ONE BIG AWARD.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 73, 27 March 1920, Page 12

ONE BIG AWARD.

» THE COURT'S DECISION. DECLINES TO INCLUDE OBJECTORS. MEANING OF RELATED TRADES CLAUSE. The Arbitration Court delivered its decision this morning in regard to the preliminary proceedings in the dispute hied hy the Auckland branch of the | Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. The union sought to combine various sections of the building trade under one award, and the Master Buildera' Association concurred in the application. Opposition was made by Sir. S. E. "Wright on behalf of the master plumbers, mopuniental masons, electricians, painters, and furniture trade employers. His Honor said that although they were all agreed that it would be a very convenient and economical course for employers in related trades to combine together to obtain an award covering all their workers, yet the Court thought that in the absence of agreement it ought not to compel the dissenting employers to come under such an award. The main reason was that it would to a large extent destroy the efficiency of conciliation* which was a feature of the Arbitration Act procedure. The Court held the view that the employers in a. dissenting- trade might very well say that the Act contemplated tha.t they should be able to meet their employees in Conciliation Council, independent alike, of other employers and workers, and endeavour to arrive at an amicable settlement. It was quite clear that unless the employers were all in agreement it would be possible for some particular employer to ha.ye no representation at all on the Conciliation Counvil, and that the whole -of the concilia: tion proceedings might, be controlled by the employers who had a majority. It was quite true, as had been *uggeet".d by Mr. Blodworth, that a. reasonable working arrangement might be arrived at, but the Act did not provide for it, and such arrangement might easily be brought to nought at any time by any particular section of employers. It was only a matter of convenience, and therefore the Court thought an employer who did not wish to come into an amalgamation of that sore ought not to be coerced. The Court was prepared to make an award covering the employers who were at one in this particular case, but it declined to compel those who objected, even if they were related trades. Therefore it was unnecessary for the Court to decide whether any of the trades in question were related. Mr. S. I. Clarke inquired what would be the position of the master builders in regard to representation in the disputes in the other branches of the trade, seeing that most of the master builders ]were also employers of plumbers, etc. . His Honor said the dispute would be ' between the master plumbers on the one hand and the journeyman plumbers on the other, and they appointed the assessors. The builders, as such, had nothing to do with it. Mr. Clarke pointed out that there were so many- builders who were also employers of workers in what were regarded as the sub-trade that if it were determined that they were shut out altogether in the matter of the making of the conditions for those workers it might become a case of the sub-trades controllin gthe trade proper. The Judge replied that the present arrangements had been in operation over since the Arbitration Court came into being, and the Court did not think it necessary to alter them. If every employer of labour were to have direct representation on the Conciliation Councila they would grow to very large dimensions, and that was not the policy of the Act! In the course of further discussion his Honor declined to intimate whether or not the Court was unanimous. Hia Honor also said, in reply to a question from Mr. Bloodworth, that even though certain trades were gazetted as being related, according to the provisions of Section 24, the Court would not deem it necessary to make a combined award unless the parties agreed. The date of the hearing of the dispute with the consenting parties was fixed for Thursday fortnight, while in regard to the. dissenting parties it was indicated that the disputes, would have to go through the Conciliation process in tno ordinary way. btjilding" TRADES FEDERATIOX TO MEET. A meeting of the Building Trades Federation has been called for Tuesday night, to discuss the position arising out of the Court's decision and to decide future, course of action.