BUILDING INDUSTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26792, 8 June 1948, Page 4

BUILDING INDUSTRY

ANOTHER CRISIS FEARED BREAKDOWN IN CONCILIATION PROCEEDINGS P.A. AUCKLAND, June 7. Another industrial crisis may be developing in the building industry. Conciliation proceedings in Wellington last week concerning award claims for builders’ labourers, clay workers, tunnellers and general labourers broke down—at least temporarily—and the rank and file unionists involved are being asked this week to consider whether the claims should be withdrawn from the Arbitration Court. The workers' assessors said that no basis for settlement existed. They regarded the employers’ counterclaims as a reduction in - the hourly rate of pay and the withdrawal of the guaranteed weekly wage—a loss for some workers of 16s lOd a week. The employers say the present rates for building trade sub-contractors' labourers include, certain sums in lieu of travelling time and payments for special work. These were added to the wages as an average sum as an experiment. The April conference of the New Zealand Master Builders’ Federation decided that the experiment was a failure. The employers’ assessors sought travelling time and a special payment average divorced from wages rates and to pay these allowances to workers, individually when and as'they occurred. They said there was no desire to cut wages or to lower the workers’ standard.