J.— 9a.

30

\. .1. HrMI'HHEYS.

A i.isii: i Joseph Hujiphrkyh examined. (No. 13.) 1. Mr. Davey (Acting-Chairman).] What are you?-—Preaident of 'Ik , Drapers' Union here. 2. Do you wish to give evidence?- In rase any evidence is required in substantiation of any of the facts that Mr. Croskery brought up I tun able to endorse liis evidence with respect to the absence of seating-uccommodation for females in Wellington and with respeci to the three-weekly payment of wagea at Kirkcaldie ami Staine's. 1 was employed there for about four years and a iialf, and during the whole of that time wages were paid regularly at three-weekly intervals. Three weeks i- still the space of time that ellipses between each payment. •'i. Mr. II iml marsh .) You get a fortnight's wages'!—No; three weeks', fully paid up. I. They keep nothing in hand] — No. •j. Hon. Mr. Ma.*.*! i/. ]Do the employees object to the three-weekly system 1 —They object— to us; of course, they do not object to the firm. For obvious reasons they prefer getting their money three-weekly rather than not get it at all. There is one matter in reference to this Shops and Offices Bill that Mr. Croskery has not spoken of, and that has always appealed to me as inflicting an injustice on a certain class of labour in New Zealand : it is the exemption of the wholesale houses from the operation of the Shops and Offices Act. Factories are dealt with regarding hours and genera] conditions of employment, Arc, in the factories Act ; shops and offices are dealt with in the Shops and Offices Acl : practically ever\ class of labour receives some atteii tion with the exception of the assistants in the wholesale houses. G. I suppose you know the reason 'I— Yes, I believe it is because there was considerable agitu tion at the time (hey were proposed to lie. owing to the fact that their trade is supposed to he a season tiaile and a great deal of overtime is necessary -so it was contended-- at certain periods of the year. Hut the way their exemption operates is this: they work a considerable amount of overtime all through the year. I have spoken to numerous shopkeepers about it. I was speaking to the manager of Geoi<ge and Kersley's about it the other day, and lie said. ". I cannot for the life of me see why Ihe assistants in the wholesale should be excluded from the operations of the Shops and < Ifficea Act . " , 7. Do you speak on behalf of the warehouse assistants?-Yes. 8. linn. Mr. Massey.] I was in Parliament when the matter came up on a previous occasion, and we were given to understand, by deputations that came along and by petitions forwarded to Parliament, that nearly the whole of the men employed in warehouses were dead against coming under the Shops and Offices Act? —That is so. i). Mr. Dvn 1 ;;.] You have no authority to speak on their behalf. I take it?—] am taking the opinions that have been expressed to me l>\ wholesale men. and to some extent 1 believe I am justified in speaking here on their behalf, as wholesale men are qualified now to become members of our union, which exists now for the benefit of wholesale men as well as retail. 10. Hon. Mr. Maxsey.] The position is simple. When they want to come under the Shops and Offices Act we are quite prepared to put them under. Hut we art- not going to compel them in come? —The employees in shops and offices were not consulted as to whether they should come under it. 11. .1//". Davcy.] Have you any other evidence to give? — No; but if any endorsement is wanted of the facts the secretary brought up I shall !>e quite willing to answer any question.

Friday, 15th August, 191:5. Wti.mam Edward Sill, representing the Auckland Butchers' Industrial Union of Workers, made a statement and waa examined. (No. 14.) Witness: The principal items I wish to mention in connection with the Act are. firstly: Last year the butchers applied for an award as hitherto, including the hours, but the Court ruled that the award had been overridden by an Act of the Legislature. Therefore we are left with the Shops anil Offices Act at present, and it does not come near what we were yetting under the award. The hours have not really been increased- -we were working fifty-sis hours a week but the times fixed for starting and knocking oft' work are far wider than we hail previously when we had practically uniform hours of work. The time for starting work was (i a.m., and for leaving off ."> p.m. Now tin . Act provides that the hours shall be from i a.m. till 0 p.m. The new Act permits butchers to commence work at f> a.m. on ordinary days. \ to 1 p.m. on the half-holiday, and up to Id p.m. on the hue night. The meal-hours under the Act provide for a meal every live hours. That is very unsuitable for the butchering trade, and T may say there is not a butcher in Auckland at the present time keeping the present Acl in reference to meal-hours. It is simply impossible for them to do so, and the union never presses the point, because to a certain extent it is at least very irksome. Really what my union suggests i> that our late hours shall be given back to us, but if you cannot see your way to concede that we ask for something to give Uβ uniformity of hours as near as possible to the old award. Where the live hours does not operate is principally in the morning. At the present time the butchers start at f> a.m. or 6.30. That is supposed to be the hour of starling, lint we have already got into the practice of starting earlier in some establishments, and they give three-quartees of an hour for breakfast in some establishments and half an hour in others. The point is that if they start at (!.■">(> they must give an hour for dinner or a meal at 11.30, but very often they do not get their meal till I. and very often it is '_' or •'! o'clock. What f want to suggest is this: that a meal-time of half an hour be 'fixed for those who start work before G. 30 a.m. As 1 say. we are not subject to an award of the Arbitration Court in regard to hours, and it was owing to a certain clause being struck out of the last amendment of the Shops and Offices Act that put tis where we are, and. although I see