MILLERS' AWARD

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 34

MILLERS' AWARD

CHBISTCHURCH. December 1

When" tlie 'Arbitration Court resumed this morning it was reported that as a rosult of a conference held by the director of tiie- court, the parties in the milling dispute had ai rived at an agreement. The agreement was handed in, and the court wa& requested to embody its terms in an award, the award to have a currency of two years, ;>nd to take effect from January 1. 1909. Provision is made for an eight hour day, and overtime is paid for at the rate of time and a-quaiter for the first three hours, time and a-half for the second three hours, and double time afterwards ; all work on Sundays and specified holidavp to be paid for at the rate of double time. Tho following are the minimum rates of wages : — Rollerman or shift miller, Is Id per hour; oatmeal or barley miller, Is Id; purifier, 3s; emutterman. Is; assistant smuttermaji or tipman, lid ; kilnman and head storeman. Is l^d ; assistant storeman, lfi ; packman, Is; engine drivers (when combined cylinders are 200. or over 200, circular inches), Is 3d ; second and third engine drivers, Is l{,d ; engine drivers (under 200 circular inches). Is Id; second and third, Is : engine drivers (gas producer capable of developing 70-h.p. and upwards), Is 3<l : second and third. Is ljd ; engine drivers (less than 70-h.p.), Is Id: second and third, Is.

The wages of carters are to be fixed by the drivers' award. The wages of boys for the first cix months are 10s por week, and they rise in succeeding similar periods lo 125,155. 18s, 21s, 24p. 275, 30s, 335, 365. All casual labour and grain carriers in stores are to-be paid at tho rate of Is per h-rmr. Thvre are the usual conditions for prefer^.ioe. undewate woikers. etc.

CHRISTCHURCH. December 4. The Arbitration Court sat to-day to hear the rangeworkers* dispute. Mr J. h. Soott appeared for the employers and Mr R.. T. Bailey for the union,.

Mr Bailey stated that a conference had beeu held, but had practically rejected to piecework. His Honor pointed out that the union was asking for more than was given in the Dunedin award. Mr Bailey said the union was prepared to accept the Dunedin rangeworkers' award in its entirety. The union obpected to piecework. His Honor pointed out that though piecework might be allowed there would have to be a minimum wage below which the employers could not go. Mr Bailey said that piece work tended to set one employee against another. His Honor said tha,t the only real point of difference was the wages. Mr Scott said the employers could not agree to the Dunedin rate of wages. The conditions of the trade were not the same in the two cities. In Dunedin only one or two different kinds of ranges were manufactured, but in Christchurch many different kinds were made, and it could not be done at the same pries. The present was a most inopportune time for the men to ask for an increase. A great number of the hands were working on stock, and it would be impossible to keep them all on if they were getting the wages demanded. Mr H. Hepburn had made a calculation showing the exact returns from the range portion of his business during the past .three months, and he found that he had actually lost on it. In his (Mr Scott's) own case the amount paid in wages mfflually in the range department was £2400. The increase of 13£ per cent, asked by the men would increase this by £328/ and the business simply would not stand it. The rates of wages asked by the union were : — Range fitters and polishers, 10s per day ; body fitters, rough grinders, machinists, fluemakers, plate-rackmakers, and sheet-iron workers, 9s per day. Hugh Hepburn said there, was severe competition by Dunedin makers, especially as the Christchurch makers could not specialise to the same extent as the southern makers.

To Mr Bailey : The ranges paid well enough up till recently, when a slump came along. If he could specialise to the same extent as Shacklock the trade would be more profitable. George Scott, director of Scott Bros. (Limited) said that Shacklock had got his" ranges on the New Zealand market, and a different range had to be introduced to compete with him. An attempt to sell Canterbury ranges in Dunedin had failed. The range business had produced ordinary profits, but not sufficient to warrant an increase in wages. Prices could not be increased, as Mr Shacklock would not hear of any meeting to discuss the matter. The actual cost of a 3ft stove was £3 6s lid, but it was sold in Wellington at an actual loss of 12s 3d on every stove. The stove was sold at a high price in Christchurch. To Mr Bailey : They were not losing on all their range trade. There was a better demand for the better class of stove, and the profit had increased on them. He said candidly that the trade could not give a penny increase, and if an increase were granted it would mean the discharge of half the men sitting in the court. He d>d not generally approve of the employment of boys. He would sooner have men. He had said in 1901 that the firm was losing £400 a year on range work, and that loss had been continued on a particular stove. T. J. Waters, rangemaker and hotwater service fitter, said that his business had not paid anything like a fair profit. He had been in business for 33 years, and was now working for less than he got many years ago.

Mr Bailey, in reply, said that the employers had used the argument thjat the business was an unpayable one as far back as 1901. He did not think that the court would agree that they were carrying on their business as a sort of charitable institution. The Christchurch manufacturers complained that the Dunedin makers competed severely with them in the Noith Island, but the Dunedin people made the same complaint about the Christchruch makers when they were before the court. The workers proposed to form a federation, and if that was done the employeis would be placed upon an equal footing as far as the cost of labour was concerned. The maker who was the best business man would then be the most suc-cc-sful. Decision was reserved.