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SLAUGHTERMEN'S WAGES.

LNJJ OF 'JUL SJIUKL THi, NIAV UOMMJiOMs Ilia >-lillvß of the shiugblei men be ng ended, the killing boaids at bmithheld and I'aiejiJ. lull, it v.is> expected un batuidaj, again occupied h} the e\ neiL shuigli eimen ihia nioining Acci id ing to the agieement come to .it Chnst chuich the men weie to st it wolk again this morning At e nil of the woiks theie weie ,il woik last week sixteen 01 eighteen. Hum who hid taken to the work dining the stuke, Mime fen of whom had kdled »heep befuie, and all Mill bo le tamed if thej cue to stin on. The piosecutinn of the shiugliteimen of Paieoia ,tnd J-'inithheld J).us been b\ laiioiis unices, but it is m of execution 'J lie summonses foi all the men weie to on SiUndiv U> bi\e the date of heanng hllel m'by the Uleik of An aids, who will then issue the •■uinmoi.-.es Hie Ci/nui piosecutoi, Mi J. W i White, sent up 48 ci ations ag mst .Smithiield men, and 44 against Paieoi.i employees In a chat with one of the "-laughteinien on Sa'uiday, a. "Heiald" lfipoitei a<-cei tallied lh,it the local men have allowed the v c ,se to be rledt villi bj the officials of the Union .it Chiistchuicb, and so com p'eteh that fliey left a'l idet.uls to Uiem, and did not know un'il ihev s"iw (he lesults in the newspaper, how the negotii turn* we'e going He was pleaded tint iho 1 ites of \ws had been laised; lie wishel thej hid }iut pot eis out of l alii gethei lie did not like potteis nine of them did—Jmt he ill moie pleased, he said, that tliev had got then liouis fi\ed defini eh They would know noj« when the doVs wolk Mould b° o\ ei and when hey could ge' home They would not be callel upon to woik lill late at night as they had been Miinetimes Jt ■no/? ihat nold "exigencies that c used the tiouble The ccnipanies said they would accept Hie boms asked foi by the men befoie, and then they put thatwoid "exigencies" into the agicemen I —the lule "bout \lh ms must give w iv to the e\ igenties ot the bu J ress. That, and othei provisoes that thej put in without the concmren.ee <>f the men luid been ihi cause of complaint <ll along '' Outsideis " said anothei, ' maj have thou "lit iha Ihe stnke was detei mined on all of a --udden, but it was not so It had been fuelling foi some time Some days the Jir of the slaughterhouse was electric w i h disaffection Then it would seem to be diopped foi" a, few days, rid we might,think that nothing would come out of it aftei a 1! Then something would -stait the talk again, and once the dilleient woiks began to coinmmiKatc witli one anothei, theie was \eij little ihance of ..voiding a lumpus " THE NEW AGREEMENT

