ARBITRATION COURT

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 67, 13 December 1926, Page 5

ARBITRATION COURT

SHIPWRIGHTS’ AND BOATBUILDEKS’ DISPUTE. The Arbitration Court was «nFaged on c-iturdav in hearing the M ellington Shi w right s’ and Boatbuilders' dispute. Mr. 1 Justice Frazer presided, and asso„iitpd with him wero Messis. Monteith and W. Scott. At a sitting of the Conciliation Council an a„ ce ment had been reached upon a " iw' a ’_ 3 n dispute with the excep ion of foul, which P were referred to the Court of Arbitration. The first matter m dispute was the question of wages, the union "stating that they were a considerable way to leeward '\ 1,0 ™ te tb s were in 1911. An increased rate ot nny for ships’ carpenters was also asked for, it being stated that their work embodied many aspects and called to considerable skill. .The payment of overtime was the third matter in dispute M'hat the union described as the stumbling block to any set lenient in the dispute was tlie definition of dirty work’—work in stokeholds, enginerooms and of a similar natme. Mr G H Norman stated that the present rate' of wages for journeymen shipwrights and boatbmlders was 2s. 3,<1. per hour, and the employers bad already offered an, increase of a penny per hour in Accordance with the Court s Inst pronouncement. He saw no reason for any further increase. In respect to dirtv work, the claims made by the union would, in effect, mean that tbc whole of the work performed by,/ I ’ 6 shipwrights would be classed as dirty V The Court reserved its decision.