FREEZING INDUSTRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23376, 6 December 1945, Page 6

FREEZING INDUSTRY

FORTY-HOUR WEEK Opposition Alarmed Fears Discounted By Government (N.Z.P.A.) WELLINGTON, Dec. 5. It was the intention of the Government next session to bring down a complete consolidation of the factories legislation, said the Hon. J. O'Brien, in the House of Representatives to-day, in moving the second reading of the Factories Amendment Bill, which provides for a 40-hour week in all factories. He said it was originally intended to do so this year, but the lateness of the session had prevented the introduction of the consolidation measure which would incorporate many of the recommendations of Dr. J. M. Davidson, who had rather severely criticised New Zealand factories. Mr O'Brien said that 116,350 of 138,600 factors' workers already enjoyed a 40-hour week. There were 3584 with hours ranging from 36 to 44, according to the season, and 18,666 were on a 44-hour week. All were agreed in regard to the 40-hour week and the only reason it had been denied to 18,000 factory workers was that the war had delayed the change. Victory had now come and there was no reason why these people should not be given a 40-hour week. The industry most affected was the freezing industry, for 13,000 of the 18,000 not enjoying a 40hour week were in that industry. Consideration had been given to the question of whether the industry could carry on, and the matter had given the Government some concern. The Government had discussed the matter with representatives of the workers and the industry, and then asked them to talk it over among themselves, but, unfortunately, the employers said they did not want to talk about it and that a 40-hour Week would not work. It had been said that the industry had not been given the opportunity to consider the legislation, but he did not believe there was an employer who did not consider the Bill would be introduced. He had been assured that the men would work on Saturday morning and that in times of crisis the slaughtermen would work on Saturday morning if they were asked to, although they actually had not done so for a long time. An Opposition member: Then the Bill is simply to increase wages?

Mr O’Brien said that if a freezing worker worked the same hours as he did now, his extra pay would be 6/a week and that might be adjusted. Mr M. H. Oram (National, Manawatu): How will it be adjusted? Mr O’Brien said that if the employers like to approach the Arbitration Court they might get it. Representatives of the freezing works employees had told the Labour Bills Committee that they wanted to increase production, realising that they could get out of the common pool only what they put into it. The workers complained that when they had increased production by extra effort, someone else wanted to claim all the benefit. Perishable Food The Hon. A. Hamilton (National, Wallace) said it was not a 40-hour week Bill. A Bill like this which meant such a lot to New Zealand should not be produced at such a late date. It had been on the stocks for 12 months but the Government had delayed it until late in the session so that discussion would be curbed. All he could do was to tell the Minister what he thought of him and his Bill. The Bill would so disrupt one of the most important industries in New Zealand that it would take some time to get over the Bill’s effects and would cost the country an immense amount of money. The production and quality of the stock would be reduced. A freezing works was an unusual type of factory. An ordinary factory could close at 5 p.m. on Friday and nothing would suffer, but that could not be done in a freezing works. A good number of men had to work on Saturdays and the Government just did not seem to care how much it disrupted the industry. Freezing works dealt with perishable foodstuffs which were important in the world to-day. The Arbitration Court had recognised the special difficulties of the freezing works and made special provision for them and the Government was now going to direct something different. If the Minister supported the 40-hour week whv did he not make it universal and include farm workers? There would be great difficulty in getting fat lambs into the freezing works and if milk lambs particularly could not be killed when ready, there would be a distinct loss. For the Minister to come along with this Bill after the season had begun meant that great difficulties would have to be overcome. Would the railways and road transport be able to overcome the transport difficulties? Loss of Quality Killing would have to stop on Fridays at noon. If fat lambs were left waiting around at the works over the week-end they would lose from half to three-quarters of a pound apart from the loss of quality. The freezing companies estimated that the cost of the Bill would be an additional £664,000 a year, and the Stabilisation Commission estimated it up to £750,000 a year. The Labour Department’s estimate was £300,000. If