ARBITRATION DELAYS

North Canterbury Gazette, Volume 7, Issue 56, 19 November 1937, Page 5

ARBITRATION DELAYS

Discussion by Woollen

Workers’ Union

GOVERNMENT URGED TO ACT

At the monthly meeting of the Canterbury Woollen Mills, Knitting Mills, and Hosiery Factories Employees’ Industrial Union of Workers, held at Kaiapoi last week, notice was received from the Registrar of Industrial Unions of the registration of the new rules and change of title operating from November 1. The following resolution was carried: “In view of the heavy congestion of work now to be dealt with by the Court of Arbitration, which rather than showing signs of easing shows every sign of becoming worse, this Union calls upon the Government to pass legislation to meet the position. “Both workers and employers throughout the Dominion anticipated that the standard wage declaration of the Court made in September last would result in settling many disputes in Conciliation Council, and thus relieve the Court of much of its work. The Court’s pronouncement, far from clarifying the position, has had the effect of holding up the settlement ol disputes owing to the policy of the employers’ organisations throughout the Dominion taking advantage of the congestion of the Court and refusing to settle disputes in Conciliation Council. The result of the policy of the employers is that many thousands of pounds in wages are being lost to the workers before they can get their disputes heard by the Court of Arbitration. We consider that the Government should take the same stand to protect the workers as the ForbesCoates Government took in 1931 to protect the employers when it empowered the Court to make a general order reducing wages 10 per cent., to take effect from May 29, 1931. ( Wo further consider that the settlement of industrial disputes may be speeded up either by the Court itself clarifying the meaning of its own jironouncement on standard wages and stating that all awards made subsequent. to a definite date will be made retrospective in respect to wages, or alternatively the Government passing legislation giving the Court power to make a general order.” The following delegates were elected to represent the Canterbury Union at the Dominion Woollen Mills Federation conference in Wellington on December 28: Messrs W. McPartlin, F. Isles, G. J. Price, and E. C. Harper.