FARM LABOURERS' CLAIMS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13458, 3 December 1907, Page 6

FARM LABOURERS' CLAIMS.

THE CONCILIATION BOARD

SITTING AT TIMARU.

A sitting of the Canterbury Conciliation Board commenced yesterday, to hear the matters in dispute between the Agricultural Labourers'" Union and their employers. .The Board comprised Messrs W. Minson (chairman). H- Broadhead, G. Sheat, G. Whiting, and H. R. Rusbridge. Messrs J. Thorn, E. Kennedy, and J. Smith represented the Union," Messrs D. Jones and K. Evans the Farmers' Union, and Mr 3. D. Acland the Sheep-owners' Association. • ' v There were present in Court and seated in the jury box, Messrs J. Talbot and J. Wilson -(who had given evidence at Christchnrch), W. Guild,, J. Hay. R. W. and P. Mulvahill. THE UNION'S DEMANDS. The demands of the Union were as j follows: — .. Hours of labour: : Ploughmen, 6 a.m to 8 p.m. (meals, breakfast-, 7 to 7.30 a.m., at which time they will leave stables or camp; one hour and a half for dinner; the time to be taken from leaving -work stables to return to work), a ploughman to leave-off working his horse at 5 p.m. No otlier "work shall be done- except- to unharnete and feed his horses, and otherwise attend to them, after 5. p.m., but. lie'(shall not be compelled to groom his after that work. Day labourers, etc. :Eight and a half hours for the first five days of the "week, and four and a "half hours on Saturdays. General farm hands: The hours of labour to be nine per day. Harvesters hours shall bs from 7' a.m. to "7 p.m., with one hour .for dinner and a half hour for lunch both before and after dinner. Married couples : When the husband is working horses his hours shall be the same as ploughmen ; if required to do harvest work then the hours shall be those of a harvester; all other classes of work at the rate of forty-eight houis per •week.

Rates of wages: Minimum rates: Head ploughmen or timekeeper, 30s per week; ploughmen on level country, not less than 27s 6d-per week for four-horse team, and 25s for three-horse team, and 2s 6d per week for every horse over four; swamp ploughmen with six horses* 3cs per week, with 2s 6d extra for each hon-e over six. General farm hands, 27s 6d per "week, with board and lodgings. Day labourers, 7s 6d per -day. Casual labourers, Is per hour. Drainers, Is per hour, and if working in water. Is 3d per hour (gum boots to be supplied by employed). Harvest- wages: All men working honses during harvesttime on a farm or station, to be paid £2 15s per week, awrth board nd lodgings; stooking and forking in paddocks, £2 15s per week, or by the hour I 3 3d, with- board and lodging; stack r ing,. £3 per week, or Is 3d per hour, with board and lodging;. stackers' assistant, Is per hour, with board and lodging; day men. Is per hour, with board at the rate of 10s per week where neceesary Married couples (if both are required to work); Man 27s 6d per week; wife, if cook, 15s per week, for four men, 2s per week for each peason over four. and. if requested to bake £1 per week. Married couples to receive, free of rent, or other charges, a house, coal or firewood, and allowed to keep house and trap on terms to be arranged, which shall not- exceed Is per week. Shepherds: Head shepherd on plain or downs country (if married). £1 12s 6d per week: back or mountainous country (if married), £1 15s 6d per week; house, fuel, rations and feed for dog to be free of rent or other charges. 'Any other necessaries as per agreement. Head shepherds (single) same as above with board and lodging in lieu of house, etc. Undershepherds (single), £1 12s 6d per week with board and lodging; if married, £1 12s 6d per week, other conditions same as head-shepherds. Casual shepherds during mustering, lambing, shearing, etc., £1 15s per week with board iincf lodging, feed Tor dogs and hursts free of charge. Mustering on Sundays. Is jk.t hour, blusterers and packers in back or mountainous country to be paid £5 per week of jsix days and 10s. for Sundays, also feed for horses, dogs, etc., with board and lodging. Day musterers, lis per day: iemployers to allow one day's pay for travelling from laist place of employment and 5s lor expenses. Threshers: The wages, hours and conditions of harvesters shall apply to one working a threshing plant.

Holidays: The following to be allowed : —New Year's Day, Good Friday, Kas-t-er Monday, day of local sports. Labour day. birthday of ruling Sovereign. Christum.} Day. Boxing Day. one week each in November and May. all at full pay. and a half holiday on Saturday (except during harvest). Overtime: Day labourers Is per hour, harvesters Is 3d per hour all time worked before 7 a.in. or after 7 p.m. Boys—To be paid not lti-.s than 17s 6d per week with an increase of 2s 6d per week every six months until they receive field wages. Xo boy under 16 years of age to be allowed to take charge of or work a team of morp than two bor ct i;. Hoy* not to bs allowed- to do wcrk before or after thi tim? allowed for other farm workers.

