EMPLOYERS' VIEW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 57, 8 March 1932, Page 8

EMPLOYERS' VIEW.

AUCKLAND ASSOCIATION. APPROVAL NOT GENERAL. SOME PROPOSALS COMMENDED. The advisory committee of tlie Auckland Provincial Employers' Association, after consideration of the amendment to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, has issued a statement, in the course of which it expresses the opinion that should the optional reference of industrial disputes to the Arbitration Court become law, a greater number of disputes will be settled by agreement between the parties in conciliation council, and it would only be in very exceptional cases that the employers' assessors would decline to refer to the Arbitration Court any matters on which it had been found impossible to reach agreement if the union assessors so wished.

Under the Act, the reference of disputes to conciliation councils and the Arbitration Court has always been to a great extent optional so far as the workers' unions are concerned, says the committee. If any union does not wish to come under the jurisdiction of the Act, it need not register under that Act, or if it is already registered it can cancel its registration and reregister under, say, the Trades Union Act, in which case all awards to which the union was a party would automatically expire on the date of expiry mentioned in the award. On the other hand, the employers can be compelled by the union to submit to an award of the Arbitration Court, whatever their wishes and opinions may be.

As instances of unions having abandoned the Arbitration Court as a means of settling disputes, because the Court has not beei» able to see eye to eye with them in their demands against the employers, mention can be made of the coal miners', seamen's and tramway employees' unions. Labour Disputes Act. Unless the union is registered unfier the Arbitration Act, the employers have no power to bring about an attempt "to settle any dispute with their workers, either by means of a conciliation council or the Arbitration Court.

It may be argued that in the case of a union deciding not to register under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, the employers have power to invoke the aid of the Labour Disputes Act if they wish to obtain an agreement. This Act, however, is unsatisfactory from the employers' point of view, inasmuch as in the event of no agreement being arrived at, the only alternative is the legal right for employers to 'lockout" or the workers to "strike." Although a considerable number of disputes have been settled under this Act, in a few cases no agreement has been reached, and, although a ballot taken of the members of the union favoured a "strike," the committee cannot call to mind any case in which a "strike" has eventuated.

Another important matter dealt with in the bill is in regard to piecework. In the past employers have agreed to the prohibition of piecework being inserted in awards. In- most ca-ses this has been agreed *to by the employers' assessors—sometimes even against tlieir better judgment, with the object of securing a full agreement on other clauses. The same may also be said of other clauses which, whilst of minor importance in themselves, have had a restrictive influence on industry. "Cancels the Advantage." The amending bill prohibits the prohibition of piecework in any award, and repeals any such clause at present in awards. The bill, however, provides that any w.orker on piecework shall be paid not less than he would earn if he was on "time wages." This proviso, to some extent, cancels the advantage both to employers and workers given by the right to work piecework. It will certainly enable a quick worker to earn more than the "time rate" of wages fixed by the award, but it will still bar the slow worker from working at his trade if he is unable to obtain employment at time rates owing to his slow rate of working.

There are provisions in the bill which will require, iowever, very careful consideration, and some matters on which further information would be required. It would be impossible, therefore, to say at this stage whether the measure in its present form meets the approval of employers generally.