Seamen refuse to recognise tribunal

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33581, 9 July 1974, Page 14

Seamen refuse to recognise tribunal

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 8. No self-respecting trade unionist could ever consider the Shipping Industry Tribunal to be a viable body, the secretary of the Seamen’s Union (Mr D. J. Morgan) said today.

The Seamen’s Union had always believed the tribunal should not be concerned with industrial matters. Mr Morgan was commenting on Mr Justice Speight’s ruling that the tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction when it ordered Mr Leo Dromgoole to employ a seaman as well as a master and engineer on the hydrofoil Manu-Wai. "We applauded . Mr Justice

Speight’s decision,” he said. "It coincided with our own view that the tribunal has no jurisdiction on industrial matters. “It was an instigation of the Tory Government and no self-respecting trade union body would consider it a viable body.” Mr Morgan said he understood the Minister of Labour (Mr Watt) had said in Auckland that there was a possibility the legislation provid-

ing for the tribunal would be amended. “If that is intended, we would expect to make submissions on the subject,” he said. He did not think the tribunal should be replaced by any other body. The Shipping Industry Tribunal was set up in 1971 along with the Marine Council and the Maritime Appeal Authority after the deregistration of the Seamen’s Union. A protest stoppage against the Shipping ana Seamen Amendment Bill—which provided for the setting up of the tribunal, with power to intervene in shipping disputes—led to the union’s deregistration. The Seamen’s Union then condemned the legislation as a denial of common justice. “The union has never officially recognised the tribunal,” Mr Morgan said. The assistant national secretary of the Waterside Workers’ Federation (Mr S. P. Jennings) said the tribunal could no longer be accepted as a judicial body after the Supreme Court decision. “Any union that has to go before the tribunal can no longer have any confidence in it," Mr Jennings said.