Accommodation

All sleeping accum

modation to be properly ventilated and kept in a sanitary condition, and each individual shall have the. same air as is now allowed under the Shearers Act, 1898, The dining-rooni shall be a separate room from the sleeping apartment. Each worker shall be allowed board, soap, and candles or lamp; men to have the choice of baker's bread when .Where m?n cook their own food they shall be allowed 5s per week extra. Preference : Preference of employment to be given to members of the"" Union. Contracts: No work covered by these conditions to b * let by contract. The chairman on ppenfng- the sitting announced that the sitting at Pleasant- Point had been dropped, and the witnesses from that district must be brought into. T.'maru, Geraldine, or Wahnate. Mr Thorn, called upon to begin, immediately called, Mark Antony,. Alford Forest, a 6 a "general rotKeaboui, shepherd, must-erer. every thing"—had" been on farms and stations all his life; all round competent man at everything on a farm or station. Had read the conditions-demanded. Had been been paid £2 a week for mustering, alspi 10s a day, 7s 6d for wet days, nothing for Sundays'. On the hills it- w.-.J very rougli work. Miist have four dogs .worth £3O. They will not last more than' four years on the hills, then must get- new ones. The demand for 10s including ; Sundays, and lis for odd days -was not too much. The mustering on. the hills was'dangerous, and there were no comforts': mutton and bread for breakfast, and bread arid mutton for a change in the evening., Had been a shep-. herd for fifteen years at 25b and 27s 6d a week and found. A man must- know his business. £1 12s. 6d on plain and £1 15s 6d on the hills was little enough.,. Sixteen years ago was ploughing. Got 30s a week on Lowcliffs, and. 25s and 27& 6d' on the plains, for a foui-hoEse-teajn. Nowadays a farmer could work much cheaper with the newer appliances. Worked long hours then, with looking after horses; but 8 hours .at. the plough. The hours demanded were reasonable. Believed in preference to Unionists, and a bureau would save the. employers trouble. To Mr Kennedy : Mustering would be carried on, wet or dry,' go long as there was no fog- Sometimis. had" to stay out 'in the wet. In time that -would hurt a man. The accommodation was' more' like dog-kennels than hu,ts; no bunks; . sleep on the floor; no facilities. Had lost dogs, by breaking their legs, and the employer did not give any compensation. A mus-t-erer must have a good stick._ Two years ago a young man lost his life at Mesopotamia. They often had to muster on a. Sunday, and musterers should be 'paid for Sunday work. To Mr Smith: Is an hbur was too little for draining, and 27s 6d a week was too little for general farm work, and 7s 6d a day. 25s a. week for an r odd week was now the usual thing. The demand for harvest 'wages was not too high. As a rule had been paid £3 a week for stacking. There's no easy work on a threshing mill. -

To Mr Acland : Was "a native of Nelson. Had been 16 or 17 years, off and on, mustering, on C.ent Hiils; Mesopotamia, and Lake Heron, last about c-wo years ago. Had since been on the plains. Used to get £2 a week and found. 'Did not think musterers wages had risen of late years. The last work he did was at £3 a week at Lake Heron. Was at present woolscouring. £3 a week was too little for rough hill country, as bad as working in a shingle pit. Witness .was asked regarding accidents, and he mentioned* four, and the skinning of his own hands. As to the value of dogs, a pup was worth 4s Or ss, and the employer found feed for them Ihey must be trained : in work. Had made a few bob out of dogs,' but had lost- monjy Thought the employer should pay for dogs killed at work. Did not see that he should pay, his employer for feed. The shepherd had all the trouble of training them. " Dog feed free" was one of the demands. Had never known a man to be charged for feed. The huts were not taken care of. There were bunks in some of them. Mesopotamia was the beet of the lot. At Clent Hills there were some bad ones, very dirty from sparrows getting down the chimney. At- Mesopotamia the manager, MacMillan. used to sleep in them.- The conditions- were not so good now as 20 years ago. A musterer should get- £3 a week at least, for the five to tsven months job. Boots wore out in five or six weeks, with continual renailing. Some musterers were young fellows of 20. The food was unsatisfactory iriV the mustering camps, but it. could not be improved ; and they did not look for it. because in most cases the food had to be packed. At this stage a telegram was received and read by the chairman from Judge. .Sim, pointihg out that as the Legislature had provided for accommodation for farm labourers, it was unnecessary, for the Board to deal with this question, and the inquiry thereon should be dropped. Witness continued: A good deal depended on the packer, whether the musterers were well looked after or not. The other conditions were perhaps not inprovable; but the wages were. A musterer ought, to be- paid for going and coming, if he had to go, any distance, losing time. Had never been a head shepherd, but had looked after a place on his own. It would not, be possible to do mustering by the hour. Th? witness was examined about dutitrt of shepherd—"mothering lambs," lifting ''cast" eheep—and Mr Acland suggested that these were not hard work. Had not been refused a holiday

