EXTENT OF CONTROL IN INDUSTRY

Southland Times, Issue 24237, 21 September 1940, Page 4

EXTENT OF CONTROL IN INDUSTRY

QUESTION OF SALARIES OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS (United Press Association) DUNEDIN, September 20. An instance of the extent to which control in industry is exercised by the Government is shown in a communication to the Dunedin City Council from the electricity controller 1 advising that any increases in salary to men receiving more than £4OO a year must be submitted to him for approval. The communication follows the council’s decision to give all its employees, whether governed by awards or not, the benefit of the general order - made by the Arbitration Court. Since the outbreak of war last year the electricity controller has been given a fairly large measure of supervision in the electrical industry and the powers vested in him include the right to govern the wages paid in that industry. Not only is the City Council affected, but all power boards and municipal councils in the Dominion, in fact, all branches of the electrical industry, come under his supervision Moreover, the necessity for obtaining the permission of the controller to give increase in salary to men earning more than £4OO a year applies to all increments to which such employees may be entitled. The City Council has not yet replied to the controller’s request as the matter has not come before the Finance Committee, which may submit the whole question to the full council. The council has had a previous communication from the controller on the subject of electrical control, but this apparently was not taken very seriously.