TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES

Evening Star, Issue 19999, 17 October 1928, Page 5

TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES

BUS DRIVERS’ PAY Mr Justice Frawr has given th« opinion of the Arbitration Court in respect to an application by the inspector of awards for an interpretation of tho Dunedin tramway employees’ award, which came before him on 'Monday. The facts of the case wero that the City Council since March 1 employed several workers intermittently on bus driving, and paid them at tho ‘2s GJd rate lor all time on actual bus driving, but paid them only their usual rates (less than 2s O.J.d) for tho rest of the time in each fortnightly period. The question submitted to tho court for an opinion was: Wero tho workers concerned entitled to be paid 2s OJd per hour for the whole of each fortnightly period during which they were employed for any time at bus driving since 'March 1, when tho award came into operation. Jn his judgment, His Honour staled that this award, in so far as tho traffic staff was concerned, was divided into three sections—city linos, Mornington line, and omnibuses. Conductors, motormcn, gripmen, and omnibus drivers were guaranteed a ninety-six hours’ fortnight, tho guarantee being set out separately for each section. It had been the custom to transfer city lino conductors as emergency gripmen on tho Mornington line, and to pay them at the gripmon’s rate only while so employed. It had similarly been the custom to employ conductors as spare omnibus drivers and to pay them at tho omnibus drivers' rate only _ while so employed There was nothing in tho award that spccilicially abrogated this custom, though, in tho absence of custom, and in cases to which the custom did not apply, tho award would bo read as guaranteeing a ninety-six hours’ fortnight to omnibus drivers as such Assuming that the Dunedin City Corporation had nut gone outside tho limits of tho established custom, tho answer to the question submitted was ’ No ”

Mr A. L. Montcith (workers’ assessor) disagreed with, this opinion, saying that the award provided that bus drivers wero guaranteed ninetysix hours per fortnight, and that the daily hours should be eight per day. This was part of a new set of conditions pertaining on'y to bus drivers, and these bus drivers’ wages and conditions had not been in any way subjected to any award conditions before. Tbo corporation had, under the award, a provis'iin for a spare list for motormcn, gripmen, and conductors on city and Mornington lines, and these workers wero not entitled to eight hours’ work guaranteed daily as other motornnn, gripmen, and conductors arc, but these spare list provisions did not apply to bus drivers. Tbo fact that before tbo award included bus drivers the corporation operated in a certain manner similar to tbo spare list system could not, in Mr Montcith’s opinion, override a new and definite provision of a nincty-six-liour guarantee and a daily eight-hour day, particularly as no provision for such spare list system was in tho award relating to bus drivers. In tho case of men who bad only an hourly employment and had also been used as bus drivers, what was their position if the guarantee daily and weekly did not operate? In Ins opinion, bus drivers were guaranteed ninety-six hours per fortnigh.., and their _ hours should bo eight per_ day, and if bus drivers wero not paid tho bus drivers’ rate for eight hours daily and ninetysix hours fortnightly, tbo guaranteed employment for bus drivers as bus driver’s bad not been carried into effect.