LABOUR PROTESTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12617, 30 April 1919, Page 5

LABOUR PROTESTS.

ARBITRATION AWARDS VARIED. BACON CURERS’ CASE. ~ Tho lollowing letter has been sent to the Hon W, H. Herries, Minister of Labour, by Mr F. C. Ellis, secretary V. f , tho Canterbury Freezing Works union:— Dear Sir, —Tho Canterbury Freezing Works and Related Trades Union has instructed mo to draw your attention tu a recent judgment of the Court of m miration under tho War Legislation ami bfcututo Law Amendment Act, 19D (llacon Workers’ Dispute), in which tho nac.rat© of wages agreed to by tho parmP‘ 111I 11 October last has been amended. Iho facts in this case are as follows: In October, 1918, tho parties agreed in the Conciliation Council to the following rates of pay";— Head curcr, £3 ios per week; slaughtermen* cuttcrsup, rollers and scalders, Is (id per hour; cel Jar men, hmlnmkcrs and store hands, 15 . 4 cl per hour. In March, 1919, the union made application under tho above •i-cb for a bonus to meet the increased cost of living as disclosed by the Government Statistician. The Court in its judgment awards the head curcr £-1 per week, an increase of bs on tho fiat rate. Tho men on Is Cd and Is 4d are reduced to Is 4Jd and Is 3)d per our respectively. The Court added to these hourly workers a bonus of 2Ja per hour. The bonus can bo increased, decreased or totally abolished by application of either party or the Court on its own motion. The position of these men, if the bonus is totally abolished, is that the Court has reduced their fiat iate of wages, which, as .1 have mentioned above, was agreed to by the parties in the Conciliation Council, by j lll /) I )er hour. Neither party asked the Court for any alteration in the flat rate. Tho union, which was the applicant, only asked for a bonus, which, if the Court’s total hourly basis is correct, should have been Id and -d per hour respectively. Wo think you will agree with us that the Court has acted unfairly in thus .amending the award in a direction unasked by either party, and in a manner most disadvantageous to the workers in the industry, inasmuch as it seriously prejudices tho position of the union in further negotiations with the employers and further applications under tho Arbitration Act. Wo cannot accept the position without serious protest, and we expect that yon, as Minister, will make representations to the Court in .order to remedy thjs miscarriage of justice. • GASWORKERS’ grievance. The recent amendment to tho Christchurch Uasworks J^niployecs 1 Award (issued by tho Arbitration Court a few hays ago) was the subject of discussion at a meeting of the Christchurch Gasworks Employees’ Union held at the trades Hall last evening. The following resolution was passed:— * This meeting desires to express its great dissatisfaction at the decision of the Arbitration Court not to increase the wages of Christchurch gasworks employees in conformity witii increases granted to other trades. We call attention to tho increases granted to coachworkers, plumbers, bricklayers, moulders and general labourers. The memorandum which tho Court has issued with this amendment to our award, stating that tho Court has disturbed present conditions as little as possible, is, wo submit, not in coulormity with the statement issued by tho Court on March 8 last, which indicated that for the future wages would increase in correspondence with the increase in the coat of living. We regret that no relief has been granted to a largo number of members. We applied to the Court under tho provisions of the War Regulation Amendment Act, 1918, with a reasonable hope that some relief would ho provided to meet tho increased cost of living. We regret that the Court has decided to ignore the claims of the union’s higher paid workers, and lias merely awarded a wage of Is 4Jd per hour to the lowest paid men in our industry. We desire to direct tho attention of the Minister of Labour and of members of Parliament to the necessity for legislation to direct the Court of Arbitration—unmistakably—to provide awa go that will ensure the workers of this Dominion obtaining the necessaries of life. The decision of the Court in our case is, we submit, entirely against the spirit of the recent Act. which was obviously intended to provide the workers with some relief from tho intolerable economic pressure under which they have suffered during tho last few years.” It was decided to send a copy of the resolution to the Minister of Labour, and also to local members of Parliament. A rote of thanks to the secretary (Mr C. Renu) for the manner in which ho had conducted tho case for the union was carried with acclamation.