P. AND T. STAFF

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 22, 20 October 1944, Page 6

P. AND T. STAFF

Appointment Of Tribunal PROVISION IN BILL The establishment of a staff tribunal to inquire into and report to the Minister on matters relating to the Post and Telegraph Department is provided for in the Post and Telegraph Amendment Bill which was introduced in the House yesterday. It was read a first time following .in explanation by the Postmaster-Gen-eral. Mr. Webb. The tribunal is to be known as the Post and Telegraph Staff Tribunal and will consist of three members to bo appointed on the recommendation of the Minister; one to be appointed on the nomination of the Post and Telegraph Employees’ Association, one to represent the Minister and the third to be an independent chairman agreed on by the Minister and the association, or by the Minister in the case of non-agreement. In his explanation the Minister said the Bill would establish a permanent tribunal in place of the provision of section 5 of the Post and Telegraph Act, 1936, under which a speeial tribunal could be appointed from time to time at the discretion of the Minister. The new tribunal would differ from the one set up for the Railways Department, which had mandatory powers. The P. and T. tribunal would, have powers only of recommendation and members of it could be officers of the department. The reasons for the difference between the two tribunals were that the departmental set-up in the Post Office varied from that in the Railways Department. By having a tribunal with powers of recommendation only, no alteration whatever was necessarv in the existing departmental arrangements for handling of service matters. The chief object in establishing a permanent tribunal was to allow both sides access to an independent body in cases in which agreement could not be reacheel by conciliation proceeding’;. Provision was made for the appointment of ass-essors to assist the tribunal in its deliberations.