except when busv. Believed in preference to unionists. The -employer should send to ilie bureau in ; Christ-church for one. He admitted that musterers did not live in ths towns. When in charge of sheep had engaged men, -but got* them at- A&hbuiton: there was no need and therefore no sense in going to Christchurcli for them. Did not believe in workmen taking contracts for gorse-cutting for ir.stance. If ad done draining by contract. - Would not like to have the chance of doing such wmk bv contract If there were any unionists out of. work, would not allow farmers to help ona another. Had not come to Timaru of his own accord; was subpoenaed to come. ' Mr Jones said the witness had spoken cniv of mustering, very little of farming; th« only point was that some men needed constant supervision. He asked whether such men should not be allowed to work by contract, to save supervision, and the witness said no.

Witness,' to Mr Thorn: It was only an .odd one that needed looking after. Probably a contract let to a swagger because he was not expected, to earn- wages, would be let at-a. lower rate than .to a, good man., 1 •* ' .Mr Thorn went briefly into "the question of ' mustering. Lifting cast sheep, said the- witness, was hot'always child's work, as sometimes sheep that had been down long had to be held up till they got the uee of their legs. . Returning to contract work,.'Mr" Thorn led the witness, to say that if a man made, more than wages it would be by working, long hours., 'To Mr Sheat: Would not allow /farmers to co-operate, helping • one • another, if there were unionist workmen idle.

To Mr Rusbridge: Thought a workable, scheme to/; give preference could be. worked out. ' ■ ■ F. Orlowski, Ttmuka, ploughman, 23 years of age, and of I' 3 or 14 years experience, 4 years in Temuka district, said he' had : been accustomed to go out .to plough at 7, knock ofl ! at 5, get lioiiks in at 5.30. and turn them out at .8, and take a turn at the horses on .Sundays, for 22s 6d a week. Those; hours were too long. The demands were about right- 27s 6d a week was not too much, and the hours were long enough. Would rather walk than ride a plough.; lie had. never ridden one. ' A- five horse team meant more work than a four, in driving and looking after; them. • Had done soma camp ploughing at 22s 6d a> week, as head ploughman, living dri a oanip hut. Had to dp his own cook- ■ ing, but. got nothing extra for that, though he should • have done. -• The holidays should be fixed. , A man .gould perhaps get a holiday when he a-sk-ed for one, • but men did not like to ask. Those demanded were not excessive. Believed in preference 1 to unionists. There had been much dissatisfaction and discussion in Tenuika district-, about wages, accommodation and conditions of work, and mcst of. the meii had joined the union. (MiThorn said there were between 200 to 3CO members of the Temuka branch). Tin? farmers ; did not often, engage swaggers;; they went to "Temuka. for • men, or sent to Timaru, or even to Christchurch. Be- ; lieved a '-.bureau with branches could//be i successfully run, and' that, it would be a. 1 convenience to fanners, and it- would make it easy give preference to unionists.- Began work on a farm as./ a boy of 15, milking cows, and hillside plough-, ing. A boy who did • what he had to.'do ; would be worth 17s 6d a ' week. Had done no harvest- work except with teams. Th'e hours were long, and he! got a bonus of £7 for fix weeks. This was not fair pay for the extra hours. " The bonus should be done away with, and wages. increased. The casual hands at Is an hour earned more money. , , •Mr Kennedy led evidence as to. the clanger of setting a- boy to hillside ploughing. A plough was .rather easily capsized. r 1 ' I

■ To Mr Smith. Co'uM nob gee that-the Employer would be placed at a disadvantage by ..preference to unionists. To Jilr Jones : It must be- more difficult to drive five horses than four. He admitted, that the farmer would have to bear the Idi;s if a horse was killed.

