EMPLOYERS' MANIFESTO.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1898, 5 November 1913, Page 6

EMPLOYERS' MANIFESTO.

POSITION SET OUT.

GUARANTEE TO FEES LABOUR. The following official manifesto, which sufficiently explains itself, was issued yesterday:— The Wellington Employers' Committoo, , while regretting the failure of negotiations to settle' tho unfortunate strike now in existence, intimates that it cannot seo its way to enter into any agreement with an organisation which refuses to register under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act.

Tho employers throughout have been ready to resume operations at tho rates of pay and under tho general working conditions which obtained at tho time of tho strike, with a stipulation that the new agreement should do mado for a term of years and should be registered under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and they regret that the delegates from'the Waterside Workers' Union positively declined to entertain the proposal.

The Act proyides for disputes regarding the interpretation of agreements, etc., to bo adjudicated upon bv Stipendiary Magistrates'with appeal to tho Arbitration Court, and is the oniy moans provided by law by which power is given to "deoido _ disputes between parties to industrial agreements or awards, and to impose penalties for any broaches which may be committed by either side. -

The committoo, speaking in tho name of tho employers of tho Dominion, intimates that employers are moro than willing at all times to deal directly with organised unions which aro prepared to undertako that, if tho partios to any industrial dispute cannot agree to the terms of settlement, the matters in dispute shall bo settlod under tho conditions provided by the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and the decision so secured shall bo loyally accepted by both sides.

As it is essential that the trade of the Dominion should bo carried on, it has been decided that workerß who are prepared to aubscribo to the above conditions shall be omployed forthwith under fully adequate protection, and to guarantee a continuance or employment, after tho present troubles are ovor, to those who perform their duties satisfactorily.

Ordinary ourrent rates of pay for waterside workers will bo givon, and in Wellington until normal conditions prevail, satisfactory accommodation will be provided free of charge, and a minimum wage of £2 10s. per week will bo guaranteed by tho shipping companies. As labour is urgently required, applications for employment should bo mado to tho various shipping companies without delay.