SOUGHT BY PAINTERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1471, 20 June 1912, Page 3

SOUGHT BY PAINTERS.

CHANGEO ARBITRATION. MINISTER PROMISES NEW- BILL. Various amendments to the Arbitration Act were advocated by a deputation from the Painters' and Decorators' Federation which waited yesterday upon tho Hon. G. Laurenson (Minister for Labour). Mr. G. F. Royling, who acted as spokesman,, said that it was not known whether (he tiovpinmcufc intended to amend the Arbitration -Act during the . coming session, but there were a number of amendments which his Federation would like to see embodied. In'tho first place they dpsircd the insertion of a. proviso that any person or corporate body engaged in ail industry should bo bound by tho full terms of an award relating thereto. At present, Mr. Reyling stated, tho Judge made a practice of, exempting all corporate bodies and a great many people who were not entitled to be made exempt. Ho had told the Judge that places which did , not eome under tho scope of the award turned out more painters than all the regular painters' shops in Wellington. Anyone v.as taken in, to do rough work, and oftcra time men engaged in this way came out a? "full-blown" painters and competed with men who had served an 'apprenticeship of five years. These irregular tradesmen were not competent.

The Minister: Ton desire that borough councils, harbour boards, and other bodies should bo bound by an award just as oro painters by profession? Mr. Reyling: Yes; these people are in the business for profit; there is no question- about it.

Mr. Reyling mentioned that at a con'ference hold by-his Federation at Dunedin, last Easter, complaints were made that tho Canterbury Kducation Board employed men in Christchurch, sent them into the country, . and paid them less than the award- wages. The board also refused to pay overtime. As things stood, nothing could be done in cases of this kind.

Another proposal advanced by Mr. Reyling was that an advertisement should be deemed -a sufficient notification to employers when an award was being sought. The Act at. present- requires that each employer shall bo separately cited. When applications had been made to attach certain parties to awards, Mr. Reyling stated, the Judge had said that it was unnecessary to do so, as they would come automatically under the award if they employed any painters. If, such parties committe a breach, however, the Labour Department declined to take action, on the score that these people were not orig-' inal parties. The Department held that persons who were in business (not necessarily the business to which an award applied) could not, when an award was made, be prosecuted for a breach unless they had been attached as original parties. In practice great difficulty was experienced in attempting to cite everyone engaged in an industry. The difficulty was experienced particularly in the country districts, but even in the cities parties I were sometimes overlooked. I

Other requests put forward were for statutory compulsory preference to unionists and the abolition of the power, now vested in magistrates, of dismissing certain industrial cases. His I'ederation. also desired, Mr. Reyling added, that agreements concluded before a conciliation- council should be made binding. Iu a recent case at Wanghmii the Judge had altered a preference clause in an agremeiit to which both masters and men had subscribed. A short Bill should be passed, Mr. Boyling said, to provide for the compulsory registration of partnerships. At present award . provisions., relating to wages were sometimes defeated under cover of alleged partnerships. The suggestions which had been made, Mr. Reyling stated, were the result of the previous 'Easter conference of the Painters' and Decorators' Federation. The other members of the deputation, Messrs, Cornwall and Brodrick, briefly endorsed what Mr. Reyling had said. The Minister said that it was proposed to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act' this year, and assured the members of the deputation that the 'suggestions which they had mado would be taken into careful consideration. The Act was designed to promote 'industrial peacc, Mr. Laurenson continued, and it was essentia! that it should bo made more and more of a peace-making Act. . The Court must be regarded with confidence by both men and employers, even when the judgment -went against them. The deputation had stated its case reasonably, and with moderation, and was all the more likely on that account, to command careful consideration of what had been advanced.-