FORTY-HOUR WEEK.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 169, 18 June 1936, Page 8

FORTY-HOUR WEEK.

EXEMPTIONS SOUGHT. MANY APPLICATIONS. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, June 17. Industry is taking a great deal of interest in the special sitting of the Court of Arbitration to' be held in Wellington on Monday to consider applications for exemption from the 40hour week in factories or temporary extension of hours to 44 when the legislation comes into force on September 1. A very large number of applications are being prepared throughout New Zealand by various employers organisations which are busy grouping them for presentation to the Court. The secretary of the New Zealand Employers’ Federation (Mr 'l. O. Bishop) stated today that applications would fall into three groups, the first would be those industries in which proceedings in connection with new awards have already been taken, in which cases employers will apply to the Court of Arbitration for interim orders maintaining the 44-hour week until such time as the new awards are made either by negotiation or by the Court itself. Secondly, those industries in which the employers concerned desire a little longer time to adapt their processes to a shorter working week but who are prepared to adopt a 40-hour week in, say, six months. In these cases the applications will be tor short-term orders probably until the end of the present year. Thirdly, those industries in which, because of the impossibility of performing the work in 40 hours, a permanent extension of hours will be asked for. In this group naturally come such industries as gas works, cement works and others in which continuous processes are carried on for 24 hours in very day of the year. . An outline of the attitude manufacturers considered the Court of Arbitration was likely to adopt toward the applications for exemption from the 40-hour week provision was given by the secretary , of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation (Mr A. E. Mander) to-day. He said that he and Mr A. W. Nisbet, secretary of the Wellington Manufacturers’ Association, had given considerable attention to the Government’s industrial legislation and had again interviewed the Minister of Labour (Hon. H. T. Armstrong). As a result they had formed the very strong impression that the Government did not intend that the Court should grant exemptions from the application of the 40-hour- week except in very exceptional cases. The mere fact that costs would be increased would almost certainly not be considered of itself sufficient ground for exemption. Ihe three strongest grounds on winch applications for exemption could be based, were, in their opinion, as follow : (a) The technical impossibility of carrying out the process in 40 hours; (b) the severe shortage of skilled labour in the industry which might be accepted as a ground for temporary exemption; (c) the booking of orders for the coming season at old prices. In such cases firms might ask the ! Court for exemption until such time las their contracts were completed. Mr Mander added that Mr Nisbet | would be putting forward a large number of applications on behalf of manufacturers.