SHEARERS' DISPUTE

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 81, 3 October 1921, Page 4

SHEARERS' DISPUTE

10 IBS EDIID«.

Sir,—We ihould be glad if you could answer the following query. Did. the N.Z. Workers' Union give a guarantep to the Arbitration Court before the last case was pite-d that it ivpiild abide by the decision of the Court ? We understand that the employers gave such a guarantep —we should be glad to know jf the workers' representative gave. a simila-r assurance or guarantee. \V© pre representative qf abflut 50' men who desire tq know our positipn should twe take work under tha present award. Can we be accused of "scabbing" ? We are, etc., ' FATHER OF NINE. FATHER OF FOUR. Petone, 29th September.

The points raised in the above letter were brought to the notice of Mr. C. (Jrayndler, the shearers' representative aiid general secretary of the New Zealand 'Workers' Union, who made the fplJow'ing reply: — /'I am asked to answer the above query, and, being one who must adhere to the lawpf thjs Dominion, my answer is that Judgo Frazer's award lias no legal sending' or effect outside of the Wellington Industrial District, and then it only binds a very small section of the Wellington industrial district sheepowners. Therefore, according to law, and until such time as the Court sits and orders otherwise, all sheepowners in Otago, Canterbury,"Marlborough, Taranaki, and Gisborne industrial districts ara legally. boupd by the 1919-20 shearer? .and sled hands' award, and, unless thiy cpmpty with sanip, the several shearer's' unions Have decided to' enforce that award, which is the only one operating :n the" above districts, and sheepowners and workers who disregard that award will be immediately sued for bleach. This confused situation has been created by reason that the Court, as far as I know, has only yet made an award which binds a few" Wellington In dustrial district ..sheepowneys. Therefore, until such time as tile Court sits in Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough, Taranaki, and Gisborne, no provision' permits the Court to extend its YVcllingtoi} decision outside of the Wellington Industrial District, and, as the members of the Court are partly "on strike," or locked put, shearing will be finished before the Court can adjust its created confusion, For this reason, the shearers' refusal to engage below last years' rates is amply justified, . "Note—l have not reierred to the fifty shearers mentipned in your query, because it is merely camouflage, and, as tx> whether the'fifty men referred to can be> classed_ as 'scabs,' this I will also leave to their mates and their own reasoning If you insist on an answer, it would only cause greater confusion.' ' .