COST OF TRAWLING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 759, 4 September 1929, Page 6

COST OF TRAWLING

SEAMEN ASK BETTER CONDITIONS DISPUTE BEFORE COURT To keep a trawler at sea lor six days costs <£-50, and to pay expenses about IS tons of fish at IJd a lb. must be caught. This statement was made at the Arbitration Court yesterday, when the dispute between Sanford, Ltd., and its seamen was heard. Only two points remained outstanding between the parties, namely, hours of labour at sea and wages. Mr. S. E. Wright appeared for the employers, and the Seamen's Union was represented by Mr. T. F. Anderson. The following weekly wages were asked by the union:—Leading hand on deck (mate), £5 10s; deck hands, £5; fireman-greaser (where one man is carried, £5 10s; fireman-greaser (where only two men are carried), £5 ss; fireman-greaser (where three men are carried), £5; “peggy,” £2 10s. The union asked for hours of labour at sea not exceeding 4S. The class of vessel in question was the large sea-going type of between SO and 100 tons, such as used in England, said Mr. Anderson, and out of the crew of ten carried 011 each vessel, seven were affected in this dispute, four deck-hands and three firemen. The vessels were at sea six days at a time, and the bulk of the trawling was done in the Bay of Plenty. The interval of rest allowed the men was seldom more than two and a-half hours. Mr. Wright said several concessions had already been agreed upon. There were now- five breaks of 36 hours and three of 24 hours in each eight weeks. Arthur Wilson Brockie. manager of Sanford, Ltd., said it would not be possible to reduce the 60 ' hours' weekly period without actual loss. There was also the question of scarcity of fish, which made a change of grounds necessary. Up to a few months ago the company was exporting about seven and a-half tons of fish to Sydney each week, but at present the Sydney market was glutted. The fish exported were large-size schnapper from the Bay of Plenty, for which there was no local market. Copies of the company's balance sheet were handed in to show it was not in a position to pay increased wages. The count reserved its decision.