COUNTRY POWER BOARDS

Evening Star, Issue 19199, 16 March 1926, Page 10

COUNTRY POWER BOARDS

INCLUSION OF ONE IH AWARD REFUSED COURT OFFERS ADVICE. [Special to the ‘Star.’]

CHRISTCHURCH. March IA. “ Tlio roiirfc rannofc allow itsell In bo made use of as a recruiting a gent for unions,” Air Justice Frgaer, president of Hie Arbitration Court, states. The announcement is made m a, judgment on. an application made m j Christchurch la' tho Amalgamated I'm- , cinooriiip; [Juion to <uld t-hfs MhKohi . Electric Power Board to the linesmen s i and linesmen’s assistants’ award. | The application was opposed by Hm ■ board, on the grounds that the award ->vas made to meet the conditions of ( two lame towns- ■ Christchurch and 'j imam—iuul thni the Mulveru Boa Hi was Hie onlv hoard Fought to bo added, although other country hoards operate in the, district. The court held that although it recently made a combined , town and > country award on application of the i AVanganui-Rangitikei Power Board s employees. it has not yet mado an award for a district that is purely a, country district. The court feels that it is | possible that different conditions would have, to ho provided lor such a dis- i trict, and country power hoards have , not yet had an opportunity to no heard. The reason given by tlio union s advocate, that Malvern Board is the only board that employs members ot the’ union, is held to bo insufficient the judge adding the remark quoted above. , Tlio judgment also states that it is the duty of a union, to endeavor to have all employers in tlio industry bound by its award, instead of making a selection according to union membership. For those reasons the court declines to make the order as at present asked for. , It is suggested in tlio judgment that tho union might apply for f 1 countrydistricts power boards’ award, covering the country boards and their workers, or to have all tho country power boards added as parties to the present award subject to specia l conditions in the awapd to moot any peculiar circumstances m connection with country work. A conference between representatives of the union and tho power hoards, the indgment concludes, would probably help in deciding the better course.