COLLECTION OF DUES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 121, 22 April 1938, Page 7

COLLECTION OF DUES.

EMPLOYERS’ POSITION. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, April 21. “They are entirely wrong,” said the Minister of Labour (Hon. H. T. Armstrong) commenting to-day on reports of indignation expressed by the secretary of the Hawke’s Bay FruilGrowers’ Association (Mr F. L. Baumgart) and others that the Government 'v' Order-i 11-Council had placed on orchardists the onus of the collecting of union dues and fees from employees. Mr Armstrong said there appeared to be some misunderstanding regarding the obligation of orchardists is respect of their employees becoming financial members of the New Zealand Workers’ Union, and also in respect of their obligation to forward union fees to the secretary of the union. Tho preference clause contained in the Agricultural Workers Extension Ordet, 1938, which applied to agricultural workers employed in orchards was: “Every worker employed within the scope of this order for a period exceeding four weeks in the industry shall immediately became a financial member of the New Zealand Workers’ Industrial Union of Workers, and the onus shall be on the employer or his agent to remit to the general secretary of the New Zealand Workers’ Industrial Union of Workers within seven days after payment the sum of LI 5s for each adult male worker' and 10s for each othei worker. The general secretary of the New Zealand Workers’ Industrial Union of Workers shall immediately forward to the employer a union ticket lor delivery to the worker.” “Under this clause,” Mr Armstrong said, “the employer is required to remit the union contribution to the general secretary of the New Zealand Workers’ Union within seven days after payment of such contribution to him by the worker, and the worker is required under the clause to become a financial member of the New Zealand Workers’ Union if he has been employed in the industry for a period exceeding four weeks, but there is no obligation on the employer to see that his workers become financial members of the union or to collect the contribution from thorn. The onus is on the employer to remit to the secretary of the union all contribution that may be paid to him by his workers. I may add that the clause in question and the remaining clauses in the schedule to the extension order were agreed to by representatives of the New Zealand Fruit-growers’ Industrial Union of Employers and the New Zealand Workers’ Industrial Union of Workers,” Mr Armstrong said.