EXTENDED HOLIDAYS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VII, Issue 2143, 28 December 1920, Page 19 (Supplement)

EXTENDED HOLIDAYS.

POSITION OF BOOT OPERATIVES. Owing to the depression in the boot trade, factory operatives are having a holiday about 10 days longer than is - usual at this period. This extension, of course,, affects their wages. It is usual in the trade to close down at Christmas for two weeks, as, in the. ordinary course, retajlers' orders have' boen filled for several weeks. On this » occasion, the factories closed, from December 23, and they will not reopen until January 17. In Dunedin, factories closed irom December 16 to January 17.It is stated that the large importations of Australian footwear have greatly affected the boot manufacturing trado in the According to \ retailers, however, the major cause ia _ reduction in purchases on the part of the public. In any case, the manufacturing trado in pre War years had intervals of slackness. ''There is no reason to anticipate that factories will close down for a further period," said a manufacturer. "Indeed, retailers report <|uite an exceptional activity during Christmas week, and, although it is possible that, orders to the factories will be low until about April, the factories should be able to carry on all right." Prior to the holidays, many factory workers were working short time. Adult workers are paid by the hour, so that they naturally suffer when factories closo down. The Factories Act provides for tho payment of 'wages to females when factories are closed on ordinary working days, and the award provides for payment to "assistants" who have been employed for less than five years. However, a procedure that appears to have been almost generally followed in the present instance—it h&s also been followed on previous occasions—has been to pay off such workers, and to intimate that they will 1 be reengaged when the factory rcopeiA.