WAGE FIXING.

Wairarapa Age, 5 March 1927, Page 5

WAGE FIXING.

NOT ON COST OF LIVING ONLY. THE COURT’S BASIS. “It may be well to point out that the factor of the cost of living does not enter so largely into the consideration of the Court as is sometimes thought,” said Mr. Justice Frazer yesterday, dealing with the freezing workers’ award. “It is eetainly a factor that cannot be ignored by any wage-fixing tribunal, but nobody would assert that it is the only factor to be considered. It does, however, bulk more largely in the case of the lower-paid workkers. The other factors considered are the general financial and economic conditions affecting trade and industry, the rates of wages generality paid to workers of similar grade, and the desirability of having a definite standard. This Court has awarded the general labourer a rate of wages 60 per cent, above the 1914 rate, an increase that corresponds roughly with the increase inthe cost of living since that year, but it has not granted the same percentage of increase to the more highly-paid workers. It has sought to fix minimum rates that, while being fair to the workers, will not be so high as to preclude an employer from paying higher rates to workers who are deserving of consideration, or to be oppressive in times of slackness of trade. It was not until September, 1925, that the' Court decided that it was possible to raise the general unskilled basic rate to an amount that would fullly compensate for the increased cost of living, and it did so only after a very full consideration of all the factors involved, as will be seen on reference to the pronouncement of 15th. September, 1925.”