CONCILIATION COUNCIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22742, 30 November 1935, Page 3

CONCILIATION COUNCIL

HARVEST HANDS’ DISPUTE The Conciliation Council sat yesterday morning before the conimissioner (Mr S. Ritchie) to deal with an application mad© by the Otago and Southland Harvest Hands, Threshing Mills and Chaffcutters’ Union for a,new award. The assessors for the union were Messrs C. Baldwin (Christchurch), W. Herbert and R. Ferrier, and for the employers Messrs J. J. Crampton (Nightcaps), A. Craig (Greenfield), R. Walker (Hillgrove) and A. Roy (Mossburn), with Mr A. S. Cookson as agent. Approximately 200 threshing mill owners and farmers were cited <as respondents. In respect to wages, the union sought a minimum rate of pay of Is 8d per hour and found for all working under the award, 2s 9d per hour and found for drivers, 2s per hour and found for feeders, and an additional £1 5s per week for the band-cutter or other worker who steers the engine and assists the driver in cleaning and oiling the mill. As a counter-proposal, the employers submitted the terms of the existing award, which provided for wages at the rate of Is 3d per hour. The clause relating to hours of work was adopted without discussion. This provided that work should be done between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. except on Saturdays, when the hours should be from 6 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., no more than 11 hours to be worked on any day. In respect to the claims for pay at the rate of Is 8d per hour instead of Is 3d as provided for in the existing award, the employers, after discussing the matter, offered Is 4d per hour on condition that the time clause should remain unaltered. (The old award allowed a quarter of an hour for shifting time from set to set, and a claim was made for an increase to half an hour.) As the result of a conference after the luncheon adjournment it was announced that the employers’ assessors had agreed to pay Is Cd an hour. This was accepted, but it was decided to refer the dispute to the Arbitration Court to determine the preference clause. The award will come into force to-day and will expire on July 31, 1930.