LABOUR DISPUTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 225, 16 June 1908, Page 8

LABOUR DISPUTES.

LATE BLACKBALL STRIKE. . MOTION IN SUPREME COURT. ' . (BY -TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Christchurch, June 15. A motion in certiorari will be brought be- - foro Mr. Justice Denniston this week by the Blackball Miners' Union, tho object being to ■ > obtain a writ from tho Supremo Court to bring into that Court the order made by Mr. •> Justice Sim in tho Arbitration Court. , V Tho procedure is precedent to an applica- / tion to tho.Supremo Court to quash 'Mr.''Jus- ,- r / tico Sim's judgment as against individual ■ mombers of the Blackball Miners' Union, and. V to render invalid distress issued in '. pursuance of that judgment for the recovery .'■ of fines. ; ■ - • ■■ '...Mr. Russoll, acting Crown. Solicitor, will oppose tho motion on behalf of the Crown. BLACKWATER STRIKE SETTLED. . ' • [BX TELEGRAPH. —PEISB ASSOCIATION.] , ; . Resfton, June 15. At,a meeting of tho Inangahua Miners' Onion at Blaclcwater yesterday, it was announced that the dispute had been settled. Tho contractor had offered to forego the extra contracts, and .it is understood/that' the company will release him. from his engagements under them. : j The matter is'considered settled in a satis- . factory manner. It-,-was also decided that .contracts be offered' to workers on the co-operative sys- - torn, as now existing at Waihi. ARBITRATION ' COURT IN CHRISTCHURCH. [BT 'WMQEAPB.—PRZSS ASSOCIATION.] • : 1 ".Christchurch, June 15. . Mr. Justice Sim,, president of: the Arbitration Court, informed a reporter yestor'i day that tho Court would sit in Christchurch ! for about a month. He said there was a V. largo accumulation of work for it to attend to here, but it was expected that some of tho matters would bo settled by agreement. Speaking; of tho attitude of v the Canterbury Conciliation Board in regard to the farm " labourers' dispute, ho'said that, when-a mat i ter-was referred to tho Conciliation Board it was tho Board's duty to mako a recommendation. Ho did not know of any previous in- \ stance in which the Board had refused-to make' a: recommendation. " ; ■ . WAIHI MINERS' MEETING. CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM.. PROPOSED.' ■ (BY TELEGRAPH.—PBESS ASSOCIATION.) . 1 Waiili, Juno 15. 'As a result of a conference between tho Miners' Union delegates and mine officials, 1 held on Saturday, June 6, in reference to a resolution passed by the Union that all mining contracts should be carried out on co- ■ operative lines,. with no wages men, a tre- ■ ' mondous'meeting of miners was held on Sat- : urday night, - ovier a' thousand men being ■ present, and the Mayor presiding. The meeting was - called by mutual arrangement be-tween-the mine representatives and' |dele--'V; ;- ' gates to. discuss tho matter. It was ad- . . 'dressed by mino officials and Union repre- ■ sentatives. \ ' ~ Mr. Barryj superintendent of the Waihi . Company, produced plans of tho under- , ground; workings, showing that the co-opera- , tive system- on a largo scale would disor- - ganiso the system at any working of- tho mino at which'the Company's returns wero , Tegular and Ho also said .tho - . system would caiiso dissension among the men, and produced contract records .to prove ;• that- where tho system other than, with y .'- small parties-had been followed in tho mine, -.'-the men had disagreed, and had'reduced their 'number,'of partners. He.also pointed out that in tho event of a strike, the mine would , liave to close down, resulting in the stoppage of the gold duty, and throwing borough em- ■ ployees idle, as' borough works depended on : the gold revenue. If; a strike once started, : there was no tolling when it would end. ; Mr. Armstrong, president .of the'- Union, supported the proposed system.. He said ■ that as a rcsolution had been'.pqssed by tho Union to-introduce'it, unless an honourable V.. settlement was arrived at; ho. would never " V - advise the. miners, to crawl, down. . £>pveral other speakers for and against the proposal addressed the meeting, which was at times excited. ; _ The meeting dispersed Avit-hout any resolu-tion-being passed. . " FARM LABOURERS' DISPUTE. WAITING FOjfl THE BOARD'S REPORT. ; , [bt teij:oeapii.—pkess association.] ■ Christchurch, June, 15. • ' Tho dispute' betweon tho Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Labourers' Union (Mr. -■■Thorn) and Canterbury farmers (Mr. D. ; Jones), and. sheepowners (Mr. Acland), was mentioned at the- Arbitration Court this . . morning,' .. . , ' •Tho President (Mr. Justice' Sim) asked v when the' Board's report would-be rqady.' ■ Mr. Acland 'said that' it' had taken him two months to prepare a digest of the evidence. 'Mr.' W. Minson (Chairman' of tho Conciliation Board) replying to the President, Baid that ho did not think that the Board. . y 1 could, report much under three weeks. The President: "Three weeks! ./You'ought. to have your minds mado up and only require to comparo your views." _ -Mr. I\linson said tho difficulty was to put • in legal terms for tho guidance of tho Court ■ ' tho Board's decisions.

The President said that there was no necessity to do so.' i ■

Mr.'Minson said that tho Board had deputed him to interviow His Honour in order to ascertain,from him suggestions as to tho simplification of the Board's work. The Board was not composed of legal men, and it was doing its. work in its own way. It was probable that His Honour might suggest a shorter way to tho Board. Each party to the dispute had handed in tabulated statements giving summaries of the evidence? and as they were at varianco tho Board considered it was absolutely necessary that'tho Board should prepare ono of its own for tho Court to work upon. This would bs a big work.. .He' was prepared to admit that five .would not do tho work so quickly as two. He handed to tho President tho list handed into the Board by Mr. Acland. Mi\ Acland explained .that it doalt with wage's, hours, conditions, and whether 05. not dissatisfaction existed. Side issues, such as preference to unionists, were not dealt with. Tho President, after consultation with the Court, said.to Mr. Minson that tho Board had been directed to report. on a fair' and reasonable settlement of the dispute, and also under four specified heads, and ho un- , derstood .from what Mr. Minson had said that the Board would havo difficulty in dealing with theso last-mentioned matters, and what the Court had decided upon was that the Board should report as to what was a fair and rcasonablo settlement of tho dispute, and never mind the other matters. Mr. Minson: Wo are not to show any reasons for our decision? The President: Show anything jou liko, but you are under 110 obligation to do so. Tho Board need not report, on tho special -matters, but only as to what would bo a fair and reasonable settlement of the dispute. How long would that take? Mr. /Minson: I. should think most likely s week. 1 1 ' The President : I think that members of tho Board, having heard all the evidence, should havo made up their minds on tho matters raised by the dispute. . Mr. Minson said that if tho Board , had been aware that it was to roport on a fair and reasonable settlement of tho dispute it - would havo been in a good position to do so a month ago. Tho President: I think you could get a report filed this week. ] Mr. Minson said that be himself saw no Tcason why this could not be done. The President asked that tho'Board should filo its report this week, and in reply to Mr. Jones said that if the roport was filed as expected, the Court would _ discuss preliminaries with the parties on 3uno' 26.