LABOUR LEGISLATION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 31, 6 February 1941, Page 8

LABOUR LEGISLATION

STUDY BY AMERICAN

POINTS FOR OWN COUNTRY

Visiting New Zealand in. search of. Labour legislation which may be applied in his own country, Mr. Herbert Vogt, a distinguished figure in the Labour movement in the United States, gave a "Post" reporter today some interesting lights on Labour legislation in the U.S.A. It was one of his busy j days, as he visited Ministers, the heads j of many Government Departments, and j employers1 associations. He "sat in" at the Arbitration Court yesterday, and was particularly impressed with the pains taken by. Mr. Justice Tyndall later to answer his questions. During his tour, he said, both employers' representatives and Government officers had given him every possible assistance. In the ten days he has been in New Zealand, he has also taken the opportunity of meeting various types of citizens including doctors, lawyers, and professional men generally. In addition he has so far "covered" 15 different types of industry. "Some of the points brought out to me might be useful in the States," he said. "We might adopt them in some sort of conciliation council." The Wagner Act, he said, was enforced in the States by the National Relations Board. It became, in effect, the National Labour Relations Act. The National Relations Labour Act, which only came into force in 1933 —it was endorsed by the Supreme Court in 1937_provides for employees joining unions to protect themselves, prevents employers from persuading employees from joining employers' types of union (company unions), prevents employers from discharging employees because they aid or abet others in joining unions, or give information to an agent of the board, and when an employer has knowledge that the majority of his employees are members of a union he is obligated by the Act to work in good faith with them. "I have studied the Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish systems, and I intend to spend some time in Australia." said Mr. Vogt, when asked if there was any comparison between New Zealand and U.S.A. Labour legislation. "What I am doing here is trying to get a background, for comparison with our own methods. We have a fair standards Act. This is really a wages and hours Act, and does not go into conditions as the I.C. and A. Act in New Zealand does. Under our 'wages and hours' Act a 40-hour week has been established which is, however, subject to emergency powers, such as in the case of Defence, or other national- emergency, when 60 hours may be worked under emergency pay for every hour over 40." , There are 48 States, but Congress can only legislate industrially for commerce between the several States, so that the National Labour Relations Act can only affect industries which have inter-State commerce.- he explained. A local laundry, or a local grocery store is therefore outside its provisions, as is a factory not supplying outside its own State, large though its business may be. There are five States of the 48 that have a local Wagner Act, which is not governed there by the National Labour Relations Act. Actually there are 42,000,000 to 46,000,000 people who are eligible for registration under the National Labour Relations Act. but of that number I there are only 8,000,000 in unions.