A YEAR BEHIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 248, 19 October 1937, Page 6

A YEAR BEHIND.

The almost hopeless task which confronts the Arbitration Court was illustrated again yesterday. So great is the accumulation of work before it that it was unable to fix dates for the consideration of two disputes, the parties to which have been waiting for more than a yea* fox a hearing. In other cases the terms of agreements made in conciliation councils, and submitted to the Court for endorsement, have expired before the Court has been able to consider them. The terms of partial agreements, referred to the Court with the request that it c«mplete thorn by adjudicating upon minor, unsettled matters, have also expired. Two conclusions mny be drawn from these facts. The first and obvious one is that a tribunal which is a year behind in its work is so overloaded that it should have been relieved of some of its burden long ago. The Minister of Labour has announced that individual magistrates will be appointed, but the Court is still without their assistance. The Government's delay in this matter is strange, because delay in reaching the Arbitration Court may mean for some of the parties concerned delay in reaping the benefits of the Government's own legislation. The second conclusion is that the ability of parties to a dispute to carry on without access to the Court, when obliged to do so, at least suggests that they could have themselves settled their differences in conciliation council. Under existing conditions, a bird in the hand may easily be worth two in the Court.