Mr- Jones suggested that this: reduced the : ; ploughman's "responsibility" to a trifle. Mr Jon-cs went- on to ask the witness some questions about, his personal historv.' . ;. _

Mr Thorn objected that Mr 'Jones had no right 'to bring/up such matters. - A man . might? commit misdemeanours, . and still be" a good farmer or a good ploughman. • ; ;

Mr Jones said he had asked the questions to show "that- the. witness was a. second classi marl, and therefore did not get a first class man's wages. He would prefer not to ask for such evidence, but it was necessary in order, to show the. Board tire character of the evidence that was being brought. : -

Mr Thorn said ha wp at a very greatdisadvantage, because the meet of 'his best witnesses were away-;.- shearing. Mr Slieat> said that although it was painful to both the Board and the witness the evidence -should be taken as a teat of the value of other evidence given by the witness.

The chairman ruled 'that-''the evidence was admissible. •

Witness did; not- agree that .a man should give> up- the half holiday to make up for web days- Could not say that the Temuka Union •had gone through the; list of demantls- and studied them., one by one;, he had not done /so himself. In -a matter df such importance'affect-: ing 16,000 workmen, don't you think, asked Mr Jones, that you should have given some consideration to the proposals before taking part in an endeavour to/ enr force them? And 011 the witness saying that lie would not have, any contract work. Mr Jones suggested was "selfish disregard of "the other fellow," who i preferred contract work.--Mr Thorn explained that the schedule was drawn up by farm labourers and submitted to the branches of the Union, then in existence, and other' branches had been; formed since the demands were -filed, the Temukft branch being one of these. T'lie witness said he Irad looked) through the list of demands but he had not "thought out" the demand for preference to unionists. He, did not think it would ruin the farmers. n;

In reply to Mr ; Evans, lie said lie liad nob studied the proposals re hours of w-ovk. He hud not known of farmers discharging men just before the bonus became due: had heard of one case of. the kind. If wages were raised all the yearround in place of the bonus system, it woubrl not be faiir for the man to leave as harvest came on. IMr Evans suggested that there would ba a tendency to do 1 hat.) Witness did not ag-res that much t'me was lost by wet weather. He did not think the shortening of. ■ hours, the. weekly - half holiday, and oth.tr holidays, would tiake much time out of, the work/ : A man. must b& very careful, to save >£SCO on a. farm by the time he was 25. He would ba surprised if they could biing evidence that. ?b ha.d been done. The, man could not have bought - any clothes. A boy ought not to be given charge of four horses till h® had been "used to one or two. Did not agree t-liat a boy was very little use, even in a giirden, without some one to VVok after ,li:ih. A farmer should pay his sons wages, and these should join the Union - if they did not join they should not be employed, if a unionist could be gob. Mr Ac-land remarked that many small farmers went out to work, were they to join the union ?■ Mr Thorn said they must not, if they employed labour. Mr Ac-land said they did employ labour

, , TomejtSiines, as- well as. work loi pay themselves. Witness 1 , to Mr Acland : Had not studied the demands regarding married couples. Mr Acland said they had had no evidence on this point, and it was a rather difficult one for his friends. Mr Kennedy asked some questions regarding the conditions of life and work at ploughing camps, which included cooking; and much discomfort in wet. weather. To Mr Thorn: Had never been, allowed to loaf about- on a wet day. He had not been employed by ia farmer yet who made a wet day a holiday. Had not studied thei whole of the demands, but ha.l' those referring to ploughmen. To the Court: The danger to a boy with a team Jiarrowing was that lie might capsize the . harrows over the horses, through turning badly; lie had seen that done. Had heard a good deal of grumbling among the men . especially for the last threa months, since the union started. ' Martin D. Dunn, a. widower w'-.tn six children, farm labourer, Temuka district for 15 .'years, until twelve months ago, now 'working in Timiaru as a builder's labourer at 8s 6d a day, said he used to; work from 5.30 till- 8, being 8 hours out w'jt-h the- team. Got. 20s to 30s a weaky and was getting 26s when lie gave up a year* ago, for working a four-horse tenm. 27s 6d was not too much, was not enough. The hours' set down could be. W'H'ked quite well. Had done • contract ploughing, and made only 24s to 27s a week at it, and find himself. It had to be cut very fine to get- anything to do., 'The 1 employer did not make it up to a 1 living wage. Contract work involved too many bad bargains. ( Considered the hours and the holidays were fair. Did nob consider *a iharvest bonus of £6 was enough for the extra work. Would prefer the bonus system to be done away with and" wages increased, illie ,witness gave similar evidence to the- previous witness •-««' to ploughing camp conditions, and harvest work. iff would nob go back to farm work at the old rate. With his wife lie had bean a "married couple" on a farm, at £75, lie doing general farm work, Ills wife cooking for rive men (four besides himself) and doing all the house work. He had £65 from the same man j before")'his. wife came oh. At the sameplace they had .afterwards £Bl a year and 'fed themselves. The cla.fiis fdr married couples were reasonable enough. He ,iiad done some contract work, had made a good cheque at. contract harvesting, but more often than 'hot the result was poor pay. He once made 2s an hour at. chaffcutting, but that was exceptional. He believed most men gave a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, and even tor unfair pay. Would .not send any of his boys to farm work. Began himself to drive horses when between 14 iand 15, two, 'in a dray.- Boys -should not be expected to drive-bigger ..teams. To -Mr Kennedy, : Had done some ploughing by contract, the /.-farmer, finding the horses, ■ ploughs and feed;, but that \v-as/not' common. Xheae had been discontent in Temuka district for some yeais, but there was no- public expression of , it till the union came along. The farmer had -an advantage'- oyer the employee finding himself; the farmer could grow his own meat, - and get his own wneat ground into flour, while the ploughman had to buy his meat and bread/ Mr Kennedy elicited some evidence regarding' ths danger of hillside ploughing, and reaping, and 1 the difficulty and disagreeable worli of drilling manure/ on-a windy day.. A boy should net. be put to nuch work until ire was well ac-.j customed to hoises.-

