AWARDS INTERPRETED.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1073, 11 March 1911, Page 6

AWARDS INTERPRETED.

PREFERENCE TO UNIONISTS. Interpretations of tho Wellington Carpenters' and. Joiners'- Award and the Wellington Tailors' Award, as given by the Arbitration Court, liave been communicated to the press by Mr. E. Stacker, Clerk of Awards. Both interprctions were applied for by the Inspector of Awards.

Referring to clause 12 of the carpenters' award—"Preference of employment shall be given to members of the Wellington Amalgamated Society of Carpenters' and Joiners' Industrial Union of Workers" —the inspector put tho following question:— "If a worker who has served his apprenticeship with ail employer continues on in that employment as a journeyman at the expiration of his term of apprenticeship, does such employment as a journeyman constitute a now engagement, and, if so, is tho employer, in making such engagement, bound to give preference to members of tho union?"

The Court's answer is: "The Court is of opinion that, although the employment of the apprentico as a journeyman involved the making of a new contract of service, tho employment of tho apprentice in this way should not be treated as tho .engagement of a workman within tho meaning of clause 12 of tho award." "TEAM SYSTEM" IN TAILORING. The Court found that working as described in the two instances : detailed below constitutes a distribution of work on tho "team system," which is forbidden by the Wellington Tailors' Award:—

(1) An employer employs a number of female coat hands, and ono tailor to do work as followsTlio tailor to make ready arid sliape all coats for bagging, tlio tailor then to trim the fronts and

collars, and hasto the linings, facings, and collars; the tailoresses then to complete these coats so that the tailor is dependent on tlio tailoress for his work —this being a practice. (2) A number of female coat hands and ono tailor are employed to make coats, and the making of such coats is, not wholly done by any ono of tlio workers., but parts are done by a female and other parts are done by u tailor, so that the tailor's work is dependent on the tailoress—this being a practice.