SHEARERS' DISPUTE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10103, 26 September 1910, Page 5

SHEARERS' DISPUTE.

ARBITRATION COURT AWARD. A PENAL CLAUSE. The industrial trouble concerning the shearers in the Wellington dia-; ! tfict, affecting the rates of pay 'and general conditions, was dealt IjWith in the Arbitration Court on' iSaturclaF.-wnen the Court made an ■award.,.. ... , , Jr , ~„■ I Practically the only, question, ip this was as to, the rates of pay. These have been fixed by the Court, and a clause has also been inserted for the purpose of making it penal.for the union or any memI I ber to attempt to prevent workers from accepting work »t the rates fixed by the award. "No;;,worker," says a memorandum attached to the award, "is bound to work at these rates, and he is a liberty to stipulate for a higher rate. If, however, workers acting in combinaton refuse to work with the view, of obtaining a higher rate, that will constitute the offence of taking part in a strike."

TERMS OF AWARD. The term of the award ia to be for three years, and it came into oper-. ation on Saturday. The; general conditions bfi the award are the same as those n«w in l force in Canterbury.

The following is tho text of the new dauae r— : "UNION Nbf'TO DEFEAT PROVISIONS OFITHE A WARD."

"Neither the'union nor any mera'foe'r thereof shall'do anything, either directly or indirectly, for the purpose of preventing any person from working underlthe conditions fixed by this award, oi; for the purpose of inducing any person to abstain from working under?tWd paid conditions; and for the purpose of constituting a breach of this provision it shall not be necessary ;<for; the offender to have any particular person or persona in view at the time of the alleged offeiice." RATE OF FAY. The} rates, of pay in were acopted fqr the' Wellington district. Thbygajre*— ' Shearing by hanef, 20s 1 ' per hun-s dred, and rations. ~t Shearne by machine.,. J9* 6d per 100, and ratiois.

Shearing lambs, 18s 6d per 100, and ration?.

In'cases where the shearers find their own rationr, the rates to be increased by 3s,- per hundred.. . The, rate .for shearing stud sheep tp\be agreed to by .the; empJoyer and emi plcyee; hogget ramsj rate end a half \ other rams, double ordinary rates. * SHED HANDS' DISPUTE.

In answeV to a questiori'by Mr F. Wardell, secretary- the Canterbury Shearers' Union, hi? Honour said in regard to the abed hands' dispute in Wellington, that it would be taken after the, Canterbury shed hands' dispute, w which would be heard in November. ■ ' l MR LARACY ASKS A QUESTION. Mr Laracy: Would it be a breach uf the award to] advise Rhearers that the Court only fixes a minimum rate His Honour: I am not here to be cross-examined by you, Mr' Laracyi His Honour advised Mr Laracy to seer'jj solicitor thje . [( &lr laracy: 'Very, welf, your Honour. i - j MR LARACY INTERVIEWED. ' WHAT THE AWARD MEANS.

THE EMPLOYERS SATISFIED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Last Night. Mr M. Laracy; shears' representative, who was seen subsequent to the proceedings in the Arbitration Court,£»tated that the award had been made, and the men -would { abide by it; hut for all that, the men had resolved not to shear for less than £1 per hundred* all round, and there was nothing to compel them to do otherwise. It was in the men's own hands whether they would engage or not. The position now was exactly as it waß before. They were no further .ahead. Asked if there was a possibility of shearers coming from Australia, Mr Laracy said he did not think so. Even if the men did come, he had good [ reason to believe they would not engage excepting at the rate the | Union desired. He had sent the following cablegram to Australia to day:—"Editor 'Worker.' Sydney— Award, £1 blades, 19s 6d machines; men here solid for £1 all round before engaging." Mr Laracy repeated Ithat as the award was now fixed the men would refrain from working. The alteration in rates would mean a loss of thousands of pounds to the Bhearers in the Wellington district, .'in the old award there was a clause allowing 2a 6d per hundred for dagg-. , ina. This had been deleted, and the men .again suffered. ■ Mr < Laracy pointed out that two years ago in, Wellington, the employers, met the, shearers, and it was almost unanimously agreed that shearing was worth ..451 hundred. jn;Canter w bury several years ago, the case was exhaustively gene into before the Court, and the rate was fixed there at 188 per 100. Now, after two years, the sanae Court said that shearing in Canterbury was worth JEil-i per hundred for blades, j and in the North Island, where the \ £1 rate was formerly agreed on, by

practical me!?, the Court had made a reduction to the equivalent of 23 6d or 3s per hundred. Mr W. Pryor. the employers' representative, in an interview, paid the shearers had to be congratulated on the Court's liberal,' treatment. He fell sure the shearers would ac- . cept the award, and that ail possibility of trouble would be avoided. 'The'employers felt satisfied withthe Court's intimation that the con* ditions laid down in ,|the Canterbury? dispute would be the conditions in all -awards, rnaKing : one eiet ditions for the while Dominion,