SHIPPING CONFERENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 37

SHIPPING CONFERENCE.

SETTLEMENT OF WAGES QUESTION, STATEMENT BY THE HON. MR MILLAR. (From Ottr Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, March 10. The settlement of the wages question between the Seamen's Union and the shipping companies is another indication thai mutual conciliation in preference to Arbitration Court proceedings is becoming popular in the Dominion, and also that th« results are more satisfactory. It was agreed at the recent conference that when the terms were agreed to the Hon. Mr Millar should make an announcement -to the press, aed he has done so in the following terms : — I was honoured by being asked to act as chairman of the conference, and felt it a. very great honour that I had the confidence of both sides. It was a very great pleasure, indeed, to preside, as the utmost good feeling was shown on both sides, the one desire, apparently, being to meet one anoiker ac far as practicable. There were a large number of technical matters, which, although not meaning any great increase of cost to shipowners, were proposed, the effect of which would have been to make some differences in the present conditions; but when the question of the total cost of granting all those was put by the shipowners before the seamen due consideration was given to their representations. The two principal matters, of course, were: — (1) The question of the raising 1 of the wages to the £7 and £9 which at present rule in Australia and which some years ago ruled in New Zealand. This point was conceded without objection by the owners, as was also (2) the point of increasing the overtime rate by 3d per hour for working cargo. Of course, where the % - arying interests of the small shipowners throughout the Dominion were considered the question of overtime was a bigger factor than the granting of 10s per month in wages; but this was granted by them after very full consideration and the generallyexpressed desire that if a settlement could be arrived at on those terms they could see their way clear to concede them. The great advantage of having practical men on both sides was clearly demonstrated, as there was no superfluous talk nor any extraneous matter introduced, each side knowing exactly what it wanted and being able to reply, without evidence of any sort to any arguments advanced by the other side. Further, it is likely to result, in my opinion, in a much better feeling, between the two parties, as whatever is" mutually agreed upon ie more likely to be observed thaa anything which contains the compulsory element. I was exceedingly pleased a* the result for tho sake of the men. I' have known that for years their objective was to get back to the £7 and £9 per month, and I feel pretty confident that the result of granting this will be beneficial to the shipowners, as you will always get better service from a man who is contented with his conditions o£ labour than from the discontented man. who fancies he is labouring under an injustice, and there is no doubt that the fact of the Australian seamen having enjoyed the £7 and £9 a month while the men in New Zealand had not got it wae a prime factor in the dissatisfaction and unrest which have been known to exist in die Seamen's Union for som« time past. But, judging from the reports as to the manner in which the proposal has been received by the members of the Seamen' 6 Union, the outlook fo< the future is much brighter. The men receive the immediate advantage of between £12,000 and £13,000 additional to the wages at present paid them, which. I think, will approximately work out between £11 and £12 per man per annum, and I hope, now that those little differences are likely to be settled, that both parties will work together in the interets of the trade of the Dominion. When I get the result from the Seamen's Union I shall endeavour to arrange foi a supplementary conference to settle tha details of the award, as both parties hay« | a-sked that the negotiations may b« brought to a final point through me. 1 need only say that my colleagues, who fuIIj T approved of my attending the conference, are highly pleased at its satisfactory termination. Personally, I feel pleased with the spirit of give-and-take displayed by both sides, as without that it would have been impossible to hav<» arrived at such a .satisfactory conclusior