FULL DECISION IN RUNANGA MINE DISPUTE

Grey River Argus, 8 September 1948, Page 7

FULL DECISION IN RUNANGA MINE DISPUTE

The president of the Runanga State Miners’ Union, Mr G. E. English, has received from the Minister of Mines, the Hon. A. McLagan, the full decision of the recent tribunal concerning the July and August dispute at Liverpool and Strongman State mines. Mr McLagan expressed regret that, due to a misunderstanding, a copy of the decision, was not forwarded to the union earlier. ' The reserved decision of the chairman of the tribunal (Mr A. A. McLachlan, S.M.) states: — “Question 1 What was the custom at the Liverpool and Strongman State coal mines prior to the sevenhour day, regarding reductions from employees’ wages for time occupied in attending stop-work meetings?, “Answer (unanimously): On evidence of both parties to the dispute time lost in stop-work meetings, of less than one hour and aggregating in the case of Liverpool less than one hour per month, on an average, and in the case of Strongman less than two hours per calendar month up to the time of the beer price dispute, and for many years prior, was not subject to a reduction from pay. CHAIRMAN’S DECISION

‘As to the second question, the opposing representatives not being able to agree, tht case had to be left to the chairman alone to decide and the decision is in the negative on the following grounds:— “(1) Any trade union usage or custom must have first been legal and reasonable in its origin, certain of reasonably universal application and acceptability, for even if well established, it could go out of vogue gradually or even suddenly on a change of circumstances, such as, wr example, the advent of the sevenhour day. “(2) Even if the Minister had not stipulated it, the usage to pay for stop-work meetings would have become unreasonable when super-add-ed to the benefits of the seven-hour day, reasonable as it may, have been under previous conditions and on the moderate basis that prevailed regarding the extent of stop-work meetings. “(3) Both the Minister’s memorandum of February 18, bv a clear and strong inference from the clause dealing with the working of a complete shift as a condition precedent to the receipt of payment for the one hour, and the clause in the master agreement and the West Coast agreement, specifically oust any usage or custom that existed. -“(4) The payment at Strongman for five stop-work meetings between April 5 and June 6, the date of coming into operation of the agreement could not, in any case, establish the usage or revive any old custom, as these payments were not made with authority, and apart from tfiis fact they were made prior to the acceptance of the terms of the agreement, which are quite clear and specific on the subject, both of complete shift and for stop-work meetings. GENEROUS OFFER “(5) The Minister’s fresh offer of two hours in the aggregate, is deemed generous and liberal and is in no way an admission of the old usage being preserved, notwithstanding the old conditions.” The second of the two terms of reference referred to above was as follows: —“Was the Runanga State Coal Miners’ Industrial Union of Workers, on June 21, is terms of the letter dated February 8, 1948, by the Minister of Mines, setting out the general rules applied by the Government in respect of the seven-houi’ day, as extended by the 1948 West Coast District Coal Mmes agreement entitled to claim payment of the seven-hour day compensation allowance of one hour for hewers on piece work and truckers on contract, or under the bonus scheme on days on which they do not work a full shift owing to ' attendance at stopwork meetings?” Commenting yesterday, Mr English said that the decision on the first term of reference was in favour of the Union, and contrary to what was published in a Wellington paper.