DROVERS' UNION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 202, 20 May 1908, Page 3

DROVERS' UNION.

THE • INDEMNITY QUESTION. ■ The Wairarapa Drovers' Union intends to s ,. casu against the employers to tho Conciliation Board (writes our Wairarapa correspondent), but it is considered improbable) that thoro will bo any finality to the proceedings until tlio matter has been settled by_ the Arbitration Court. It is almost certain .that the demands, of tho Union in some respects■_'will bo stoutly contested, especially with reference to tho clause which proposes to indemnify them from all damage or loss with the'business of droving. ■ It is not fair to tho employers that' the drovers should bo indemnified against loss or damage t° stock," said a well-known, farmer, if they are going to ivork under ah award, which is really a contract. 'These men aresometimes in charge of mobs of sheep or cattle, which are worth-thousands of pounds. 110. know that numbers of the drovers are niost capablo men, but there aro others who 'hro not so,. and it is against these that tho employers require to be protected. Wo have lately had instances of gross carelessness on tho part of somo drovers, which ■ serve to show that they should not bo indemnified unless .they exercise reasonable precaution. For instance, somo timo ago a mob of sheep was driven down from tile Tenui to Masterton, a distance of twenty miles, in six hours. In another case it was ascertained : that the drover had lost and accumulated sheep in a most careless, manner, while on still another Manawatu and Hawko's Bay districts, 250 sheep were lost from tho mob, without the drover being aware of the fact. I'.do hot say that the transgressors in tho cases mentioned were members of the present union, but there is absolutely no doubt that tho facts as stated are correct, and can be substantiated by one of the most reliable stock agency firms in tho Wellington Province. • Therefore;' we contend that wo aro quite.right in protesting against tho indemnification ■ of' drovers for damage or Joss of stcck unless they exerciso reasonable precaution. In the same way, we must necessarily object to. preference being given to unionists, because tho fact of one becoming a unionist does not imply that ho would be reliable. Of course, if the. Union will mako itself responsible for tho conduct of its members, that is.a different matter."