WIDER DEFINITION OF "INDUSTRY"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 5, 29 September 1937, Page 9

WIDER DEFINITION OF "INDUSTRY"

-PreBs Association. )

Amending Bill Passes the House UNDER-RATE PERMITS

(By Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, Last' Night. In moving the second reading of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration • Amendment Bill the Minister of Labour, Hon. H. T. Armstrong, amplifying the statement made by the acting-Min-ister of Labour, Hon. P. C. Webb, when the Bill was introduced last week, said the Government was not asking for an amendment to the Act becanse it had any complaint to make against the Appeal Court for its ruling restricting the accepted meaning of t'he ■word ' 4 indnstry. ' ' It accepted the Court 's ruling as to the meaning of the law, but nevertheless the ruling had made it imperative that a wider definitiou should be sought, otherwise it would bo impossible for clerical workers to secure an award of their own and they Would have to join up with the union for the industry in which they were employed. That would probably be* seriously objected to by the unions concerned, and if the interpretation was not altered, it would leave nothing for the workers to do but to commence unionism on industrial lines— for iiistance( one union for all employed in the bvdlding trades as had been advocated in the TJnited States of America. A similai position to the present one had arisen in Australia in 1911, and since that datc .it had been known in New • Zealand that, ' if an appeal had been lodged against our own law, that law could ,have been upset. The Minister tvent on to outline the effect of the various clauses in tha amendAent. Clause 2, he said, deflned the term "industry" to inelude any business, trade, manufacture, undertaking or calling of employers and any calling, service, employment, handicraft j or occupation of workers. The meaning i of the first three clauses was to make j legal the interpretation given to the i word "industry" by the Arbitration j Court in 1925, in fact, ever since there had been an Arbitration Act in Kew Zealand. The last clause, No. 4, widensd the powers of the Minister to issue permits to nnderrate workers. Under tim clause permits could be issued by the Labour Department to permit underrate workers to work in industries in which they were not usually employed, power which •had not hitherto been held by the de.partment. , 0 . Last session, said Mr. Armstrong, he had taken similar powers under the Apprentices Act. He also stated ^hat neither the Pederation of Labour noi the great bulk of nnions had placed any obstacle in the way of getting jobs for boys who had missed apprenticeships nor had they placed obstacles in the way of anyone securing employment. ■ "I do want this Bill to go through," he said in conclusion, "I would appeal to members not to speak on the whole arbitration law as they are entitled to do under this amendment. There will be another Arbitration Bill coming down this session with six or seven innocent clauses, and that will- afford them an opportunity of discussing the Act." Hon. Adam Hamilton, "after stating that the Minister 's appeal to put the Bill through rather. cut the ground from under the Opposition's feet, said tho Bill arose as a result of the clerks' award ahd said, had it not been through the stubbornness of the Minister in refusing registration of the Clerks7 Union, there would have been no necessity for expensive Court proceedings nor would there have been any oceasion for the present measure. He contended that the definition of "industry" in the Bill opened the door over wide. Mr; W. J. Polson contended that the introduction of the word "calling" made the legislation roach every section of the community. Mr. J. O'Brien said that the Bill wrould permit certain classes of workers to have their own unions. • ■ The Minister, in reply, said that registration had been granted to several classes of clerical workers, because they had shown they should have separato unions. With regard to the Stock and Station Agents' Clerical Union, they had approached him and - he had promised to consider their ca'se, but before he had reached a decision they took it out of his hands and put it in the hands of the Court. If they had not taken legal act-ion, registration would probably have been granted before it was ordered by the Court. Now they had registration and nothing would be done to prevcnt them from using it, The Bill went through, all stages without amendmont and was passed.