Page:The humanizing of commerce and industry, the Joseph Fisher lecture in commerce, delivered in Adelaide, 9th May, 1919.pdf/30

 which the statutory payment of one pound a week could be supplemented. To this fund the employees contribute sixpence a week each, and the Company contributes sixpence a week, and out of the fund so created an injured man is paid thirty shillings a week. Under the South Australian Workers' Compensation Act as amended in December last, the rates were increased, so that Smelter employees who are members of the fund now receive altogether, from the fund and under the Workers' Compensation Act, three pounds ten shillings a week if married, and three pounds a week if single. This fund has grown in the eighteen months of its existence until there is a credit balance of about two thousand four hundred pounds, and arrangements have now been made to extend the fund to cover sickness, without increasing the contributions. The sickness payment will be one pound a week, and the scheme will be operated for twelve months in order to see what the demands on it for sickness claims will amount to. If necessary the position will then be reviewed. The administration of this fund is carried out by eleven trustees, eight of whom are elected by the different unions represented in the works, and three nominated by the Company. Membership is confined to unionists. The Company voluntarily gave the unions a majority of the representation, although it finds half the money. It was one of those matters in which the Company and its employees could co-operate together, and the same spirit has been applied in other activities. In each co-operative scheme for improving conditions the Company has insisted that the management must be carried out by the men, assisted by such representatives as the Company may nominate as most suitable to aid in securing success.

Regarding the Accident Fund, after eighteen months' experience it can be safely said that the administration has been excellent. To-day the Company follows the decisions of the trustees in paying compensation to injured men under the Act. If the trustees decide that the sufferer from an accident is entitled to accident pay from the fund, the Company follows that decision in paying the amounts required under the South Australian Act; in other words, a committee of representatives of the men decides who shall receive accident pay.

With a view to safeguarding the health and providing facilities for enjoyment and recreation, the Company not only grants a fort-