INVALID LAW.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18670, 20 April 1926, Page 7

INVALID LAW.

FORTY-FOUR HOUR WEEK ACT.

FEDERAL COURT'S RULING.

(BI CABLZ—PBBSS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (AUSTBALIAH ASD S.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION)

(Received April 19th, 5.25 p.m.)

SYDNEY, April 19.

The High Court of Australia has delivered its reserved judgment in the three appeals challenging the validity of the Now South Wales Forty-Four Hours' Week Act. The Court upheld all the appeals, discharged the order of the Magistrate, and dismissed the summonses of the Chief Justice.

Delivering judgment, the Court said the question which aroso for the Court's determination was whether, when a Federal award was duly made, the Parliament of a State could alter its terms or impose on the parties to it rights or obligations inconsistent with such terms. The Court ruled that the Forty-Four Hours Act was inconsistent with the law of tho Commonwealth within the meaning of the Constitution and. to the extent of that inconsistency, was invalid. Tho decision has caused great disappointment to union officials, but at present it is not anticipated to lead to industrial trouble as the men working under the Federal awards will continue their work.

The President of the Employers' Federation said the judgment was a matter of very grave* concern and might cause friction. The Employers' Federation would hold a meeting at an early date to consider the new situation created and decide upon a course of action if necessary. He declined to state whether employers generally would now deduct four hours' pay from all employees who continued to work forty-four hours when fortyeight hours were specified by the Federal award.

[The Clyde Engineering Company decided to test Mie validity of the Forty-Four Hour Week Act by applying to the High Court for a writ of prohibition directed against the Magistrate who recently ruled that the company was liable for overtime for all time worked over forty-four hours a week. The appeal was dismissed by the Full Court. Subsequently the Full High Court granted leave to appeal against the decision of the Magistrate on the Forty-Four Hour case.]