RECENT LABOUR DISPUTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 37

RECENT LABOUR DISPUTES.

AN EXPRESSION" OF OPINION. Mr William Scott, secretary to the Otago Employers' Association, on being asked by one of our reporters as to whether he had any comment to make on the recent sittings of the Arbitration Court in Dunedin, replied that the noticeable feature of the recent sittings was the great number of disputes that had been settled in conference by the parties interested. Altogether eight disputes were set down for hearing, and six of them were settled without the interference of the court. The disputes settled by the parties themselves were the linotype operators, hand compositors, country newspapers, engineers, electrical workers, and the metal workers' assistants. Mr Scott states that he has during the last 12 months settled move disputes in con-fei-ence than he has conducted before the court. He is a firm believer in employers and employees meeting in conference and settling their differences in an amicable way, without the interference of outside aid. He maintains that the agreements, as made between the parties and embodied in the awards of the court, are always better kept and, generally speaking, more workable than the awards of the court. The parties to these agreements are experts ; they are thoroughly conversant, with all the technicalities and minute, though important, details of the work ; they provide for everything, and they understand the meaning of the clauses they themselves have drafted. It is a rare thing for an application for interpretation to be made respecting an agreement. Mr Scott claims to have put up a record in connection with Labour disputes. He states that he lists conducted 142 disputes before the court, comprising almost every trade, and in all parts of the Dominion. He has also presided over 187 conferences between emplo\ers and employees, and has been successful in the majority of eases, more particularly of late. He states that his aim of late years has been to avoid the court as much as possible, using it Only as a last resource. _ The greater his experience, the more convinced he is that the employers did the right thing when, some three years ago, they decided, in every case, to meet the workers in conference, if possible, with a view to an amicable settlement, failing which to take the dispute direct to the Arbitration Coui't, allow both sides to say all that could be said on their behalf, and then to abide loyally by the court's award.

Mr Scott complains — and it appears with some justification — that he is often misjudged by the workers and by the public, as it is only his court work that comes prominently before them. He claims to have many a friend among the workers, and prize* the numerous letters received by him from trade unions and individual workers thanking him for his services on their behalf. THE WHARF LABOURERS' DISPUTE.

Asked by our reporter how it was that the- Wharf Labourers' Conference did not end in a settlement, Mr Scott contended that it was entirely owing to the attitude of Mr Belcher. Two conferences were held, and the very best feeling prevailed throughout them, not one discourteous word was spoken by the representatives on either side, and e^ cry thins; promised well until, at the second conference, Mr Belchpr laid down an '' irreducible minimum " in connection with two or three of the principal clauses, and stated that he wished the employers to distinctly understand that, in so far as the clauses were concerned, the union could not abate one iota. The employers considered that these clauses were in some instances exorbitant, and would never be granted by the court, and, after discussion, decided that they could not concede them. II r Belcher then asked for full particulars of the clauses objected to. but the employers replied that it would only be a waste of time to consider the matter further, as the union had really laid down an ultimatum, and the employers could not accept it. "My candid opinion is." said Mr Scott, " that if the Wharf Labourers' Union had given its represent at i\e« power to settle, as is usual in such cases, the outcome of the conference would have been an amicable settlement in favour of the men." Mr Scott added : "No one regrcis more than I do the fruitless result of these conferences, and if the union is prepared to give its representatives power to settle, I am -willing to convene another conference, and I believe that an amicable settlement could yet be arrived at."