Evening Post THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1901. THE DRIVERS AND THE ARBITRATION COURT.

Evening Post, Volume LXII, Issue 130, 28 November 1901, Page 4

Evening Post THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1901. THE DRIVERS AND THE ARBITRATION COURT.

- ♦ It has lately Been the practice in some quarters to infer that the" Arbitration Court is the frienct of the employer. Because the Court returhdd an emphatic "No" when the Thames' Miners' Union asked for a 20 per cent, wage increase during a period o5 acute Local depression, *an executive officer of that body termed the award "two years' penal servitude," and is reported as saying that "it was nothing but the Arbitration Court with the employers now," and other remarks to like effect. Moreover, during the recent debate on the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act Aniendment Act, which enables disputes to be referred direct to the Court on the application of either party, a Legislative Councillor professed to mark a turn in the tide, and alleged that employers, who formerly preferred voluntary conciliation to compulsory arbitration, were now asking from selfish motives for direct reference to the compulsory body. This unworthy impression has probably not spread beyond its immediate authors, for the present representative members of the Court were recently re-elected to their high office. But if it has gained any extended currency, a convincing answer is furnished in the highly favourable award which the Court yesterday gave to the drivers. The representative of the Drivers' Union states that 500 drivers will be benefited, each to the extent of not less than 10s weekly, and thinks that each of these figures is below the actual amount. So that even on this calculation drivers in the city, Petone, and the Hutt will be richer by £13,000 annually — more likely by £16,000. Who will have to pay for it is part and' parcel of 1 the general economic question which, in adversity as in prosperity, this colony will have to work out. But for the present there can be no question that the Court, in whose deliberations the employer's representative could not owing to his private interest participate, has treated the drivers well. The £2 5s minimum that the union demanded for one-horse drivers has been maintained in all cases ; the Conciliation Board recommended £2 3s 6d for onehorse men. The union rejoices in an award of £2 8s for two-horse drivers — the same as the Board recommended. It was given in evidence that many drivers who will now have a minimum of £2 5? have been earning from £2 2s down to £1 16s. In hours -it is difficult to strike a comparison, because in the various sections of the award the weekly hours in some cases include and in- some exclude stable work and mealtimes, but on the whole there will be a substantial reduction in working hours. The other chief points of difference- between the award and the recommendations are that the Court orders Is l£d an hour for casual labour, and the Board's recommended minimum was Is. Also, the Board, to the disgust of the union, refused to fix the wage of 'bus-drivers, but the .Court holds that human freight is as important as coals and goods, and that to secure competence the 'bus-driver should have at least the minimum of the lorryman. So the one-horse omnibus driver gets £2 ss, and the more than one-horse man will receive £2 10s. Coaldrivers ■ delivering bags not above lcwt are awarded £2 5s (Board's recommendation, £2 4s), and where the weight exceeds lcwt the employer must pay £2 8s — " extra strain, extra payment."* The drivers' dispute has been a protracted one, firstly because at first time of asking, in 1899, the Court, under the ther law, decided that the Drivers' Union had no status ; secondly, because the area of the dispute was large, its side issues complicated, and its sections multitudinous., The Court has concluded a great work in a manner that indicates its impartiality ; its judgment must be submitted to the test of time. No words can exaggerate the skill with which the President guides the machinery of this the most farreaching tribunal in the colony, nor^thepatient and tactful yet expeditious manner in which he moves the business along. The whole success of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act hinges on its administration, and it is surprising to reflect how greatly the welfare of the colony's industry and industrial future may centre in one capable personality. It should be added that in this important case the work of the Court was greatly simplified by the spirit of conciliation displayed by the parties. Whatever the friction in the beginning, it is significant that at the final hearing before the Arbitration Court neither the parties nor the Court thought it necessary to call for

evidence, notwithstanding the fact that no less than ten several issues were raised. .