Day 184 - 06 Nov 95 - Page 13
1 minimum wage goes up to, let us say, $6 -- I am not sure,
2 I mean, this is -- and you are only, and you are making
3 $4.45, but the minimum wage was $5, then you get the
4 compression of that put on to your $6. It is really hard
5 to explain. I am not sure if you understand. I am not
6 sure, but I believe, like, the ratings 1, 2, 3 do have a
7 certain wage increase which you get, and that has not
8 changed in the last year or two, but I believe it did
9 change about three years ago, but I am not sure.
10
11 Q. Right. So let us just go back to the beginning then. How
12 many of the crew members would be on the actual minimum
13 wage?
14 A. Well, we start -- I am not sure what the starting rate
15 is at, but it is above minimum wage, so no one is at
16 minimum wage.
17
18 Q. How many cents is it above the minimum wage,
19 approximately?
20 A. It depends who you are and how long you have been there
21 and what kind of worker you are.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: This is someone starting absolutely afresh;
24 are they above the minimum wage or not, starting rate?
25 A. Yes, they are above minimum wage.
26
27 Q. I think Mr. Morris was asking you how much above minimum
28 wage. Do you know?
29 A. I am not sure, no.
30
31 MR. MORRIS: Are we talking about 10 cents or -----
32 A. I am not sure. I do not hire people, and I do not look
33 at their wages. I have no clue, I am sorry.
34
35 Q. Sorry. You do not have to apologise for what you do not
36 know.
37 A. OK.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you want to go back to the conversion; do
40 you want to ask about that, because I am not entirely
41 clear. I will ask, if you like.
42
43 MR. MORRIS: Yes, OK.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL (To the witness): Suppose the minimum wage
46 went up, let us suppose it went up 40 cents.
47 A. OK.
48
49 Q. You say you get a conversion?
50 A. A compression.
51
52 Q. I thought you said that first of all, but I could not make
53 any sense of it. What do you mean by "compression"?
54 A. Your last -- you are put above minimum wage -- I am not
55 sure by how much -- 5 or 10 cents above minimum wage. But
56 then, whatever you got rated on your last rating, which was
57 on 1, 2 or 3, gets put on top of that.
58
59 Q. These figures may be quite wrong, but suppose the minimum
60 wage for the year before was $5.75, and suppose you started
