HARBOUR EMPLOYEES

Evening Star, Issue 22797, 4 November 1937, Page 6

HARBOUR EMPLOYEES

AN AWARD AGREED ON ONLY WILLING PARTIES INCLUDED [Feb United Peess Association.] AUCKLAND, November S. The application for a Dominion award for the New Zealand Harbour Board Employees’ Union was heard by the Arbitration Court when the parties brought forward practically a complete agreement. Mr Justice O’Regan presided. Mr J Roberts appeared for th« applicant union, and Mr W. J. Gardner represented the harbour boards. Mr Roberts said that the application covered the employees of 26 harbour boards who had signified,their wish to come into the union, which was « new one applying for i|s first award. At the boginning of the dispute there had been as many as 1,380 classifications of wages. These had been considerably reduced through the work of the assessors. Objections to the formation of the union had been made by several other unions before registration was granted, and the Minister of Labour had ordered a ballot to be taken among the men employed on tug# and dredges. The ballot had been conducted by the Labour Department.: Later other unions had objected, and further ballots had been taken. However, the union had covered only thos* harbour board employees throughout the country who had been in favour of joining the new body. Where harbour board employees belonging to , other unions had shown that they did not want to come into the union, no attempt had been made to cover theta by tne provisions of the application His Honour read a protest from th« Wellington Clerical Workers’ Union and a joint one from seven Auckland unions. Mr Roberts said that the Auckland protest came from unions whose members were not covered by the application. His Honour said the facts that a union had been duly formed and that an agreement had been reached gava the court no option but to pronounce an award.