ARBITRATION COURT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9008, 15 August 1907, Page 3

ARBITRATION COURT.

'THE TYPOGRAPHICAL DISPUTE. The sitting of the Arbitration Court continued thia morning, before his Honor Mr Justice Sim and Messrs b. Brown and R. Slater. The hearing of the Canterbury lypogiaphic.il dispute was continued, Mr Wilson calling further evidenc. for the Union. . _ R. J.Betts, linotype operator wita the " P.* «_s " ' Company, said he had worked on tho piec. work system., and m_.de • '' fa -m' , • ■■'. 3 ■ 10s • to as muoh as £6 .per ' week. It took from nine months to a year to become able to set 7000 ens per hour. The sj .tern had to be dropped', because those not on piece-work objected to tho method of computing the work. Mr Pirani sought to show that witness ">vas no. much slower than another man who could set 12,000 ens for a day, and said he would produce the year's averages to show that the setting speeds neve higher, than the witnesses admitted. The witness- said hb did not think good men should be debarred from higher wages by the anti-bonus clause. They should be given higher wages.Mr Pirani said the proprietors were quite willing. to pay higher wages for an increased output, but the Typographical Society would not allow the men to accept any higher than the standard wages. An objection to paying a man more for doing more than the minimum was simply an attempt to restrict the output, and that seemed to be the aim of the Unions in such case* as this. It was unfair and against the men to prescribe a minimum wage arid compel all the men to keep -down to that minimum. W. J. Dew linotype operator, employed by the "Press" Company, said his experience was gained in London. The work was then all done by piece at 3id per 1000 ens. Six thousand five hundred ens was a good efficiency test, but 7000 ens would be a very go_H^ working average. He 1 .arued at a linotype school, and became "efficient" at 5000 ens in tliree mouths. He oould set over 7000 ens an hour himself, but would be very surprised to hear thatall the men on the "Press" staff set over 7300 ens for the whole of two years. •J. Buchanan, operator with the " Lyttelton ' Times " Company, said he had had considerable experience with the monoline, which he could operate at 6000 ens. The monoline required closer attention mechanically than the linotype, and its operators should be paid i'ust ac much as linotype operators. Io would much sooner operate a linotype. G. A. Fraser, monotype operator, employed by T. E. Fraser, said he earned £3 10s per week by setting 7000 ens under good conditions. Owing to tlie very complicated keyboard and the great variety of work, a monotype operator had to be efficient in more branches of work than a, linotype, and also rendered piece-work impracticable on account of the long scale of charges necessary. He did ,not know that in America linotype operators received 50 per- cent more than monotype operators. Tlie Union's proposal of 3000 ens as an efficiency standard was far too low ; a man earning £3 10s per week should sot 6500 ens. An operator of a composing machine was under a greater strain than a jobbing compositor, having to watch a machine all the time he was operating; and seven hours, was a full day's work. F. Y. Wilson, linotype operator in the "Lyttelton Times" Office, stated that the averages of the men were kept in the office, out 'the men were not acquainted with them. _ He produced samples of lines in brevier and emerald to show that the different size of type necessitated more work in spacing the larger brevier, and therefore a slower output. Samples of lines showed also the variations in widths of en-quads in several of the colony's papers, in brevier, in order to show the necessity for a standard casting-up factor. He stated emphatically „that the Union had never instructed its members to limit the ' output. As far as high averages were concerned, they always seemed to be rather mysterious, and he believed -here was some " fat " at the bottom of it. The book® showing the work done by the witness were produced, and showed him to have consistently averaged over 7000 ens. He said emerald was computed at 48 ens to the lino, and expressed much surprise that a line actually cast up 42 ens. There had been no attempt to limit the output of any operator., > Mr Pirani addressed the Court on the various points raised. He said that in the absence of all proof there was no claim to higher wages on # account of the increased cost of living. The profits from the trade had not increased, but owing to increased, competition had lessened. The Union should have shown that they were not getting a wage sufficient to support them properly. ' They were really well paid for a business «o easily learnt, and the only reason for asking for an in-, crease was the lack of men available in the colony, and the absence of . means for properly tutoring young men. It was not possible to too strongly speak of the recently-grown system in the. colony whereby the- output was restricted. The unionism of twe .ty -five years ago objected to the extra effir cient men, and the same thing occurred now. All the men examined could get 7000 ens, _nd it was most improper H-o all the men to restriqt the payment of the best men as* low as that of the worst. The bonus system should be properly taken up so as to pay each man according to his ability. The piece system was objectionable, because it was so harassing to both men and employers. It was remarkable that as soon as a man left the city and the r est- icted minimum and went to a country office his average went up 25 per cent. They were able there to work to their full capacity. The city offices were, as a result, losing their best men as fast as they trained them. Printing was the only trade he knew of in which a discount was placed upon ability. There was not the least reason why a good workman should not receive full payment aocprding to his ability. The employers, liad to make up the total output by bringing in another linotype to every three. If the' men were paid on a rise of 7s 6d a week per thousand ens an hour, the linotype operators would soon be the most highly-paid work-era in the colony. G. H. Whitcombe was called, and said Whitcombe and Tombs had eight compositors working on time. and two on piece-work; and two linotype operators. The competition at present in Christchurch was keener than it had, been for six or seven years past, there being more offices, and especially small offices. The Court adjourned till 2.30 -p.m.