would be levied on the total number, and not merely on the skilled journeymen at work. This discrepancy evidently is not peculiar t A ckland, for I notice (continues “Tramp”) that the Court of Arbitration has recently given a decision under the Canterbury leadlight and glass workers’ award, which betoken the same uncertainty (?) as to the correct basis of computation. The question submitted to the court was: “Is an employer entitled to count silverers, polishers, leadlight cementers, and machine bevellers as journeymen for the purpose of determining the number of apprentices under clause 6 of the Apprenticeship Order? “In the opinion of the court workers in question are semi-skiiled workers, and must not be counted as journeymen. It may be true that apprentices, in order to become fully-qualified journeymen, require to learn the operations performed by these workers, but this circumstance does not elevate workers regularly engaged in these semi-skilled operations to the status of journeymen. The operations in question are only subsidiary branches of the industry.” BRITISH LABOUR LEADERS. Speaking as a trade union member for 55 years, during 48 of which he had been head of his union, Mr Havelock Wijson told a gathering at tho London Commercial Chib that when he saw the work of the present-day so-called Labour loaders his view was that they were novices at the game job-seekers, self-seekers, and a poor lot. Since 1920 tho country had been going to the dogs. People said that it was duo to bad trade; he said that it was not. The world was hungering for trade and there was plenty to be done, but whenever there had been signs of trade revival eminent men had made extravagant speeches about a great crisis that was coming and about mass attacks on tho workers. Mdlions of money had gone out of business through these continual agitations, and now they had had a devastating mining strike, for which there was no necessity at all. The men ho represented had extended their working hours by 14 a week, not because they wanted to do it, but because they wore faced with tho economicfact that foreign ships, especially German ships, wore entering into competition with working costs 50 per cent, below those of British ships. If they had acted like Smith and Cook, they would have said, “Not a minute on the day,” and over half of tho British ships would have been tied up in tho ports, and half of their members would have been unemployed. No headway would bo made until Labour men faced the facts, fairly. This was being prevented by tho “Reds,” tho Communists, who wore receiving cash from Moscow, which was being spent with the one object of paralysing trade and commerce in order to bring about revolution. Yet Britishers calmly watched all this, thinking that all would como right by and by. MUSTERERS’ WAGES CLAIM. In tho Arbitration Court at Christchurch tho Canterbury Musterers, Drovers, and Packers’ Union made the following demand:—Musterers 25s a day or £5 a week, packers £1 a day or £4 2s 6d a week, snowrakers £1 a day, youths first year, £2 a week,'second year £2 10s, drovers £1 10s a day and expenses. Tho employers applied to have wages reduced to the following rates; —Musterers 15s a day or £5 15s a week packers 13s 6d a day or £3 a week, snowrakers £l, youth, first year, £1 10s, second year £2, drovers 19s a day and expenses. Tho union also claimed that the provisions of the award should apply to permanent station hands w r ho assisted in packing and mustering. Mr 0. E. Baldwin, who .appeared for (ho union, said that the complaints in tho dispute had come from tho men themselves. Many men on tho job were selling their dogs and coming into the town, this fact showing how bad tho position was. The union was asking 25s a day for musterers, and this was not an excessive demand when tho nature of the work was eonsidored. Musterers had to take out a good team of dogs and carry a pack two or three times as big as the pack of the average farm worker. On hilly country tho weather was often bad, and (his made a good supply of clothes essential. The packer also had a good deal of work to do. Ho had to establish the camp, bo able to “knock up” a “good rough feed,” and sometimes take up a beat when sheep were being shifted. Mr W. Cecil Prime, who appeared in place of Mr W. 11. Nicholson for the employers, said that the employers’ reasons for asking for a reduction were that tho rates of pay at present laid down were higher in proportion to those paid in the town industries to workers of a similar class, taking into account the fact that the

worker on tho farm was always housed one fed and had practically no expense in re gard to personal upkeep. In addition tc this tho employer pave tho mnstercr facili ties for breaking in young dogs. The court reserved its decision. PAYMENT BY RESULTS. In view of tho wide interest at presen shown in the premium bonus plan of sup plemcaitiiig wages, tho experience of i Christchurch firm is of value. Writing n an exchange, the principal of a Christ church firm says;— In the United States there are severs premium systems in use—the Halsey which originated there, and other more o, less complicated schemes —and manukiccur ing concerns operate these systems will great thoroughness. In Great Britain there are two widely known systems—viz., the Rowan and the Halsey or Weir plan. Mr F. A. Halscj and Messrs J and G. Weir (Ltd.), appear tc have adopted the latter system indepen dontly. With the Halsey or Weir plan tnc apportionment is by simple division of the time saved, usually one-half being paid tc tho workman. Thus, if the time limit is 100 hours, anc the time taken is 75 hours, then the workman will receive a premium of one-hail tho time saved—i.e., 25 divided by 2, oj hours’ pay, in addition to the 75 hours, pay—i.e., total of 8?i hours’ pay. With the Rowan plan the workman’s share is apportioned by the formula of paj ing the same percentage on the wages foi the time worked as is saved on the time limit. Thus, if the timelimit is 80 hours, and the time taken is 60 hours, Wien tnc percentage of time saved is 25 per cent.; consequently the workman will receive a premium of 25 per cent, on his time wages, or 75 hours’ pay in all for 60 hours’ work. It may bo noted that in New Zealand, under the awards of the Arbitration Act, a workman who is put on to a premium system must be paid at least 10 per cent, more than the award rate of wages, whether he earns it or not. A point is often raised by the union officials and others, that the workman should receive all tho savings that he makes.

| and that the employer should not partici--1 pate except by trie advantage o£ increased output. 1 Under examination this contention will not hold. In the first place, tho introduction of a premium system is an expensive matter, and involves painstaking preparation for many months. When tho system has come into operation, it requires careful supervision to ensure that it is fairly administered. 'lt also requires tho services of rate fixers and supervisors for accuracy, ami entails extra clerical work in the pay and records departments. Owing to the increased output that is obtained, machines wear out more quickly and greater depreciation must be allowed. The management must bo more efficient to assist tho workman to increase his output and to encourage him when required, as it is only by co-operation of both the employer and the workman that tho best results can bo obtained. For the above reasons it is necessary that the savings in time should be shared by both sides. In our business after careful preparation the Rowan premiums system was put into operation in January, 1919, and has been continued since then wherever conditions will permit. A good bonus, which is iroquently earned is roughly 33 1-3 per cent., which equals 50 per cent, increase in output. We have never had an instance of a workman asking to be taken off tho premium system, but frequently when one has been off for a lit * while on day wages, he has requested the foreman to bo put on the premium system again. It is our endeavon- to extend payment by results wherever possible, as it is a spur to all concerned to extra effort, and it is onlv by increasing production that competition can be met successfully. The workman who is able to earn il additional per week by extra effort, and who finds the extra nay in his envelope this week following the completion of the work on which he was engaged, is usually satisfied with his lot. Ho obtains his profit as he earns it and does not haye to wait a lon<r period before receiving the benefit, as in "the case of so me profit sharing systems Moreover, the money value that he can obtain is probably greater than any other method of encouraging increased production can give.