WAGES AND THE COST OF LIVING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3396, 16 April 1919, Page 6

WAGES AND THE COST OF LIVING.

DISCUSSION BEFORE ARBITRATION . COURT. INTERESTING COMPARISONS. At a recent sitting of the Arbitration Court his Honor Mr j ustice Stringer ;prcsident of the court) had something to say with regard to the cost of living, his remarks being made in connection with the Farriers' Union application for an increase of wages under the -War Regulations. His Honor said that with regard to applications to meet the increased cost of hv : ng tho court had in view the arranging of a ba.sis of wages for the different classes of . workers—skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled —and then giving a bonus to meet the increased cost of living, and letting that bonua vary up or down as the cost of living rose or fell, and date it for six mouths. The object was to introduce some sort of uniformity. Mr Cookson, who represented the—.employers, intimated that he regarded the proposal as a good one. The President said that they would get the Government Statistician to select two average periods of six months each. Mr Stansfield (for the Farriers' Union) said it seemed perfectly fair. He thought it should have been done long ago. The -Hon. J. T. Paul, who represented several other unions, said that personally he would object to any system that would prevent an increase on the basic wage. The President said it would not. It would always be open to them to apply on the basio wage, but so long as there was an increase on the increased cost of living the varying bonuses would represent what they got in respect to that. Mr Scott: And at once. Mr Paul said he thought it would wotlc satisfactorily and fairly to all parties. Later, when the Furniture Trade Employees' application for an increase in wages came up, Mr Paul handed to the court a table showing the relative increase as between Dunedin and other centres. The table showed the following:

Wellington increase, 7 per cent.; Bunedin increase, 12 per ee.nt. The First and Last Year oi War: Combined Pood Groups.—Dominion increase: July. 1914 (1070) » to July, 1915 (1200)—130 points. Dunedin increase: December quarter, 1917 (1360), to December quarter, 1916 (1359) 199 points. Mr Paul, speaking on the subject, said that evidence could be given to prove that clothing had advanced over 100 per cent., not 50 per cent., and miscellaneous over 20 per cent., not ]0 per cent. . The labourers engaged stacking timber and packing furniture were receiving Is lid per hour plus 10 per cent, war bonus. He (Mr Paul) contended that it was a totaliy inadequate wage for any married worker with an average family. The union asked for Is 6d.

Mr Paul next touched upon the question of apprentices generally, and said that the practice of the court was that apprentices’ wages fixed at the beginning of the apprenticeship were not to be interfered with during the course of that apprenticeship. He urged that under the abnormal circumstances, largely created by the war, it was imperative that some relief should be given to the parents of apprentices. The cost of living affected apprentices as much as tile adult Everything that apprentices required had increased in price, and during the early years of their apprenticeship their necessities must be purchased by the parents. In the later years of the apprenticeship the wages increased, certainly, but they were still inadequate to meet necessities and help in the general expenses of the home. If the court could not grant relief the Employers’ Association, he thought, should reconsider the whole question in relation to the abnormal circumstances. Any decision the court had to make in the matter was reserved. A SLIGHT DECREASE. WELLINGTON, April 7. The Government Statistician’ is able to record a slight fall in the retail prices for the month of February. The Cost of Living index number for the three food groups (groceries, dairy produce, and meat) for February is 1522 as against 1553 in January and February. That number represents an increase of 42.24 per cent, over the number ii July, 1914. The index number and percentages of increases in the three food groups for the chief centres, comparing July, 1914, with February, 1919, are:—

xy uucuiix u-kjcutj tu.ui Although Wellington has the highest prices as revealed by the index number, its percentages of increase is less than that of Dunedin. This is due to the fact that retail prices in Dunedin were lower than in any other centre in July, 1914. The figures show that rents are higher in Wellington than elsewhere. AUCKLAND, April 5. A meeting last night of the National Executive of the Federation of Labour passed a resolution as follows protesting agaihs't the proposal of the Court of Arbitration to fix a basic wage for skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers: “In our opinion such a principle should not be accepted until the views of Labour h'V'O been ascertained at a national confereiico. Wo think the time is opportune for a national industrial conference to be held representative of employers and workers, at which the whole position of industry in New Zealand could be discussed and proposals formulated on many important matters, including wages, upon which up to the present the opinions of those engaged in industry have not been ascertained, and w«( ask the Government to call such a conference as early as possible.’-

Food Gkoups. Auck. Wcl. Dec. quarter, 1917 ... 1424 1435 Deo- quarter; 1918 ... 1581 1578 Chch. 1358 1532 Dun. 1360 1559 Inc7#ftSO ... 107 143 164 199 Dec. quarter, 1017 ... Dec. quarter, 1918 .. Rent. , 058 1281 . 995 1304 878 939 847 889 Increase .. ■Wellington increase crease, 6 per cent. 37 23 , 1.8 per cent.; 61 42 ; Dunedin inRent and Deo. quarter, 1917 .. Dec quarter, 1918 .. Food (combined). . 1245 1376 1174 . , 1326 1473 1299 1163 1302 Increasa .. 81 97 125 139

Index No. Increase. Auckland 1507 38.26 Wellington 1549 43.03 Christchurch 1480 . 41.09 Dunedin .' 1522 46.07