TO PREVENT DISPUTES

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 91, 14 October 1922, Page 8

TO PREVENT DISPUTES

SEAMEN'S AWAED PROVIDES FORJ

COMMITTEE.

Special reference to thai work of a. disputes • committee is mafte in the seamen's award, which -was filed by the Arbitration Court yesterday afternoon. The award states :—The essence of this award being that the work of the ships shall always proceed without interruption, and shall not on any account whatsoever be impeded, or the ships be held up in any manner, it is provided that if any 'dispute or difference shall arise between the parties bound by this award or any of them, as to any matter whatever arising out of or connected therewith and not specifically dealt with _in this award, including questions relating to the manning of any vessel or relating to the carrying of any class of cargo, overy such dispute or difference as the same shall arise shall be referred to a committee to be composed of three representatives of the union at the port concerned, and three representatives of the employers for their decision. If at any port such a committee is not available or is unable to agree, the dispute shall be referred to a similar committee at Wellington, to which committee there, shall.be added an independent chairman to be agreed on by the representative members of the committee, or in default of such agreement to be appointed by the Court. An employer desiring to reduce the manning of any vessel below the existing scale shall notify the union in writing of the proposed reduction, and in the event of the union, within fourteen days of the date on which such notification should in the ordinary course of post reach it, notifying the employer of its disagreement therewith, the matter shall be referred to the disputes committee; and in such case the employer shall not reduce the existing manning scale until the disputes committee has decided the' matter. The existing manning" scale in the case of a vessel that has been out of commission shall mean the manning scaJe in force immediately prior to her being out of commission. The decision of the Disputes Committee on any mattor referred to it shall be binding."