TIMBER INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 204, 26 May 1936, Page 13

TIMBER INDUSTRY

Application For Award EFFECT OF LEGISLATION As an outcome of all agreement reached in conciliation proceedings at Palmerston North on May 6, an application for a new timber workers’ aw ard for the Wellington district was heard in the Arbitration Court, Wellington, yesterday. Mr. Justice Page presided, and associated with him were Messrs. W. Cecil Prime (employers’ assessor) and A. L. Monteith (employees’ assessor. Originally the application for the new award was made by the employers.

Mr. A. Seed appeared for the employers and Mr. J. Reid for the North Island Timber Workers’ Federation. Mr. Reid stated that he 7 had endeavoured that morning to ascertain when the amended Arbitration Act would come into operation, and bad been in touch with the Minister, who had told him that the Act would be in operation almost immediately. Mr. Reid understood that the compulsory unionism clause, would come into operation about a month later. He asked that that clause be embodied in the new award. If that were done it would be a distinct advantage from the employees’ point of view. His Honour: You desire the clause to comply with the new legislation? Mr. Reid: Yes.

Several minor and consequential amendments that were necessary in the conciliation clause agreement were referred to by Mr. Seed, and were concurred in by the union. Referring to the preference clause, Mr. Seed said the wish of the Conciliation Council appeared to be to leave the drafting of that entirely to the court, so that the clause would be in compli-

ance with the new legislation when passed. His Honour said they would take time to consider that when the legislation went through. The court would draw that clause and fix the date accordingly. Because of the recent action of the Government in asking the industry to refrain from transposing the new wage scale until an investigation had been carried out, Mr. Seed said that it might mean hardship, particularly to some small sawmillers, to find the additional wages until oilier arrangements were made. An undertaking had been given to the Minister responsible that prices would not be raised until the Department of Industries had carried out its investigation. If the effect of the new wage scale were deferred from operation in the South Auckland district, the sawmillers in the Wellington district would be placed at a disadvantage. Mr. Seed said he had communicated with the Labour Department that morning to ascertain if there was any machinery whereby a clause in the agreement could be deferred, either through the action of the court or by calling an emergency meeting of the Conciliation Council to meet the position. He had not yet received a reply from the department, but asked the court to take the point into consideration. and if machinery was available to defer the new wage scale when the South Auckland application for au award was heard. What applied to South Auckland should also apply to Wellington. lie said lie raised the point now so that it might be brought up again by other parties when the cases referring to other districts were dealt with. His Honour asked how long the inquiry would last. 1 Mr. Seed: I do not know. The inquiry will include other districts beside South Auckland. His Honour: All right, we will consider that case.