SLAUGHTERMEN'S WAGES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2914, 19 January 1910, Page 9

SLAUGHTERMEN'S WAGES.

CONFERENCE AT AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, January 11. At the conference between the farmers, the Freezing Company, and slaughtermen employed in the export trade, it was pointed out that those employed in the regular local trade received 26s per 100. It was urged that these in the export trade, whose work is intermittent, should receive an equal amount, it was decided to leave the matter in abeyance till after the Wellington conference, to which each side will send a delegate. GISBORNE, January 14. The Gisborne Sheep Farmers’ Company last evening received notice from 26 butchers in their employ intimating, under the provisions of clause 9 of the ISOB Act, their intention to strike unless their demands were complied with. CONCILIATION COUNCIL MEETING. WELLINGTON, January 12. A Conciliation Council convened by the Conciliation Commissioner (Mr P. Hally) eat this afternoon to deal with the situation that has arisen in the slaughtering trade in consequence of the employees having given notice of their intention to strike. The commissioner presided. Messrs H. A. Ryder and G. G. Martin were- present to represent the employees, and Messrs Tripe and Corner the Gear Meat Company, and Mr Sladden the Wellington Meat Export Company. The proceedings yere conducted in camera, and it was decided that no information would be given to the press until the result of the deliberations had been communicated to the men. STILL NO SETTLEMENT. WELLINGTON, January 13. Matters affecting the new demands of the Slaughtermen’s Federation are practically at a standstill for the time being. The Council of Concilation will meet again on Saturday to further consider the position, while there will be a meeting in Wellington to-morrow of representatives of the employers from various parts of the Dominion to consider what course it will be most advisable to pursue. An impression appears to have got abroad in some quarters that the Wellington Council of Conciliation will make recommendations to apply to the industry throughout the Dominion. This is not so. The council will simply deal with the industry in so far as it is concerned in the Wellington Industrial District, but no doubt whatever decision is arrived at will have considerable influence on the decisions at other centres. From what can bo learned from those in a position to know, there appears to be a reasonable prospect of the difficulty being satisfactorily settled locally without a strike. It is reported that the granting of the union’s demands of 2os a hundred for killing and the eight-hour day by the local employers will not necessarily mean that members of the local union will be content. The union authorities maintain that the dispute is not merely one as between the Wellington employers and the union, but is a federation dispute. Therefore no individual union will be content to accept 25s and 8 hours unless these terms are conceded all round. This is likely to protract a settlement of the trouble.

CONFERENCE IN WELLINGTON. WELLINGTON, January 14. An important conference of representatives of employers in various parts of the Dominion interested in the slaughtermen’s dispute was held in lington to-day to consider the position. The proceedings were held in camera. Definite overtures were made to endeavour to get a conference with representatives of the slaughtermen’s federation or the local union, with a view to endeavouring to amicably settle the dispute. Representatives of the men met the employers’ representatives this evening, and a long conference took place, but no announcement was vouchsafed as to anything in the nature of a settlement having been reached. The New Zealand Times understands that an agreement was arrived at on the following terms ;—2ss per hundred, an eight-hour day, fines for damaged skins to be abolished, and preference for unionists.

SETTLEMENT IN CANTERBURY. CHRISTCHURCH, January 14. After several days’ negotiations, the matters in dispute between the freezing companies and the Canterbury Slaughterers’ Union were satisfactorily settled this afternoon. The only information available is that an agreement was arrived at, and that work would _ continue as usual. The agreement is said to be satisfactory to the parties concerned. It is understood that an industrial agreement embodying the understanding arrived at will be drawn, up and signed by the parties and submitted to the Court of Arbitration for confirmation.

THE MEN’S POINT OF VIEW. A representative of the Timaru Pest interviewed the slaughtermen, and one of them, a hugely-built man, was twitted with the unsatisfactory nature _ of the agreements, each award appearing to lead to a demand for further concessions. He waxed wroth, and demanded to know whether it was not the common practice for every man 1 to look after himself. “Now, look you here,” ho said, “here’s a few facts. Last season I made £B2 10s, which is just about 15 bob less than the previous year. At the end of the year I went over to Australia and made' £79. £B2 10s and £79 make £l6l 10s, if I’m not mistaken. My expenses through loss of time in going and coming back from Australia, and passage money, etc., amounted to £l3. Take £l3 off £l6l 10s and that leaves £l4B 10s. Now take off that the difference between my board and lodging in Australia and what it would have cost had I been at home with my wife and family—that comes to, as near as I can reckon, about £l4; which brings my capital down to £134 10s, which, in turn, is equal to £2 11s 8d per week. Oh, you needn’t figure it out —I’ve l done that, and I know it’s all right. But tell me, like a square man, do you think that £2 11s Bcl per week is a fair wage for a man. who is considered to be cine of the best in a trade that requires every man to bo an expert? Oh, you may smile; but facta arc facts, and it takes a good man to skin a sheep in the clean way he’s got to do it and male© anything like wages. And mind you, I repeat, I’m one of the best at the game /if wages is any indication. It takes mo all my time to keep my wife and five kiddies; and how then, do you think, men get on who, I know, are earning at least a third less than I earn? And, mark you. last season here, and in Australia, I didn’t lose a single day through cuts. Some of the chaps are off four and five weeks with gashes, the sight of which, would turn the like of you sick. The point that I want to come to, however, is this: Butchering is a trade- of skill, a trade of downright hard toil, a trade full of nasty possibilities in the way of accidents, and a trade in which the environment is anything but agreeable. Yet we don’t get a chance of earning as much as men in trades requiring half the skilL and half th© labour, and with comforts and conveniences that can never be attached to our trade. A fair thing’s a fair thing! The ; farmers are not dying of starvation, are they? The companies haven’t ceased to ! pay big dividends, and to carry a nice : cosy few thousands to the reserve fund, ■ have they? Will a couple of bob on every hundred sheep—loss than a _ farthing on | each sheep—send the farmers in the Bank- ■ ruptcy Court? Not a bit of it! It won’t : hurt the farmers, and it won’t worry the companies to the extent of a flea-bite, but 1 it might enable me to take my wife and i kiddies for a week’s trip at the end of the year. It might! That is, if the price' of things don’t keep on rising steadily as they’ve been doing for the last 10 years to my knowledge. Do' I think the federation will stick out for the 255? You bet your life on it; and they’ll get it, too. I don't know much about what’s doing up at headquarters, but I’ve heard I enough to know that it is business that is meant.”