Ruling for Farrier Waimak

Press, 15 April 1980, Page 3

Ruling for Farrier Waimak

PA Wellington The chief judge of the arbitration court (Judge J. R. P. Horn) ruled yesterday that the North Canterbury firm of Farrier Waimak, Ltd, had not contravened provisions of the General Drivers Award when it did not pay workers road expenses and other allowances while requiring them to work away from home. 7

Judge Horq, in a decision reserved since the hearing on March 14 dismissed the ruling of a disputes?: committee chairman .that the company had' not complied with the provisions of Clause 21 of the award, which provides for country work agreements,- ; and was therefore subject to Clause 22, which provides for the payment of road expenses and allowances for overnight trips. “In this case,” said Judge Horn, “the . work being undertaken was in .the ■ Cheviot district “in North Canterbury over.a period of some six to. eight weeks and the workers were based in Cheviot. Their homes were in Christchurch.”

The union, the respondent, claimed that in addition to, or whether the clause applied at all, the overnight provision of Clause 22 . applied in any event. Clause 22 provides for the payment of a specified sum (about $3) for a night when the worker is away from his home. The applicant, Farrier Waimak, alleged that the two clauses were mutually exclusive and that the overnight work clause did not apply to country Work. Judge Horn ruled that the case hinged on the meaning of the words overnight and trips as"used in Clause 22. “The continuous nature of the work away from home in one locality and whether within the scope of the country work clause -or not seems to be entirely _at variance with any meaning that we can read into the-words ‘overnight work.’ “Therefore, in the present instance, we hold the overnight provision of Clause 22 is not applicable to the facts of the present case,” said Judge Horn.