To Mr Smith: Tbe keep of the; cow was not- 'worth very much a.v a privilege, or as an example-- to other empiojeu*, To' Mi" Aclaiid: 'lhe first married couples' place at £75 and iound was 16 years ago, In-o £!81 and:llintd t tlifcHiSv:lv<;fc» wa:> 2enued omy a lew ytaors ago. They had fii tree .huu&e,- tree fuel (tor . the g«Citiiig after- hours), teed for a cow, and i-oine potatoes. The wile had to- feed other men at Ilg a week, and 8d for odd meals. They made no profit out of. this. I.Mr Acland said that was iiut a main-ed couples' billet, in the ordinary ; .senile). Witness did not know that; station con-> tract cooks fed men at Ss a week, or 6d per meal. ' Bis employer, M l' Grant., charged him. foi; his-meals when he: went to tiie other farm, 'till he objected to it. ■■ ;

: Mr Aclancl suggested if;"series, pf arithmetical conundrums, based , on actual caces, to ascertain liow the' demand foi* payment to the workmen's'wife was to be worked out. The chairman at- length said the Board, would probably say 'iliat the conditions were meant to apply to i"work<men <?nlj*, and :Mr Acland—replied that the difficulty was that the family and the employees could not' be distinguished., He had tried to apply the scale to. actual cases, and he could not do so. v Mr Thorn, to save further discussion of the matter, said the union had to make a. deiiiand in some form, and if the demand peeded modification the Hoard would nodify it. Mr Kennedy said the demand was intended to apply to the employer, employees, and employers family. • The chairman said this point- had notbeen brought up, before, ancl it -would not be disregarded. ' • Witness, to Mr Evans: In the contract ploughing he did, got 2s 6d an acre for ploughing, two strokes of the harrow, and uriliing, for the labour . only. . It. was too lo wa rate. : If a man could make reasonable arrangements the contract- system might be all right, but there was too much cutting of ■ prices. Regarding lost time, had seen a good deal of time lostfor drilling and through rain and frcst. More time was last, on the down country from these causes. But there, was , always something ; els© to be done, carting aid what not. He had often eee-n meii sent out with te i ams in pouring rain.—Mr Evans : They're a hard lot down liere.) —Had seen men who- were very good with horses who were not much good at anything else, and vice versa. He would not- go back to a team again for the. old pay. He had never, seen a man who saved enough .t'6 start- on a farm. ,'|Y-ou know as well as I do;-how they ctid it.' They borrowed money and got a good year to start- with. They did not ga .if out of hard work." To ilr Jones; A -good ploughman was generally left to fix his own hours. He would prefer that the. hours were iixed. rather than that a man ft]) on Id have liberty to. make longer or shorter, dinner lio'ur according as the work was hard or easy. He had turned horses cut pretty regularly at 8 o'clock, but at 6.30 if In . Wanted to go to town. Mr Jones pointed-out'that the demands would takei away that liberty, and the liberty ploughmen now had to arrange .with one another to look after the teams iti turn would be gone. Each inan would have to stay on till 8 p.m.. the demands were making the position of the ploughmen more irksome as well as that of the farmer. ■ The witness salid there were compensations elsewhere, in the holidavs and other thing*. ' Mr Jones had not: completed his crossexamination when the Board adjourned it 5.10 p.in. till 10 a.m. to-day.