SEAMEN'S WAGES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14660, 30 January 1912, Page 7

SEAMEN'S WAGES.

PRECIS OF THE AGREIS.UENT. DETAILED RATES. PREFERENCE TO UNIONISTS A copy of the agreement between iho Federated Seamen's Union and the shipowners of New Zealand lnus now boon made available lor publication. WAGK-i. Wages are fixed as follows: —Boatswain, £9 per month; quartermasters, £8: lamp-trimmers, £8; lamp-trimmer nnd ablo seaman, .£!); able seamen, £8; ordinary seamen (.13 years and over), £0; ordinary soarnen (under 18 years), £5; donkeyinen (four-hour watches), £11; donkeymon (six-hour watches), £l2; fireman (four-hour watehos), £10; firemen (six-hour watches). £11; greasers (four-hour watches), £10; greasers (six-hour watches), £11; trimmers J four-hour watches), £8; trimmers nix-hour wntclies), £9; storekeepers, £10; storekeeper and groaser (fourtour watches), £10; storekeeper and greaser (six-hour watches), £ll.

Overtime rates: —Eoating cargo in roadsteads. Is 9d per hour; working cargo, Is (id per hour; cleaning, chipping, and scaling inside bailers, cleaning backs, tubes, and uptakes, Is 6d per hour; other classes of work. Is 3d per hour; ordinary seamen, for all clasps of work, oxcept boating cargo. Is per hemt. It is also provided that where vessels leave port on a Sunday or holidny an extra day's sea pay is to be granted. When o vessel is employed on an excursion or special work on » Sunday or a holiday each member of the crow shall he paid Is per hour for llio time the shin is so employed, with a minimum payment of 4s. Any men .actually employed :it. work while the v.-'.'el in in port, either heloro or aftfT tho excursion, shall bo paid overtime at schedule rates for the time so employed. Tf tho excursion includes any of tho main ports, the extra day's pay shall not he payable in nodition to the payment provided for the excursion. Provision is also rnndo in the agreement for the payment of overtime rntes for shiftinc s'hip at ui<?ht, each shift to aft occupying nt least one hour if less than that time "has actually been worked. "latktur AT SEV.

Hours for dci-h hands: Watch and watch of four hours each, or by day work, ns may be required by t-lio employor; but after 30th June, 1912, tho Jiours of labour at sea, for deck hands employed in intercolonial and South Pacific Islands, passenger and cargo steamers, -which carry nino or more inou on deck (exclusive of boys), shall bo not raoro than eight in a. day, to be worked as may bo required by "tho employer. The hours of labour of firemen, Greasers, , !n <l trimmers, wonting fourhour watches at sea, shall ho watch iiiid watch of four houra on and eight hours off. except when vessels are under reduced steam, when portion of the crew may be employed on day wotlc, if considered necessary by tho chief engineer. On small steamers and vessels nmJimr; short trips, hours of labour are fired at watch and watch of six hours on and six hours off, with the usual minor exceptions relating to work connected with the safety of tho ship, ■mooring and unmooring, etc. IN POUT. For dock hands and stokahold and engine room employees hours in put are fixed at eight, between 7 a.m. ;,ud 6 p.m. Theso hours are olao subject to tho usual exceptions. On Sundays and holiduys in po-t, the seamen shall (unless for overtime payment) bo freo from labour, except tho washing of decks or tlie locoriVuig of tho ship between 7 a.m. and 8 h in. The hours of any Beaman a"bia;r-as nightwatchman in port shall ba J>om 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. For acting as mthtwatchman, he shall bo (jraated U(ht working hours off in port on the next day, if it is no.t a Sunday or n lioli-lr.y. If he docs not get eight hours off. he shall ba paid an extra sum of fcs. For short or broken watches Is |.er h< vr. If required to asist in shifting ship an extra sum of Bci for each suits. When an author watch is 'Copt be~ iwcon tho hours of 5 p.7u. and 7 a 7jl, (he mon so engaged shall lx> pnid overtime at tho rate of Is per hour ■or an equivalent time allowed off in port. . HOLIDAYS. Holidays agreed to are: New Yc.'.r's Day, Good Friday Easter MotuViy, Sovereign's Birthday, Labour Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing I'Jny. If any of tho following holidays be spent wholly- at sea, each sea-man Fhall

ho entitled to a day off ashoi*o at the homo port within one month rher 5 I'.-.or, or to an extra day's sea pay. The holidays are : —Christmas Day, Hosing Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday, and Eastor Monday.

Whenever any vessel arrives at her terminal port on tho i'ay before,, cr prior to 10 a.m. on Saturday, and :s to remain in the same |iort till after t ; a.m. on Sunday, tho iremen, greasers, and trimmers shall ho allowed a half-holiday from 1 p.m. on Saturday, provided tho chief can grant it without interfering with the necessary work of the sh:p. DTSCHARGES AND PASSAGES. Discharges arb mailj subject to twenty-four hours' notice on either side. " Free passages are to he granted to seamen where ngreemert by effluxion of time, whero a man is d:scbarged by a master ■jther than at the port at which he was 'iigaged, where a man '-a engaged at '.no port and scr.t to another to join shin, and so on. PREFERENCE. Preference, to unionists is conceded. Steamers trr.d'>ng wi+ldn nvor or v tended river limits, also iho steirac-rs Gael, Kawau, Orewa, aid Kotti, wnuo. engaged in their present trades, shall I'O hound by all the ti-rms of this agreement, except that ihe r> j: labour (at sea and in port) shall be COper week, to bo worJced as may ba required by tho employer. The agreement is to come into force on Ist next, and remain in operation till 28th February, 1014. It Joft« not apply to the eteamer Apar:rna, and is not to bo converted ir,t;> an award of tho Court of Arbitratkri except by the mutual consent of all parties. SEAJtEN'S SUCCESS. GREATER THAN EXPECTED. Tho men who go down to tho sea in ships to earn their grain of wheat are, says tho Dun-adin "Star," jubilant over the result of the recent conference. Practically all that was good in the award of tho Federal Arbitration Court ha 3 been, conceded by the shipowners, and the general opinion among local seamen and seaside workers is that tho wholo thing has turned out mueh_ hotter than was expected. "We aro given to understand," the 'Star' continues, "that the increase on wages for an eight-hour day equals £1 per month. In local shipping circles the wages granted aro considered to be Tery generous, and there is some grumbling, especially by the small companies, who were not consulted in the matter. These ooinpantos will bo hard pressed to meet all tho concessions granted by the representatives of cio big companies. The extra cost of the eight-hour day at sea will be a severe burden on the shipowners, especially those whose fleets aro of tho mosquito type. More men would have to be engaged, and in some instances more forecastle accommodation, would have to be provided. "It is estimated that the increases on the seamen's wages will mean an additional expenditure annually of, say, between £4OO and £SOO in regard to each vessel in commission. If this estimate bo near tho mark, the statement that the Union Steam Ship Company's share will be about £25,000 per annum is a pretty good guess. "Apart from the ultimate effect tho granting of the men's demands will have on tho cost of living, it is interesting to note that many classes of workers are expressing dolight oyer the apparent fact that more can be giiined at a 'friendly' conference between employers and employees than can be secured through tho Arbitration Court. As a matter of fact, tho workers appear to be convinced that the days of the Arbitration Court are numbered. This is not an age of prophecy, but it is safe to predict that before long the public will Be called npon to pay the piper."