THE COST OF LIVING

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14597, 22 February 1921, Page 7

THE COST OF LIVING

REDUCTION OF WAGES. SUGGESTED BY WORKERS. TO DECREASE COST OF LIVING. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) LONDON, February 19. Qne hundred and forty employees, representing 95 per cent of I lie labour of a Lancashire firm of embossers and finishers, requested a reduction of ten per cent in wages, involving the surrender of 2s Gd to 15s weekly, as the present high cost of living exists primarily owing to the high cost of production, also hoping that the example will be followed throughout the country, in order to decrease the cost of living. The company, in accepting the offer, announced that the charge for finishing will be reduced 10 per cent to the firm's undertaking to give customers the benefit of the-reduction. A number of Birmingham boiler makers also agreed to a reduction of ten per cent., in order to enable the trade to cope witli foreign competition. A DROP EXPERIENCED. INDICATION OF ITS CONTINUANCE. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) LONDON, February 20. Official figures dealing with the cost of living show that there has been a drop of 14 points since January. The cost was still 151 per cent- above the Pre-war rate, but 25 points below maximum height reached in November, 1920. Experts predict that the decline will continue. It is already effecting automatic reduction in wages; as many trades were, working under agreements by which wages rose proportionately with the cost of living-.