By 1890 3,198 people were employed, but average pay was only £73 a year, among the lowest of average wage rates at the time. There were also frequent cases of workers caught in machines. Initially unions were resisted, as in the report of an 1891 strike, which said, "Mr Hall intends to proceed to Auckland for the purpose of procuring fresh men to work the mill." The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 and growth of unions improved the low pay and conditions. By 1913 a commentator wrote, ""A few years ago flax milling was largely done by boys who received a few shillings per day, now in these more enlightened (?) days a boy gets a man’s wage. For instance the minimum wage paid this season at Mr Rutherford's Te Aoterei mill has been 11s 3d for a ten-hour day.""