The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-23

pCLItS Ol d SOulLEy eIuONSu by nature, and to the excellent prices I obtafnable for products and manufac- lures, the employers in the colony have remained contentedly .quiescent 1 There must, however, be some finalfty l to the demands of labor and the posi- tion is now being seriously discussed by the employers in the various com mercial centers.I In one industry a firm found that since the award was made they had had to dispense with six ! hands who were unable to earn the l minimum wage of two pounds and l eight shillings per week. Before the l award the men received thirty-five to l thirty-six shillings a week, which the | employers considered sufficient for the l class of work performed, The em- ployers were willing to retain four or five of these hands provided they ob- tained permit to work for lower wage than that prescribed by the court The secretary of the union was applied l to, but he refused to grant permits to enable the men to work at the wages named. It was stated as further fact that other firms engaged in the same industry had discharged incompetent 1 hands since the award had been made A few of these men applied to the un- ! ion for permits to work at the wages | they were receiving, but were refused | them. No application was made to the | chairman of the conciliation board. l In connection with this industry it was also mentioned that owing to the l increase in the cost of production, sev- | eral employers were giving up manu- | featuring, and were importing the fin- | ished article. This, they found, paid
 them better, and gave them less trouble | and worry. In another industry it was l found that the wages of boys as fixed by the award resulted in loss to the I employer. The minimum wage for ! lad up to ten years of age was ten shil- | lings per week, with an increase of five | shillings per week for each year above 1 that age. The trade being a skilled | one, the employers considered that ten | shillings a week was too much to pay ! beginner who during his first year was | not really worth more than five or six | shillings a week. One firm in this in dustry had in their employ very small lad who had been with them | nine months and was getting six shil-
 lings week. When the award was
 made, owing to his age, his wage had l to be increased to one pound a week. l The firm could not continue to pay him the increase and after a few weeks he | was discharged. The employers con- l sidered that the fixing of wages accord 1 ing to age was very serious matter \ not only for them, but also for the worker The cost of production in this l industry having increased, the manu- | lecturers had to put up their prices, | and some lines had to be dropped alto | gether. A few incompetent men were | discharged when the award came into l force.
 l The above facts in regard to the
 wages of boys as fixed by the court
 and the discharge of incompetent men ii. e., fen who could not really earn ] the minimum wage-applied in a simi-
 lar manner to a third industry, with this difference, that most of the per- mits refused by the union were granted 1 by the chairman of the conciliation
 board, and that the workers to whom the chairman refused permits were those who would not admit to him that they were incompetent hands.
 About the same time a meeting of the ! Wellington Employers association was held and a proposal, favorably consid-
 cred for the establishment of coloni-
 al federation to guard the interests of
 employers. At this meeting the secre- tary of the association, who has had very considerable experience as a
 member of the Wellington Consolidation
 board, declared that the employers had
 come to the conclusion that the Concil-
 iation and Arbitration act was not re- quired, and that~it had not been bene- ficial but injurious. It will thus be seen that the statement so often ad- vanced to the effect that the employers iof the colony are satisfied with the
 working of the act is not entirely cor rect.
 l Coming now to the employees. I
 think there is no doubt that, up to the
 present, the majority of the unionists
 in the colony are satisfied with the act.
 They certainly should be- for times
 have been good, and the awards given l have been mostly in their favor New
 ertheless, one cannot shut one's eyes to
 the fact that there is considerable and
 growing discontent, even among the
 unions. with its working. The mere
 fact of an all-round rise in wages hav- ing been made has had the inevitable
 result of increasing the cost of living,
 so that the laborer, in many instances, ! frds hir1cp1c mt 7,1Ilnh off
 than he was before, and consequently
 there is a demand for still higher wa
 ges. A few days after these meetings