UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY OF NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2058, 3 August 1893, Page 17

UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY OF NEW ZEALAND.

NOTICE OF A REDUCTION IN WAGES.

The following notice to crews of the company's steamers has been issued :— It is with regret that the directors of the company have to announce that, in consequence of the great shrinkage of trade resulting from the severe commercial depression in Australia, they are compelled to effect economies in expenditure wherever possible. Since 1890 the business of the company has not shown satisfactory results, and dividends havegradually declined. Last year the profit on working account was so small that it

was found necessary to encroach upon the ln jj ur " ance fund to enable the payment of a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum. There being no immediate prospect of any general improvement in trade, the directors have no option but to follow the example of shipowners in Australia, and ask their employes to accept reduced rates of pay in cases where the wages paid warrant a reduction. The first step in this direction must naturally be taken with the crews of the company's steamers, which form by far the most numerous class of the employes. The directors are of opinion that the circumstances of this colony are not so unfavourable as to necessitate at once so sweeping a reduction as has been made in Australia, where- wages of seamen, firemen, and trimmers have been reduced by £2 per month ; and they also recognise that membership of the Mutual Bsneflt Society, and its accompanying obligations, should be taken into consideration in connection with the question of wages. The present rate of wages of seamen was fixed in 1884, when trade generally was brisk and prosperous. The increase then granted has been enioyed for nine years now, although for a considerable portion of that period the profits of the shipowners have been steadily decreasing. The directors therefore feel warranted in asking their crews to accept a reduction in wages of £1 per month, or one-half the reduction "tiiat has been established in Australia. This will make the wages in the company's coastal steamers and the intercolonial boats trading with New Zealand :— Seamen, £6 ; trimmers, £6 ; firemen, £8 j greasers, £8 ; and they also propose to fix the rate of overtime at Is per hour. Hitherto the rate of overtime in the company's employ has been Is 6d per hour, although the rate in Australia for the last three years has only been Is per hour, so that during that period the company s men have been enjoying an advance of 6d per hour over the crews in Australian steamers.

The directors feel it is due to their men to give reasonable notice of the proposed change, and have therefore decided not to bring the reduced rates of pay into operation till Ist September. This will give -the men ample time to weigh the proposal carefully, and to fully consider the position in connection with the circumstances ruling both in this and the neighbouring colonies. The directors earnestly hope that the men will recognise that the present proposal is rendered imperative by the unsatisfactory state of business. They also wish their employes to understand that should trade so improve as to result in satisfactory retAns being secured, it is not their intention to make any further reduction. James Mills, Managing Director. Dunedin, 27th July 1893.