HOURS OF DRIVERS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20953, 4 November 1939, Page 4

HOURS OF DRIVERS

ROAD CONSTRUCTION WORK FIRM’S APPEAL DISMISSED “We agree with the magistrate that the case turns on the meaning of the word industry,” stated the Arbitration Court in a reserved decision issued yesterday, dismissing an appeal against a decision of the industrial magistrate, Mr J. A. Gilmour, in interpreting an hours clause in the New Zealand motor and horse drivers’ award. The appeal was brought by W. S. Goosman and Company, Ltd., Morrinsville, it being claimed that the magistrate’s decision was erroneous in law. The Court stated that the New Zealand builders, contractors and general labourers’ award ordained a 40-hour week and the drivers’ award a 44hour week, but the latter was subject to a provision that drivers employed in industries or by establishments where the working week was shorter would have their hours limited accordingly. The appellant argued that the well-established doctrine of substantial employment was applicable to a case where the majority of an employer’s staff were bound by the 44-hour week. “We are satisfied that the doctrine of substantial employment is no more than an analogy,” the Court continued. “The term industry as defined by the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, is very wide, and we are compelled to the conclusion that road construction and repair work come within this definition. We are satisfied that the terms must be given the same meaning in the award as in the statute, and as labourers engaged in the industry of road construction are covered by the labourers’ award, the drivers’ working week must also be 40 hours.”