ARBITRATION COURT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2643, 14 December 1915, Page 9

ARBITRATION COURT

WORK AFTER 10 P.M. AN IMPORTANT JUDGMENT The 'Wellington sittings of the Court of Arbitration wcrG'Ooncluded yesterday, when roserved judgment was delivered in a special case stated in, connection with, a recent incident when the men on' the Wellington wharves refused to work after 10 o'clock at night, and held up the transhipment of butter from tlio Corinna to the Annva. The case asked for an interpretation of a clause in the agreement between the Wellington Wharf Labourers' Union and the "Union Steamship Company, Ltd., and others. In giving judgment the Court said: "It is of course clear that the working of overtime is contemplated by the agreement. . . . There is a special clause on the subject. . . . It .is clear in the first place that this clause could not be interpreted literally, as if so a man once starting at any particular work could be required to go on until the work was finished, however long a time that might be. This would be absurd", and could not have been intended by tho parties. It must, therefore, be read with some modification, an(l we think it should be read with the implied modification that the man should continue work unless from illness, length of time workejl, or other good cause, it was reasonable for him to cease work before the parti«ular work at which he was engaged was finished. _ As, subject as above, the man starting work is bound to finish the work he is engaged, to do, before commencing elsewhere, so ; we think there is, under the clause, a corresponding obligation on the part of the to continue '<to employ the man until the particular work is finished, subject to their right to discharge him for good and sufficient cause. . . . Without a knowledge of what the customs and usages of the Port of Wellington are, it is not possible for us to say that on the facts as stated there lyas a breach of .'the, terms, of the agreement. It certainly appears to us that, as all the men engaged at the work in question ceased to work at 10 p.m., when another 20 minutes' work would'l have finished the job, they, or at least some of them, acted: unreasonably. If this action was a result of a combination or common understanding on the part of the workers ... it may well be, as contended by Mr. Myers, that this would bring sucil action withing the statutory definition of a strike; but we give no decided opinion 011 this point." The Court concluded by expressing the hope that the workers would carry on work in a fair and reasonable spirit, and on the footing of tlie interpretation given. The Court suggested ;that' the proper course to adopt would be to arrange for a readjustment of ( the terms of eriiployment, and a better definition of the occasions on -which work [it 10 p.m. could be required by the employers. PHfSA'S CARGO.' . The Court delivered a written judgment on,the well-known Phy'sa case, on' the lines of the oral judgment previously reported. "It may be," the Court adds, "that it would be reasonable for special rates to be fixed for tho discharge of oil from ships generally, or from particular ships, but, if so, the proper course for the workers to adopt would be to endeavour to arrange witli the employers for an amendment of the existing agreement, or, failing that, to have-the question s reconsidered after the expiration of the agreemont. In the meantime they ought to abido loyally by. tho terms of the agreement entered into by their union." ENGINE-DRIVERS' AWARD. ' ' The award of the Court of Arbitration in the Wellington Stationary, Traction, und Locomotive Engine-drivers' dispute .was filed with the Clerk of' Awards (Mr. 'x. S. Clark). The award provides- for a week of 48 hours, with wages v at'the rate of lis. per (lay for first-class ..stationary drivers, and for, other'classes at rates varying from 9s. per day to 10s. Gd. per day. Overtime' is to be paid at the .rate of time and a- quarter.for the first three hours, and at time and a half after the first three hours. In a memorandum attached to -the award the Court said: "The principal'questions dealt with by the Court were as to wages and exemptions. The Court has granted .some increases' 111 the wages, the proportionate increases being, by a majority of the Court, made greater in the case of the lower-paid workers than in the case of the hig'her-paid workors. The Court has, carefully considered the question of bringing all engine-drivers, in whatever-industry they may be engaged, within the scope of the award, and has arrived at the conclusion'that the balance of convenience, is in favour of - leaving engine-drivers engaged in industries, in which, a largo number of other classes of. workers are employed, to be dealt with in the separate awards or in'dustrial.agreements regulating such The Court, however,. has made provision that the employers mentioned in the exemptions shall pay to tho employed by them not less than the minimum wages and over,time rates by the award, and will endeavour, in all future awards dealing with industries in which enginedrivers are employed,; to secure to such engine-drivers the minimum rate fixed by this award." ' / 8/ • OTgER BUSINESS. The Court also filed the awards in the Merchant Service Guild disputes '(masters and officers)' and the chief stewards' dispute. These embodied, without alteration, the recommendations of the Conciliation Councils. , it was mentioned that the boot operatives''dispute had not been before the Conciliation Council, and it accordingly stands over for the time being. Decision was reserved on certain points connected with the Nelson furniture trades dispute and tho Wellington furniture trades award.