SHOVELLING OR TRIMMING?

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1060, 24 February 1911, Page 4

SHOVELLING OR TRIMMING?

■ ♦ — ' . INTERPRETATION OF AN AWARD. (By Telegraph—Press Association.! Auckland, February 23. A caso of interest to tho : Waterside Workers' Union was heard at the' Magistrate's Court this morning, before Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., when the Inspector of Awards (Mr. R. T.' Bailey) proceeded ngainst tho Union Steam Ship Company (Mr. M'Gregor) for alleged breaches/of the Auckland Waterside Workers' Award. Five informations were laid, that on December 19 last the company employed five men, and did cause and permit them to trim coal on the s.s. Malieno between tho hours of 12 midnight and 7 a.m., and failed to pay them at tho rate of;2s. Gd.per hour. The informations were laid under clause 2 (b) of the award, and the latter part states that men employed in trimming and carrying coal should be paid,the overtime rate of 2s. 6d. per hour, and men employed in shovelling should be paid 2s. per hour. The company's custom was to pay 25., their contention being that the work the men were employed on was shovelling, and: not trimming. The inspector explained that it was the habit of tho defendant company's boats to take in a big cargo of coal at Sydney, i This was stowed in the bunkers, and also in 'tween decks of No. 3 hold.; The bunker coal' was used on the passage over from Sydney, and then, at Auckland, tho coal from the''tween decks was put down the lower hold, and it was contended this was trimming. 'The matter had been brought under the notice of the company on Several • occasions, but iio-. thing had been done, as the company contended the men were shovelling and not trimming, which was held to refer only to the bunkers. ' Further, said Mr. Bailey, there was only one award in .which reference was . made to the bunkers, and this , was the Wellington award. Considerable evidence was given, and the point contended for the award was that shovelling in slips' holds referred to shovelling for purposes of discharged Removing coal from one part of the ship to another was trimming, and it-did not matter whether it was in a bunker cr not. Mr. Kettle said the question was an important one, and it would be better to take the matter direct to the Arbitration Court for an interpretation of what constituted shovelling and trimming. The oases were accordingly adjourned sine die. for the facts of a case to be agreed on to be stated for the opinion of the Arbitration Court.