Sharing the Profit

Te Ao Hou, August 1957, Page 14

Sharing the Profit In 1928, during the prosperous period after the first World War, with shearing prices at 30/- per 100, the whole subject of shearers' wages was discussed at the N.Z.W.U. conference. When the usual conciliation talks developed that year, a new idea was born. Sheepowners and shearers got together and asked themselves: why should we come to Arbitration year after year and argue against each other? Is there not some objective way of determining the fair price for shering making all the tedious argument unnecessary? According to Mr Tutaki's story, the shearers originally suggested and Federated Farmers accepted the type of arrangement now in force This means that the pay for shearers and shedhands is adjusted in accordance with the movement of wool prices as determined by the Government Statistician's index number for the export price of wool, taking as today's base a price index number of 1000 to equal a wool price of 9.41d per Ib to equal 29/- per hundred sheep. For every 50 point rise in the index number, the shearing rate rises by 6d. In 1956, with wool at 46d, the index number was 4900 and the price £3/8/- per hundred. Introduced in 1928, the system survived the depression with minor changes. In the years 1931 and 1932 it temporarily broke down, to be reintroduced in 1933, with the award at the record low of 18/- per hundred sheep. In 1936, it was laid down that the index number should be determined each year by a committee consisting of the Government Statistician and one representative each of the employers' and the shearers' unions. After this, procedure never changed. These awards have pioneered an idea which in most industries is still in its infancy. In most industries the only link between wages and profits is through the payment of bonuses when a firm has done particularly well. Lately, more industries have started regular schemes to make the workers share in their profits, so they get a greater stake in the success of the enterprise. For instance, workers are given some shares and each year they get the dididend on those shares. The better the year the greater is the dividend. The shearing industry has gone even further than that. It has made earnings entirely dependent on the annual wool cheque, so that shearers have the same stake in the sale prices as have the growers. No arrangement could make for happier working conditions. The workers are protected by a minimum wage, which in 1936 was £1 per 100 sheep, and at present is still at 22/-, while the actual rate is over

Shearing is a highly skilled job. This was again emphasised recently when Mr Godfrey Bowen was sent to England as a shearing instructor. Here he is in a Hawkes Bay shed demonstrating shearing techniques. (Russell Orr Photograph.) three times that amount. So too the minimum wage for shedhands is 1/7 per hour, as against 5/5 actualy paid today. These minima may seem unduly low.