all the work was done on five days a week, who was going to find that extra amount? The freezing companies could not find it because they already were receiving a subsidy of £900,000 a year. Wc-.ild the farmers have to find the extra cost? Matter of Organisation Mr C H. Chapman (Government, Wellington North; said the industry should be organised to make provision for a 40-nour week. Mr Hamilton had raised a bogy in suggesting that the industry would be disorganised. Many employees of freezing companies were now not working Saturday morning and many had expressed their intention not to work on Saturday mornings in future. The industry could be so organised that Saturday morning work could be reduced to a minimum. Mr Fraser: Not in the rush of the season. Mr Chapman: I understand the men themselves had undertaken to work on Saturday mornings in rush seasons. Mr Fraser: That is right. Mr Chapman said it was time the privilege of a 40-hour week was extended to freezing workers. This could be done by rearranging the killing schedule during the week. He contended that the increased cost of wages would at most be 10 per cent. Mr A. S. Sutherland (National, Hauraki;: That is a fair bit. It is not increased costs we want but increased production. Mr Chapman said it was right for the 40-hour five-day week to be applied to freezing workers as far as possible, and when they were required to work on Saturday mornings they were entitled to be paid time and a half. Mr S. G. Holland (Leader of the Opposition) said the purpose of the Bill was twofold. It sougnt to establish in certain industries a five-day week, and in those industries where Saturday morning work was unavoidable there would be an increase of something like 40 per cent in the wages of the people working in those industries on Saturday morning. The employers had given evidence that it would oe physically Impossible to give full effect to the provisions. of the Bill. Evidence given to the Labour Bills Committee had been to the effect that the men would not work overtime. For a number of years slaughtermen had refused to work any overtime at all. Mr Holland protested that a measure having far-reaching repercussions on primary industry should not be forced through the House by weight of numbers without any time being given for the measure to be considered by the branch organisations of both workers and employers as was desirable. The Bill dealt mainly with dairy factories and freezing works, which were of outstanding importance to the primary industry of the Dominion. The completion of 40 hours merely marked the point beyond which workers must receive a higher rate of remuneration. When the 40-hour week was introduced it was designed to spread work and

reduce unemployment, but to-day when there was a shortage of workers its object was to increase the reward of those already in employment. Added Costs Mr Holland said that under the adjustments made by tne late Hon. H. T. Armstrong freezing workers already had been compensated tor the fact that tne 40-nctur week could not apply to them, They received an additional 10/a week wnich meant, in etiect, that they were paid 5/- an hour lor work I performed on Saturday mornings. Now j they were to be paid for a 40-hour week the same amount as they had been receiving for a 44-hour week, and if Saturday work had to be performed they would receive overtime rates for it in spite of having been compensated years ago in their weekly wage for the fact they were required to work on Saturday mornings. Mr Holland said the Bill also provided that treble time | instead of double time would be paid j for work on Sundays and statutory • holidays. Mr Holland asked where the extra money was to be found to meet the added costs. It had been said the freezing industry was also subsidised 1 by £900,000 a year, but that subsidy ! was paid by the producers themselves. ; Now the industry was to be mulcted I for an extra £664,000 a year. If the i five-day week were insisted on it would I be utter disaster for the primary in- | dustry of the Dominion, because it was a physical impossibility for the existing works to handle all the stock in five days. If the five-day week were I observed less stock would be killed. i An Opposition voice: The people of I England will go without. i Mr Holland said in many districts killings consisted of 90 per cent milk lambs which must be killed within 12 to 14 hours of their arrival at the works. The Government was doing everything to discourage farmers who were being attacked repeatedly. Disagreeable Occupation Mr Fraser said if any industry deserved special terms and special inducements to workers it was the freezing industry. Mr Holland gave the freezing workers praise, but praise did not assist the family income. The whole question was a serious and important one, but it could not be disposed of by rampaging speeches on the one hand and unfounded optimism on the other. The Opposition said they favoured a 40-hour week and adequate wages. When adequate wages