INDUSTRIAL LAW

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 144, 19 June 1936, Page 10

INDUSTRIAL LAW

MANY APPLICATIONS

SPECIAL COURT SITTING

BUSY TIME AHEAD

When the special sitting of the Court of Arbitration is held in Wellington on Monday morning the indications point to the Court being faced with a flood of applications under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act, 1936, and the Factories Amendment Act, 1936, both of which were passed last session. Today the applications, which are on behalf oi employers and also employees, totalled 200. Notice has been received of intention to file a further 100 applications tomorrow, and as others are also expected a "Post" reporter was informed today that the total by Monday probably would be nearer 500 than 400. The special sitting of the Court is being held to consider:—

(a) Applications under section 3 of I , tho Factories Amendment Act, 1935, for e extension of the hours fixed by subsection (1) of that section. (b) Applications under section 20 of a ths Industrial Conciliation and Arbi- < tration Amendment Act, 1936, for t amendment of any existing awards or . industrial agreements applicable to factories; and v (c) Applications under section 20 of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbi- I tration Amednment Act, 1936, for t amendment of any existing awards or . industrial agreements other than those applicable to factories. ! According to the notice given of the sittirfg, applications under (a) and (b) are to be heard conjointly and are' to j be given priority over those under , (c). RESTRICTION OF HOURS. i Section £of the Factories Amendment Act restricts the hours of work in ' factories to forty a week, eight a day, i and 4i hours continuously without an j interval of at least three-quarters of , an hour for a meal. The Court of Arbitration is given power to fix longer hours than those prescribed by this I Act in the case of any factory if, in : the opinion of the Court, it would be , impracticable to carry on efficiently the j work of the factory under the 40-hour week, but any extension granted by the Court may not be beyond 44 hours. ! Section 20 of the I.C. and A. Amendment Act provides for the fixing in awards on and after September 1 next, of maximum working hours not exceeding 40 per week except where the Court is satisfied that it would be im- ! practicable to carry on efficiently any industry with a 40-hour week. If in any future award the hours fixed ex- I , ceed 40 the Court is required to indi- j I cate in the award the grounds which I made it impracticable to limit the hours in accordance with the requirements of the legislation. I Section 21 of the same Act is another important section .dealing with the hours question. In regard to existing awards and industrial agreements the Court is required under this sec-, tion on application by any party there- , to to reduce the maximum hours to 40 ; I except where it is impracticable to do j so. In such a case it may reduce the | present maximum weekly hours and j provide for a maximum intermediate i between 40 hours and the existing j 1 maximum, but no such reduction is to j operate before September 1 next. [ , Where the hours fixed by the existing i award or industrial agreement are re- '. duced by the Court, the hourly or other • j rates of pay are to be increased so that the ordinary weekly rate shall not be affected by the reduction in working hours.

BOTH SIDES APPLYING. Practically every industrial union of workers in New Zealand, it was stated today, is applying to amend awards and industrial agreements by reducing the working hours to 40 per week and fixing the total weekly hours of work in factories at 40. On the other hand, employers will be applying either themselves or through their unions or associations of employers to have the total weekly hours of work extended to 44.