SAWMILL WORKERS

Southland Times, Issue 22295, 10 April 1934, Page 7

SAWMILL WORKERS

SOUTHLAND UNION MEETING OF EXECUTIVE. A meeting of the executive of the Sawmill Workers’ Union was held on Friday, April 6. The president, Mr Fagrell, presided over a good attendance of members. A communication was received from the inspector of factories, Invercargill, stating .hat he was making full inquiries into alleged breaches of the sawmillers’ agreement. - Several communications were received from members concerning their compensation on account of accidents that they had met with while employed at the mijls. They stated that they had only received payments on the actual time worked, and not on the average. The secretary was instructed to take legal action against those sawmillers who were not paying compensation on the normal week’s work of six days. The secretary furnished a list of members showing how they stand according to the union’s books. He was instructed to take legal action against those members who were not making an effort to pay off their back arrears. The secretary stated that he had filed an industrial dispute with the clerk of awards at Dunedin affecting all sawmillers south and west of the Taieri River and including Stewart Island. A copy of the union’s demands had been sent to each employer. The Conciliation Commissioner wrote stating that he had set down the hearing of the dispute for April 11 at 10.30 a.m. in the courthouse at Invercargill. Assessors were appointed to represent the union at the Conciliation Council meeting. Several communications were received from sawmillers stating that they were pleased to learn that the union was bringing all sawmillers in operation into the proposed agreement, as by the present agreement some were not legally bound, and, therefore, not compelled to pay award rates, which was unfair competition in the open market.

The secretary reported that at a sitting of the Magistrate’s Court recently held in Balclutha, Colin Stuart, sawmiller, Waiwera, was proceeded against by the inspector of awards, Dunedin, for several breaches of the Southland timberyards and sawmills industrial agreement, which included failing to keep proper wages and overtime books and failing to post a copy of the agreement up at the mill, and five breaches of the award for failing to pay the award rates. Inspector Johnstone prosecuted on behalf of the Labour Department, and defendant pleaded guilty to all charges. Dealing with

the specific breaches of the agreement, the inspector said that a lad by the name of Herbert Nicol, had received a wage of 5/- a day, in place of 7/-. Alex Ray, bushman, received 1/3 an hour instead of 1/6. John Lockier, assistant engine-driver, had received 1/3 instead of 1/61 an hour, and Charles Smith 9d an hour in place of 1/3. Defendant had made short payment amounting to £l5l in wages during the last six months, but there were other breaches involving much larger sums, which were' not being proceeded with. The wages were in fact in arrears to the amount of £4OO. In giving judgment the Magistrate said it seemed to him a bad case as the breaches had occurred over a considerable period, and more than one man was involved. He inflicted a total penalty of £lB 5/-. Robert Young, sawmiller, Greenfield, was also charged with five breaches of the industrial agreement, in that he had paid an employee named R. Waldren, head bushman 1/3 an hour instead of 1/B.}, the sum of £9 10/3 having been short paid. Another employee named J. Stapleton was paid 1/3 an hour in place’of 1/6. The amount involved was £ll 11/-. John Kerr, sawyer, was paid at the rate of 1/3 an hour in place of 1/101 arrears of wages amounting to £l2 2/9. John Nolan, breast bench worker, was paid 1/3 an hour instead of 1/9. Arrears of wages amounting to £l2 19/-. John Johnstone had been paid 9d an hour in place of 1/3, arrears amounting to £29. The total short-payments amounts to £B3 15/10. It was stated that not one of the defendant’s workers had received the award rates, but the arrears had now been paid. The inspector stated that the defendant with other sawmillers had agreed to the award without intending to keep it. They were selling timber at 9/- a hundred super feet when the payable price was considerably more. The Magistrate said that the effect of that sort of thing would be to put other sawmillers paying the award rates out of business. The defendant was fined the sum of £59 17/for all breaches of the award including costs.

The report was received and it was stated at the meeting that if legal proceedings were taken against the timber workers they would be liable to a heavy fine in accordance with the I.C. and A. Act, for working for less than the award rates. The secretary was instructed to write to the inspector of awards on the matter. A communication was received from a sawmill owner in the Catlins district inquiring what steps were going to be taken to compel those sawmillers in the Catlins district to pay the arrears of wages which the inspector of factories stated amounted to £4OO. The secretary stated that it was unlikely that the Department of Labour would take action against the defaulting sawmillers, but if any timber worker who was a member of the union took action for the recovery of arrears of wages, the union would do so. The sawmiller was to be informed accordingly. The secretary of the New Zealand Labour Party wrote thanking the union for forwarding affiliation fees, which he stated cleared the union to the end of February, 1934. Mr O’Byrne reported that he had visited the Western District and said that a large number of the sawmills were working satisfactorily, and most of the members were getting in fairly good time. In fact during his experience in the timber industry he had found mills on many occasions working less time than they were at present. The secretary stated that five new members had been enrolled and the sum of £27 5/6 had been received in members’ contributions since the last meeting, leaving a credit balance of £5.