ARBITRATION LAW.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 801, 26 April 1910, Page 4

ARBITRATION LAW.

DISSATISFIED UNIONS. QUESTION OF CANCELLATION.. The Dominion published last Friday a list of fifteen unions of workers and eight unions of employers which had been given ' six. weeks'' notice of the Deputy Registrar's intention- to cancel their registration under the Arbitration Act, as the result of their neglect to comply with the conditions imposed on unions that wish to exist subject to the Act. It was remarked as significant that so many unions appeared to set very little value upon the benefits supposed to be conferred upon them by the Arbitration Act. In this connection, Mr. E. J. Carey, President of the AVellinglon Trades and Labour Council, made an-interesting statement to a Dominion reporter yesterday. "The fact is," said Mr. Carey, "that there are several reasons for these unions incurring the probable cancellation of their, registration, but. the principal one is that in many instances the unions, after formation and application to the Arbitration Court for. an award, have obtained* one which, instead of improving their conditions of work, has done quite the reverse. Individual members of the organisations concerned have found that their working conditions previous to securing the award were better than those granted by the Court.. Moreover, it is generally the case that the small minimum'wage of these awards is offered as the maximum to : the unemployed worker, and is used'against him when he bar; gains for a higher wage. In effect, the individual members of several of the organisations mentioned have found: themselves, because of the unsympathetic attitude of the Conrt, in a position to make better bargains as individuals. In other instances, perhaps the failure of the union officials to send in the annual returns in accordance with the Act may be responsible for the warning as to cancellation. The refusal of the Court to. give a satisfactory preference clause, is always detrimental to the existence of a union whose members are employed in establishments scattered about a district. Perhaps, in the case of the miners, the : general opinion that they are organised strongly enough to secure fair • working conditions and can therefore afford to ignore the mediation of the Arbitration Court is responsible for that class of organisation refusing to be any longer registered under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act.

"If, as Mr. Millar stated in the House some time ! ago, the Court cannot con-' tinue to increase the rates of pay already prescribed, then, obviously, the unions will begin to think it is no use troubling any further about the Court. It is safe to say that there is a general dissatisfaction with the awards of the Arbitration Court of the last few years. Pew unions nowadays/attempt to go to the Court for improved: conditions, and that is the reason of the boasted success of the system of. conciliation commissioners and councils. The unions and officials clearly recognise l that if. concessionsccarn r not be gained from the employers'at a Conciliation Council, then it is; hopeless to expect them from the Arbitration ■ Court; as at present constituted." , THE EMPLOYERS' SIDE. : ; Mr. W..A.W. Grenfell. secretary of the Wellington Employers'. Association, was asked, why so many unions of employers wero allowing their, registration to lapse. He'replied that the employers' unions had generally been formed for some definite purpose, and when that had been attained, the interest died out, and the registration was allowed to lapse. Probably, in a large proportion of cases the employers recognised the value of organisation when a dispute arose, but after it had been settled by an award, there was not business enough to make it seem worth while to keep up some of the small unions. -He did not see, in the lapsing of the registrations any indication of-the attitude of employers towards the Arbitration Act.; It was, merely.'a case of lack of interest' on the part of individual members of some of the smaller 'untimslij.-w. z\.*.-a,v~A ■•<!:; -..,' • -:. ;,