The teims of the new j.gre o meiit jirele published in Satv.nl y's issue, but a woid or two of explanation may be useful, and for Me aie indebted to Mi Watkms foienun butcher, at Paieoia. The killing rates have been .id\.mced fioni 2Cs to 25s foi fieezeis, fiom 15s toi 201 for preseiver-i (sheep not good enough to fiee/e, but good enough to ho,\e the ilesh shipped off ihe bines foi c mmng), and from 12s 6d to 18s foi poleis (sheep wl/ose caica.ses ale s P i • whole to the manuie digesteis) i c v. ords in this clause, " Sheep killed bv piece w oik as. at pu/./led a good many people, as all sheep aie killed by piece woik The passage f-hould have letd '"••hop sheep,' and it lefeis to sheep killed at Belfast Pan field as the aba'toirs fur Kaiapoi and Ash buitoii -lespeetively It not apply to either Hiniihheld oi Paieoia, . i they do not kill foi .shops Sjieep me hi'led at Islington foi ihe Chnstchuuh Meat Company's shops in (Jhnstchuich : but those aie killed bv men paid by the dav £)ne of ihe points in dispute w .s the manner of "-kiiiinrg " tnt er ' The mil ten agreement says the men aie to "take off *km ■ind o)ink< with wool piece" The " Li ttelton Times" *ajs (he meji aie "lebevel of 'lie skinning of tiotteis and of the necessity foi the dangeious 'coik sciew r cut" The " Pics"' states that one Union man «aid thev wcie "going bick to Ihe coiksciew cut " TJie " Pre=s ' adds that (his is inconect. foi "the dreaded coikscrew cut hr*> been abolished. ' Tlieie appeals to be, tome fuither definition oi dnection lequned to make the agreement clear * Ihe' 'Xjttelton limes" says the men have been relieved of (he skinning of tiotteis Mr "Wall ins told oi.i lepoitei 'that the cut Jus been abibJied, yet the men 'till have to skin (he tictteis but tliev w iIL do it in a ditfeient n jV. m'r- waymouth ixii.ryii:wkd " llr Waymouth, managing dnector of the Canteibuij* Fio"en' Meat Conip ny, was in Timaru on Satuiday af einoon and *>pored a, few minutes foi a talk with a "Heiahl'' reporter,. The statement of the leinis of agieemenl. published on, Saturday hjs, he s id, ooriecI', 1 ', and he had veiy little to add Ito it, except that both companies 'would gne everj encourage ment to the men j\ho had been taken on duung the sliike, to lemam and be come pi (fluent >ll)ey must, of couise, accept tl>e s ime pay a> the otheis, but thej -would he allowed to woik outside the even tally nile. • Supp-osing a nun could only 3<ill the f >heep an hour, he would be" able 'to e.ufl 9s or 9s 6d >i dtij— not bid foi a beginuei It would not signify whethei they weie membei > of file. Union oi not "' The piefeience to unionists' lule would not apply to them, because when they weie'taken on there were no unionists available, and the l.vw does nQt lequiie non unionis's alieady em 'ployed to be diim.is-.ed to. .nuke room foi unionis's Both companies: Yrill insist upon the letention of these A oi as many of J -them a.s care "io" and try to become efficient the agreement come to, Mi Waymouth said the companies had concerted the men's demand regarding houi . mlh ,a compiomise m the direction of elasticity Instead of a haid-and fast rule to knock ofi at six, lhej weie to stop at five, bub if lequired to complete a cut out, the men may be asked t'i kfl thiee more sheep each, or the on a Satmday. or the eve of a holiday Iliat meant that the men -kquM always be, finished by 5:15 oi 5.20 Certun. points were left for consideiation duung off season, theee being Ihe piov lMi.n of a pen for each two men with a pen dooi for each man, and (he piovision of a diessmg loom for the men Asked whether there had been much tnmp'.nnl nr cause foi' complaint of loss thiough the stuke b\ faimeis ii Nrrth Canterbuiv, Mi Waymouth "-aid theie had been a few i in which men in keep nig sheep, h,id had to sacrifice feed that but for the stuke thev would have found other use for He knew of no case of bos m the Pan field d>stnct ard in the Belfast tlistuct only lluee faimers had made anv complain 1 - On the othei hand lie had 'letter mnumeiable from farmeis Hi nkino the crmpany foi taking the fiun ,'and thev h.al done We have had a v en tivinn; month, vad Mi Wayinoi'th but the sluke is settled, v and we intend, so fai as we aie ton ceincd, to let bygones except that we aie deteimmed to/ give e\eiv pos sible chance to those who have helped as when 'he otheis VARIOUS OPIXUIXS. A "Heiald" lepoitei, wdio spoke to •-eveial fai-mcis weie in town on Hatm day, found them pleased that the stuke -.wis ended, but not neailv so pleaspd iili it"- close as thej i\£ie indignant at its bj L'lii/nng rUiiu had fallen in the meantime '• The strike put a lot of money into ray pocket," said one "I was pending a lot. of ewes to be boiled down because I could not keep them any longei—so fai as I could "-ee The strike came I had to keep (hem. and now, justeal of h ilf a

crown,. I'll get 12s 6d for them." Strike and rain together"were all right," said another, "'ihe Strike without the -,1-ain would lnivejieeh ruinous. With the rain, it has not signified much;" A third and fourth had not lost by the strike, they had just before got all, their fat lambs put Another had lost fomeiJiiiig, because), though he had bold his flit ltiiitbs just 'before the strike, he could not get 'tlwm away, and they remained on the fa'riii eating feed that ha wanted fo,r fattening;-others. And the: price of stores had; gone up a long way since ho was in a pcidtion to' buy if the la-nibs he had sold -had' been taken away. •

