COASTAL VESSELS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23321, 13 October 1937, Page 10

COASTAL VESSELS

UNSATISFACTORY POSITION ANOMALOUS WAGE SCALE COOKS PAID MORE THAN MASTERS (Special to Daily Times) CHRISTCHURCH. Oct. 12. An employer does not pay his lesser employees more than he pays his executive officers. That is a general rule which can be applied to almost all businesses, but there is one business of vast importance to New Zealand in which many of the lesser employees receive considerably more than the executives. In most of the vessels trading in New Zealand waters under New Zealand awards this strange position exists An example, not selected as extreme, is that of a master who receives £45 a month and pays to his cook £4B for a month’s work. This is only one example of a position which exists in almost all vessels trading in New Zealand waters. The figures given have all been obtained in a careful survey of the pay sheets of various ships, and are vouched for by the masters themselves. This situation does not exist solely on board these ships, however, for even in comparison 1 with the wages of the members of the crews of overseas vessels or shore workers the seamen and others on what may be generally termed coastal vessels are paid on a considerably higher scale. On one small vessel of less than 300 tons gross and with a complement of fewer than 20 the members of the crew were receiving each month an average payment equal to £385 a year cash, plus keep. Strangely enough, the higher rates are paid only on the smaller vessels trading about the Dominion and governed by Dominion awards. The five awards involved in the running of such a ship are the Mercantile Service Guild award, covering the master and mates; the marine and power engineers’ award; the stewards award; the galley staffs award; and the seamen’s award. The oay of the master varies with the si.Ye of the ship, and the range in a survey made by a reporter was from £4l to £46 a month. The amounts paid to the man in sole charge of the vessel are frequently exceeded by the first engineer, by the steward, and even by the cook, and sometimes by the first mate. Because much of the information was given in confidence, it is impossible to quote exact figures, but those given here vary little from the actual payments made. On a small trading vessel in a recent month the master was paid slightly more than £4O, and the cook received a little more than £SO. On another small vessel the master was only fourth in the list of those receiving the highest payments. On yet another, the second mate found himself in one month the lowest paid man on board. His pay was exceeded even by that of the firemen, the able seamen, and the one ordinary seaman making his first voyage. Not infrequently firemen draw more than £3O a month, and in one instance an ordinary seaman, still just a youth, was paid considerably more than that.

“ But how do these men get more than the man who is virtually their employer?” is a natural question. The master is paid to loo 1 after the vessel, and it is his responsibility. The seamen, firemen, and others who make up his crew are paid overtime for all work they do beyond the daily eight hours stipulated in the five awards, and the master, the only exception from these provisions, finds himself among the lesser paid. The pay of the cooks frequently exceeds that of either of the mates and that of senior engineers.

Instances of men being paid more for overtime and Sunday work than their monthly pay are innumerable. A cook earning about £ 19 was paid more than £43. A steward’s overtime payment was only £4 less than his monthly pay. It is argued by various sections of the crews that the series of awards does not provide equitable treatment for all, particularly in payment for overtime and Sunday work. Even more dissatisfied than the men, however, are the masters and the mates. They expressed the opinion that their payment was adequate considering the size of the vessels they were handling, but they considered that since the owners had made better agreements with , other members of the crews they themselves should be paid at higher rates because of the training required and the responsibility carried.

“ Either our pay should be increased or the others should be knocked back,” said one man. He received slightly more than £4O a month, and his cook generally draws about £lO more. The mates have a grievance about Sunday work. To them. Sunday is just another day of the week. To the other hands it means double pay when at sea and special provisions and overtime rates when in’ port.