Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 4. 1966.

Law Call For Wage Increase

Law Call For Wage Increase

Victoria's part-time law students want better pay— and they want it now.

At The Annual meeting of the Law Faculty club, members passed without dissenting voice a motion that the incoming club committee investigate salaries paid to law students in city offices.

This investigation is to be carried out with a view to making representations to the "Wellington Legal Employees Industrial Union of Workers." the union which represents not only law students but most other law office staff as well.

Mover of the motion, third-year student Mark von Dadelszen told the meeting that the latest award was dated the 18th September 1961.

This allowed for a basic wage of £5/17/6 per week, with half yearly increase of about 12/6 to 15 - per half-year up to a total of three and a half years.

Following the six per cent wage rise, the basic wage was now £6/4/6, and at least one Wellington law firm was paying £6/5/0.

Impossible

"It is virtually impossible to live on the award wage." Mr. von Dadelszen told the meeting. "It is even difficult to live on £10 per week which some offices pay."

In seconding the motion, Mr. G. Taylor said that a 15-year old with school certificate who started work in a government office would get about £400 per annum.

"We are valued at less than this." he said.

He suggested that one of the criteria to be used in determining a law clerk's salary should be his qualifications not his seniority.

Mythical union?

Some doubt as to the existence of the Union was expressed by speakers—one of whom described it as "mythical," and another as "a large and defunct organisation."

However Mr. J. G. O'Regan, a member of the club's committee, denied that the Union is' nonexistent.

He revealed that he was co-opted to the Union committee when the previous committee found it was mostly comprised of legal employers and resigned.

The Union had decided to await the result of an Auckland arbitration on the same subject.

The result had now been announced.

Miserable result

"It is a miserable result." he said, "hardly in excess of the Wellington basic wage."

Mr. R. Chapman recalled the battle five years ago to get the basic wage up from £4/17/6 per week.

"We are a captive labour force" he told the meeting. He said that the situation did not arise outside university centres.

He cited a law firm in the Waikato which offered a first year's salary of £4,000 to a qualified man.

"They had difficulty in finding an applicant" he continued, as clamour broke out amongst those present.

Typist gets more

"There is a desire to stay in the university centre after graduation." Mr. Chapman said. "We are unwilling to break all connections and move out—to break away from the beginnings of a clientele."

He said that salaries paid to recently qualified men are also not good. In some offices the typists are paid more than qualified lawyers.