Jake it ahogethei ' -aid anothei ' the di-tnct has not lost l)j ihe cessation of wolk Quite otlieivisc indeed foi it the men had'not knocked, off work there would haie been a good many ewes killed ofi that we cant well spate Theie l- a lot of old ewes that ought to b; lotted, but in the diought they weie tending good a>- well .'i s womoiit ewe-, to hi boded down The stake stopped tin'—not soon enough, more's the pitj - and then the mm mide it In the saeet omel'atlon geneially tluie was an unanimous hope that the tiouble was dchuitecly and finally settled Theie was fbseiiaule no, small degie* of 15m pdhy with the men's demands, coupled with ■-tiong (ondemna ion of then method of cnfonmg them The hiboi lousnes'-, di--conifoit, and iiltlnne>s of then woik, the d.irgei of curs, blood poisoning and«pi«un>, the niegulaiity of employment, the big liofiti ot the companies, weie m ntioned ,u luiMHis foi '-laughteiing being well paid foi, and the opeiatives bung consideiately ti uted But foi srnking, foi the coutse of one of the most liupoi t.iht so that the dispute was felt all over the dislnct, the £5 fine was thought too «niall a penaltj "These men ought not to bu\e anothei chance," said some, if they could hi done without; unfoi tunateh thev cannot." THI, SLATjGIiTFRMKVS WORK

How long does it take a man to be come an expeit butchei' This is a question which lias been a good deal ills cursed dunng the pa'-t tluee weeks, and thoke who know- most abou* it as'-ign a jeuod that to ollieis '•sems a -\en long t'me Mi foiem.m butchei at Taieoia, nui be assumed to be one of tho'-e who loiow, and ho s.ijs th<it the aieiage leal net takes a couple of jeais to become leallv cfhcieni. Some, of ouise, pick it up much quickei than that, some .11 e too clum-y to [)id( it up at all One of the '-mitliheld "-laughteimeiij an e-vpeilenced hand, also put the peuod of piactice for piohuency at two jeai 1 - The litter, who In also a <heaiei, put the two callings on a pal in ie»pect of the tune ieqinied to become expeit

Asked which is the haidci voik, he said hi was scaicely dble to Sl3 They weie about equally hard if one woiked his boldest The sheaiei always woiked hard, because, each man nas "on his oin," whacas the butcheis hud di ranged to make even tallies The evpeitr theiefoie aid rot woik their hauled, while tlie iuweie iu>ked to keep up, it the pace was ma le a fan one foi thi best men A sheaiei, he said, had to be a bit of a mechanic, in ruder to nuclei stand how to keep his shedis, 01 machine, a.s Ihe may b3, in good older. Both "-beam and laugnteimen needed a light quirk hand as -vvell as a i-tiong aim. Willi eveiy stroke of the shears theie inv a chance of a mistake, of cutting the fleece or cut ting the "-km And in skinning a .sheep theie* v.ib dangei of cuts, in skin, c<u a*-e, and one's own fingeis, and, e-peu ally m wet weather, n k of <-oibng the cucase bj letting a sloppy and duly ileece tome in contact with it And that meant a stain that could not be washed nil Compelling the li\o callmgv, he unsileied the s <he noi-l Mcir-v a nun had bejii a '■hearei all his lift, but -\cn few lurl stuck to Some found it too haid, moie found it 100 di-gushng, md not more than a thiid of those wno tued it made any attempt to stick to it Dven after tuo or thiee jtais ot it i-ome men found the peipetual smell ol blood and intestines sickening Then it was surk a wet }ob a? the best, m fine weathei, and in wet wea hei, with wet and muddy sheep to deal with it was wrise A man had to be eleinally wash mg 'ns hands to staining the meat with mud oft the fleece Then theie ■v,\i ithe waiting about m wet ilolhu The sheaiei liad none of that He had to \>ait m wet weatjiei, but he waited in the hut, dij and comfortable "Tjieie's nothing mit If theie was, it would liot be mi h.nd to get men when Uiev'ic wanted "

Some incmbais of the Agncultuial As s o ciation, while waiting foi their meeting on f-'atuidaj afiemoon, discussed some of the pios ciiicl ecus of the slaughteimen's Cii>e. It l\as admitted tli«ut oome parts of th-* sl.mghtei in en's -work ib hearty, especial]; the hoisting of sheep on to the hook, but it nas said th.it- they „ l ->rork two and two to help one another in that lifting One speakei --aid that man had had to go to the hospital, injured "by frying to lift he ivy sheep single handed ' And then came eoiiip.ui oris with the "lumping" of and accounts of men loading draj,-. vil h *acks of w he.it single handed, a much moie labonoiis task than killm'g <disep, m cludmg* the "lift" And the perfoimeis wue delated to bv small men, too—uot big men at any One fanner who had beeT mside the fleecing noiks wondered that they weie not fitted with hoists to lift Ihe slieep

