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

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