THE ARBITRATION ACT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 42, 13 November 1920, Page 10

THE ARBITRATION ACT

TALK OP CANCELLATIONS. Labour circles continue to give '-signs of agitation at the amendment to the Arbitration Act permitting the appearance of unregistered organisations of workers or employers in Arbitration Court proceedings initiated by unions registered under the Act. ; Some union secretaries offer tho opinion that as a result of tb.> legislation quite a number of unions will cancel. their registration under the Act.. "As soon as any registered union is 'up against' an' unregistered body of men for the first time it will cut itself adrift from the Act Tight away," remarked one Labour official to a Dominion reporter. "The decision of English trades unionists to have nothing to do with anything in the way of compulsory arbitration is exorcising tho blinds of mnnv workers in New- Zealand, and t.iiie idea is gaining strength, that unions can. do better for themselves by entering into direct ncgot ations with employers rather than conducting proceedings under tho Arbitration Act. Some unions in Wellington are on the of getting outside the purview of tlio Act, for a good deal of dissatisfaction exists with the decisions of the Arbitration Court, und the long intervals which exist between Hie commencement of disputes and their final settlement by tlio Court are another cause ot irritation. By registering under th, Labour Investigation Act, unions possess; tho 'right to .strike, ami this .is ronsicleted to be a powr-rful weapon ill the 1 nnda of organised bodies of worlyrs registered under this Act. There is talk of some unions cancelling their registrata under the Arbitration Act anil le-iogistor n„ und/r the Labour Disputes Investigation Act." '