“FULL INVESTIGATION NECESSARY.”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 18763, 30 December 1930, Page 4

“FULL INVESTIGATION NECESSARY.”

OPPOSITION TO WAGES CUT. STATEMENT OF DISSENTING JUDGMENT. “Before such drastic reductions should have been given effect to a very full investigation should have been undertaken,” said Mr A. L. Monteith, Employees’ representative, in his dissenting judgment on the application granted by the majority of the Arbitration Court for a 33 1-3 per cent, reduction in the wages of Manawatu flax-mill workers. “This order provides the greatest cut in wages ever effected in New Zealand,” he said. “The industry has had very prosperous times and large profits have been made. To suggest that all these profits have been put back into the industry and lost is imaginary. Exceptional handsome profits have been taken out of this industry. The industry since the middle of 1929 has had to meet a bad market and the workers are now asked to face a decrease of 33 1-3 per cent. •When fibre rose by the same amount a ton as it has now fallen the workers never received 33 1-3 per cent, increase Their wages base was the cost of living. Now in hard times they are asked to face a wage which will give them £3 a week full time, but as this industry is seasonal and in some cases the men are affected by wet weather and floods, and in view of the returns submitted in previous cases of earnings in this industry, it appears certain that the yearly return to the worker on the minimum rate will be about £125 a year, or 50s a week. “The union proposed a sliding scale Generally speaking, I am not in favour of such a method of fixing wages, but when workers suffer when the price of the products falls, as they have in this case, it is only reasonable that they should have the chance of benefit when prices rise, otherwise justice is not done. “In this case the workers did not benefit in comparison with the decrease they now suffer. The piece workers who also receive this 33 1-3 per cent, reduction will get less, generally, than operated in 1907. Hand scutchers got 28s a ton in 1907. The 1927 award gave them £1 12s, only a 4s increa.se in 20 years, now they will et £1 Is 4d or 6s 8d less than 23 years ago. Piece work paddockers got summer £1 Is and winter £1 6s a ton in 1907. Now they will get, summer 16s 8d and winter 18s 8d a ton, or 4s 4d and 7s 4d less than 23 years ago.

“It cannot be suggested that these workers ever received anything in keeping with increased prices, and today they are in a worse position than in 1907, with an increased cost of living of 56 per cent, over 1914,, not to mention the cost of living between 1907 and 1914.

“The information as to the cost of production is all in possession of one party, and when wages are reduced to a level as low as in this case, 40 per cent, below ordinary standards, a very full investigation is warranted. One cannot in a few minutes digest figures ! hat are placed before one, but I find that certain statements contain the manning scale of one stripper as follows; Stripper keeper, feeder, washer, benchloader, rouseabout; and was informed that the owner also draws a salary for his management. This deals only with stripping. All I can say is that the staffing is excessive. Such figures do not impress, and therefore I believe that fuller investigation is necessary. For the above reason I dissent.”