ARBITRATION COURT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 40, 10 November 1917, Page 3

ARBITRATION COURT

YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS SEVERAL AWARDS MADE v The Court of Arbitration sat in Wellington again yesterday. Mr. Justice Stringer presided, and the assessors were Mr. W. Scott (employers), and Mr. J. W. H'Cullough (employees). Claim of a Chinese. ' Ah -Ming, farm labourer, Otaki, sought to from .George Bevan,- farmer, Otaki, for injuries' alleged to have been received when Ming was working on plaintiff's property. The injuries were said to have been caused , through a thorn or a twig getting in one of Ming's eyes when he was cutting a hedge. He claimed 4e. per week (half average wages). . The defendant contended that flling was not an employee of his at the time of the accident, but a. contractor; ako, that'even if he was an employee he was employed for a period of less than seven days, that notice of the accident was given as soon as practicable, and that the accident did not occur while Ifing was working for the defendant. Mr. P. J. O'Kegan appeared fpr Ming, and Mr. .6. H.,Treadwelhfor Bevan. The case was not finished when the C<surt rose for the day. Hairdressers' Award. Interpretation of the following clauso in the Hairdressers' Award was applied for:—"Leasing chairs: Where a gerson who carries on the business of a "hairdresser and tobacconist lets any chair or part of his shop for the purpose of hairdressing to any other person, such last-mentioned person shall for the purpose of this award be deemed to be a worker, and. such firet-ipontioned person shall be deemed to be an employer." The union wished the lessees of the saloons to be regaided as workers. and tlie tobacconiste to be termed tho employers. On the other hand it was contended that the lessees of the saloons employed their own labour and were the real employers. Mr. D. M. Findlay appeared for tho nnion, and Mr. M. Myers for the employers. .„„. The Court"reserved decision. Awards Filed. Awards were filed in the following disputes in which agreements had been a>. rived at in tho Conciliation Council:— Iron and Brass Moulders, Boilermakers', and Engineers'. An award wae filed in the aerated water workers' dispute. The award is practically on tho lines of the old award. As to wages, a war bonus of 2s. per week is provided for. Respecting an application by tho employers for the insertion of provisions relating to the employment of women, the Court did not think it necessary or desirable that that should be done. Mr. Lawrence Watkins, organist of. St. Mark's Church, Wellington, is said to have written a romantic opera with an Eastern setting. The chorus rehearsals have already commenced under the direction of the composer, and it is reported that, at a later date, the piece may be etaged by Mr. Tom P. Pollard. Miss Muriel Starr (who has been away in America) will be seen again in Melbourne at Christmas in J. 11. Goodman's remarkable play, "Tlie Man Who Came Back." She will also play in "The Thirteenth Chair."