IHE MEN IN COURT Per Press Association. CHIUSTCHURCH, Maich 16 Mr Justice Coopei, 'at llief Supieme Court this moining, with the cases of the sliughteimen against whom the La boui Department I}esiteid>iy 1 }esiteid>iy seeuret] ttnts ot .rt.uhment m default "of-the payment of fines inflicted by the Albitiation fjouit ~Sh Stringer said the men had ' made satisfaetoiy arrangement'? for the payment of (he tines, and in consequence he had dnected the Sheiill not to pioceed with the writs. * His Honom said that the Department had taken the light course in bringing the niattei befoie the Court The iud,j nient he had giien hid been ,i general one. Thit, in his opinion, would ; estab lish the fact tint the Aibitiatnn Act was eflective, and that the penal clauses could be applied to all parties who had disobe\ed the oidei of the Arbitiat'oil (.Joint It was well that ihe public, should vn deittand that all clashes of pel ons iihi came within the scope of the Act. ahd who (onunitted bleaches, wcie liable if they did not comply iuh the ouleis of the Comt "Tt is well." said h's Honoui, "that this should bo geneially known both In workeis and employers" The inaclimeiT of the Act is effective foi the pmpose of enfoic ng due compliance with its piomsioiis I am >eiy glad the mat tei lias been settled because it w ti>ild b.o e been mip'easant to li e committed a bodj of men to piison ' S \'USF \CJUOX IN, t lIBISICHL'KCU Thcie is a gcneial feeling of satisf.ic tion in the cili that the tumble between ihe meat companies and the slaugliteiinen Ins been settled Ihe men ceased wo.k on Fcbiuaiy 261 hj, and lme been neail} tiuee weeks on' stnke The < oinp.u.ies the pioducei - ,nd the men themsehp-, h,i\e siifleied ir>< i m eniencp and las-- The companies h.T\ p been unable to de.il with Jin I lung like the noiiiill number of stock, tn'd the fa T meis h..\e been compelled to hold stock lh.it should ]i,i\e been sl.iugh teiel The ipeit counting the loss in wayes and lines foi stnking, h.ne about £2o' each.

'the men .ie either paying 1 lie fines, or nuking auaugemeiUs tu pay them b\ instilments of.-£l per week. All will .stait winlv on Monday illuming. IM.KM'Y OF WORK AHKAD. Now lli.il the Mi ike has ended, uiy Luge quantities of stock will, fwmi Mou d.iv (iiiu.inK. be fm warded to ilie Ucl fast iind Islington freezing works. ;iud tlin r.icloiics will be kept very busy for some time to tome The Cmteibniy Fiu/en Meat Company, piopiielor.s of (be Bel fa--, winks, b.ive been .ul\i-ed tli.it 50,002' sheep will be doliveied at the works ahno.st im mediatelv.

To the Editor of the " Thnaru Herald." Sir,—l see tlie men are standing out haul and fast for the £1 ss. per 100. It is more manly to do that than trot out home of the 'twaddle some of them aie making use of. One of them wants a dieting loom. Ihe next thing they will want is a boy to wait on them, and lounges all lound tiie' dressing room, and tooth blushes and tooth powder, seats, brackets, etc.. to hang their clothes on. 'He is a pioud gentleman who will not drive ;< mil in to hang his coat on. Another one twitted out the time it took to grind their knives ; -well a quarter of a minute will do that any time. They say the Company has no eo'nsideiation for the men. the men have shown si Jot of consideration for both their employees and the firmeis. 1 think a man ought 1o bow a little to the bush lie gets shelter from, but we arc living in ,-i time when they will chop that bush. ■.down. I do not think you would hear such' l tibbisb from a man who had b°eu anxiously looking for a day's work 30 or 40 ye.us airo, but times are changed now, the workinir man is boss now and a gieat tyiant. I think the fleecing Compinics deserve the greatest credit the way they have held their own against the- River Plate and Australia. Now they have got worse than eithtr at their own door, .mother wold',: The men talk about the hard woik; it is not sis hard work i.s shearing and not half as hard as navvving. and twice a-, well paid as the latter. 'Then' they talk about the danger from cuts ; the companies cannot be resnonsible for an awkward worknnn. T know butchers who can kill quantity and quality with anyone, at either Smithfield or Pareora, and'never cut themselves, but a lame .excuse is better than none at aJI. I .am. etc.. FAIR PLAY FARMER.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19070318.2.47

Bibliographic details

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13237, 18 March 1907, Page 7

Word Count
3,220

SLAUGHTERMEN'S WAGES. Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13237, 18 March 1907, Page 7

SLAUGHTERMEN'S WAGES. Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13237, 18 March 1907, Page 7