THE SHEARING TROUBLE

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 11

THE SHEARING TROUBLE

UNION TAKING ACTION. COURT’S AWARD UNSATISFACTORY. Mr Steve Boreham, secretary of the Otago Southland branch of the New Zealand Workers’ Union, considers there vv 1 be trouble of a serious nature in the wool-producing industry unless sheep owners agree to pay last season’s rates to shearers a,l< i S i" hmuE- Mr Borehain on Saturday said he had that day received instructions from the head office of the New Zealand branch of the Australasian Workers’ Union, which were definite, and which, he was sorry to say, were not likely to be beneficial to the industry, which at this season could not be delayed for any length of time without causing serious loss to the sheep owners m particular, and to the dominion as a whole. Mr Boreham declared that the present position had been brought about by the inconsistency of the presiding judge of the Arbitration Court, and urged that Parliament or the Minister of Labour should take a hand in bringing about a settlement before trouble was upon us. As it was, he was afraid .the industry would suffer, no matter what was done, owing to dissatisfaction among the shearers. He knew of his own knowledge that dozens of them had left New Zealand for Australia since the award was made lie had replied to several members of tho union advising them of the pending trouble, and thex - , of course, would not return to New Zealand while it remained unsettled. Shearing in the Commonwealth went on practically all the year round, and as the pay was £2 per 100, equal to £1 16s in New Zealand, with a 44-hour week, as against our 47 hours and 47 minutes, it would be readily understood. that the shearers who usually came to New Zealand would prefer to put up with the warm weather in tho Commonwealth rather than come over here. The executive of the A.W.W. in all the Commonwealth Labour and other journals had published a manifesto warning all shearers to keep away from New Zealand. > It would, therefore, be seen that there was no time to lose in arriving at a settlement, otherwise tho industry was bound to suffer. Mr Boreham declared he would not shear under the award, which offered shearers a premium to go slow. If a man shore 109 sheep he was paid 25s 9d. If he shore only two sheep he was paid at the rate of £5 10s sd, and if he shore 10 sheep lie was paid at the rate of £2 18s 4d, with 2s 2d per day bonus. The faster ho turned the sheep out up to 100 tho less he was paid. Surely this was tho most unique and unsatisfactory award ever emanating from the New Zealand Court! He had always stood bv the court as a medium to settle industrial disputes, and still was of opinion that some such institution was preferable to the strike weapon, but he certainly had expected that the court would stand-by its pronouncement of May last and at least prove its consistency by granting last year’s terms. Certain unions, when refused a bonus at the last sitting in Dunedin, accepted the decision without a murmur, feeling confident that the court would treat any set of employers in the same way should an application be made in the other direction. Imagine, then, the shock when the court, or at least his Honor, granted the wealthiest set of employers in the do minion practically all they Oslo d for. Under these circumstances, he felt confident that the fair-minded people of New Zealand would forgive them for the action they proposed taking, in order to demonstrate their utter and complete want of confidence in the Arbitration Court as at present constituted He had read that several branches of the New Zealand Farmers’ Unions had carried motions in favour of scrapping the Arbitration Court and going back to tile old system of individual bargaining, but the chances of that system coming in again were as remote as Halley’s comet. Sooner or later, however, the court would have to go, in order to make room for more up-to-date machinery for settling industrial disputes. SHEARERS' STRIKE NOT PROBABLE. Mr James Begg (president of the Otago Sheepowners’ Union), after seeing the views of Mr Boreham. published above, has supplied the following:

If Mr Boreham fears trouble in the shearing industry he should do his best to present it instead of doing his best to make trouble. I agree that the award of the court is not a good one. Its fault is that the rate fixed is far too high considering the state ©f the industry. Mr Boreham has asked the shearers to strike as a protest against the award. The shearers won’t strike; they are far too sensible and loyal a body of men. Discontent is practically confined to the union officials, actual and prospective. Shearers are engaging freely at the award rate, and shearing will be carried through successfully even though Mr Boreham devotes all his time to writing for the newspapers instead of coing shearing as usual. A spot ial meeting of shearers and sited hands, eft!led by Messrs h. Hansen and R. Tutaki, oigamV' rs of the New Zealand "Workers' I’nion, was held in the Grand JI ©tel. Hastings, on Saturday afternoon, 68 pakeba and Maori shearers and shed hands being present (say* a Hastings. Dress Aswx-iation teicgr.: rn). The Arbitration Court's award was di.-cussed and the following resolution carried unanimously:---“That this meeting of shearers and shed hands stands by the decision of the executive of the -New Zealand Workers’ Union in rejecting the Arbi raiinn t.%nut’s award, end demands last year’s rates.’’