ARBITRATION COURT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1305, 7 December 1911, Page 7

ARBITRATION COURT.

SITTING CONCLUDED. WHAT IS CARPENTEES' WORK? Tiio Arbitration Court concluded its sittings yesterday. Mr. Justico Sim, president, Mr. -J- .A. M'Cullough, workors representative, and Mr. K. Scott, employers' roprwentative, occupied tho Bench. ; Tho ca-o Insiwclor of Awards *'■ tho Mavor and' councillors ot M.wmar wa, ilitonded to determine whether tho election of piekot icncfs is carpontua and iotSors' tark. Recently an employee .of the Miramar Uorough Council Wis instructed to crest picket fences round some •-hrute planted on one of tho roads of th* borough, and ho did tho work satisfactorily ' enough. Tho Inspector of Awards sought tho opinion of tho Court .is to whether this was a breach of tho Carpenters' Award, in that tho- council employee was not a member of tho union, and was not paid tho award rat« of wages. The Inspector oi Awards, Mr. R. A. Bolland, appeared in person, and Mr. V. Meredith tor tho Miralnar Borough Council. Evidence wis given by 'carpcnters to the cffect that ordinary picket ienoo work was gouerally done by carpenters, and they stated,.in effect, that tho mere fact that carpenters' tools T .v-3rc used constituted tho work carpenters' work. On bohaLf of the council evidanco was tenderod that tha fence was a very rough one.; no posts or battens wero planed or pointed. Most of tho caro required for the work would bo in putting in. tho posts. The Court reserved judgment. COMPENSATION. Edward Charman, plasterer, claimed from Charles Emeny, master plasterer, the sunt of £1 Us. 6d., compensation for injuries received in tho courso of his employment. . Mr. D. M. . Findlay appeared for the claimant, and tho respondent appeared in person. • . Tho accident was sufficient to .causo I Charman to be laid up for two short j terms,-and _to necessitate his undergoing two operations. Respondent's only defence was that no proper notico had beon given of the accident. Respondent had unfortunately allowed his insurance poli \v to run out. Tho _CouTt found that tho injury had been tho result of accident, and further, that .respondent had not been prejudiced in any way by plaintiff's failure to give notice. • They, therefore.-awarded'judg-ment for plaintiff for £7 -ts., deducting trom tho amount of the claim an item of 45.-M. lor a medical certificate.

JOINING OF PARTIES. • PRECEDENT LAID DOWN. The Court care,decision upon the application of tho Painters' Union to have the .Gear Moat Company, the Wellington Meat Export .Company, the Wellington Harbour Board,' the Vt'ellingiou City Corporation, and the Union Steam Ship Company joined as parties to. the Painters' Award. Iho Court decided that tho par-' ties should bo added, but that they should be exempt from all provisions of the award except those relating to wages overtime, and hours of wdrk. His Honour added to his judgment the following memorandum:— .

"Where an award is made in connection with a trade or 'industry, the parties to the award should be limited, as ..far as possible,- to employers who are engaged in that particular trade or industry. The employers named in >this order are not carrying on business as master painters. They, therefore, . should not bo added as ordinary parties to tho award. They however, are doing work from timo to time that comes within the scope of tile award,.. and .are. employing lViirueymen painters. In these. circnaj" stances the- course to adout, in' the opinion of; thb '.Court,iM'J}, them as parties fo th 6 award, so 'as"£6 " bind them .to. .pay the wages, fixed by '. tho award." and also to pay ,'fcr cvertime and for ..work done .on holidays tij; tli'e'. provisions -'of. the ' award, which prima facie, arc annlje- , able only in business as master-painters. The' Court adopted ' the same, course with regard to builders and other similar employers when dealing \nth the boilermakers' dis-. puto in Wellington in SeptemWiast, ' anil that and the present case are to be treated as. settling the practice of tho Court with regard to all similar cases.

NOT SUBURBAN WORK. GAS COMPANST CASE. Che Court delivered judgment in the case Inspector of Awards v. the WeiGas Company, Limited, an action to. recover . a penalty for an alleged breach of the Wellington carpenters'.award. ..The breach alleged "was that tho defendant did employ ccrtain carpenters at Miramar, outsiue a radius of two miles from the Te Aro Post Office, and dad fail to pay such carpenters for time occupied in travelling to and from such place as provided by the award. At tho bearing Inspector Bolland appeared in person,-and-Mr. K. B. Bwn lor the defendant.

The company has its registered office and a place of business in the city of Wollington, and it has also a permanent place of business and an office at MiraTnar, where works for tho storage of gas have been erected, and further works aro in course of erection. To construct 'these works the company employs a number of carpenters. All carpenters required bv tho company at Miramar aro cngo.ged at the office or place of business at Jliramnr and aro paid and discharged at such office.

'The question to ho determined/' said his Honour, "is whether the company is liable to pay any carpenter engaged in this way his travelling expenses under CLiusc 7 of the award, if such carpenter resides more than two miles from tho company's place of business at Miraraar. lbe answer to this question depends upon where the company is to be treated as carrying on business within the moaning of Clause 7of tho award. Now the award is one dealing-with the building; trade, and it can apply to the company only in relation to building operations. The company is not carrying on business as a builder.' Its business is the manufacture and sale of gas, and this business is carried on in tho city of Wellington. Ihe building operations in which the company is now engaged are incidental to the company's own business. . . It appears to us that in these circumstances the company should not be treated as carrying on business as a builder m the air of Wellington within the meaning of Clanse 7. For the purposes of that clause it is carrying on business at Miraniar, and Jtiramar must.be treated, therefore, as its place of business." Judgment, therefore, went for dnfendZ S V - P Z y - ■ H r - enough did not concur in the judgment. Ho thought the company should be treated as carrying on business in Wellington,