were given to the mass of workers what inducement was there to workers to go into disagreeable occupations such as the freezing industry. If workers were not retained in freezing works the country would face ruin. On the evidence he had he did not think the industry could run satisfactorily at its peak on a 40-hour week, particularly when milk lambs were coming forward, but he believed there would not be any great difficulty otherwise. The men knew that unless the work were done they would be at a disadvantage. If they were not prepared to work overtime they would be injuring the country and themselves, and it would be a serious matter of which cognisance would have to be taken. Future improvements in the living standards and incomes of the people depended on increases in all branches of production and wealth. Freezing workers had done a good job during the war. Was it unnatural that they aspired to the same conditions as obtained in other industries? if they could not work a short week how else could it be made no to them except by overtime? The Opposition claimed that under the Bill workers in the industry were to get the same money for a 40-hour week as they now received for 44 hours, but the Bill did not say that. It rested with the Court whether the workers received it or not after taking all the factors into consideration. It was impossible to have certain industries isolated and handicanoed in comparison with other industries. Mr W. A. Sheat (National Patea) said the Opposition believed that an attempt to force a drastic change on the freezing industry at the beginning of its busiest season of the year would cause such difficulty that a reasonable period of delay should be allowed to enable plans to be made for the necessary reorganisation. After evidence had been taken by the Labour Bills Committee, the Minister of Labour undertook to confer with the Prime Minister on the question of when the Bill should become operative. If that discussion had taken place, why had the Government decided to proceed with the Bill in its original form thus denying freezing works a period for adjustment? Mr Sheat said the extra costs which would be heaped on the industry would vitally affect New Zealand’s negotiations with Britain and the Dominion’s general economy. Purpose of Measure Mr F. Hackett (Govt., Grey Lynn) said the effect of the Bill would be that employers would be asked to pay an addition of less than 4 per cent of the present payroll until the Arbitration Court decided the future wage based on 40 hours. The freezing industry would never adopt a 40-hour week of its own free will. The purpose of the Bill was to give the industry certain opportunities and to provide for a penalty rate to make it uneconomic to work on Saturday if it could possibly be avoided. Employers would be able to work employees as many hours as they did to-day, which provided a safeguard against any fall in production. Mr W. J. Polson (National, Stratford) said Mr Hackett had openly confessed that the intention of the Bill was to make Saturday work uneconomic. The effect would be to impose a heavy direct burden on producers, but that was not the worst. There would be a heavy indirect cost which farmers would suffer far greater than the £650,000 in direct costs. The killing of tens of thousands of lambs would have to be stopped at Friday mid-day, and lambs left standing in the yards lost a pound in weight daily, and also suffered a loss of quality. It meant the complete dislocation of< killing in the works. He hoped the Prime Minister was right in saying that the slaughtermen would kill on Saturdays—it would be a solution, though a costly one —but all the evidence was against it. The slaughtermen said they would not work overtime, and they regarded 40 hours as sufficient. Membets of the Government appeared to enjoy the embarrassment of farmers. Was it their deliberate intention to make it impossible to carry on the fanning operations of the country? It was not too late for the Prime Minister to use a little diplomacy and secure a delay till March to enable the freezing industry to put its house in order and prevent chaotic conditions. Mr O'Brien replying said the men had given assurances that they would work on Saturday mornings. If no increase in the wage rates were granted the extra cost of overtime on Saturday morning would, according to the estimates of both the Labour Department and the Stabilisation Commission, be onlv between £lOO,OOO and £llO,OOO. It had been suggested that the operation of the Bill should be deferred for some time. That was “quite a good one.” If the operation of the Bill was delayed for three months most of the season would be over. He was satisfied that the Bill would not cause any Inconvenience of any consequence to the industry. The workers had promised to work on Saturday mornings if necessary, and it would probably be necessary to work 44 hours a week until the industry settled down. The Bill was passed shortly after midnight. The House was left sitting.