NOT SETTLED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 1 July 1939, Page 5

NOT SETTLED

AUCKLAND DRIVERS’ DISPUTE MEETING OF REPRESENTATIVES IN WELLINGTON STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF EMPLOYERS ’Uuileri Press Association] WELLINGTON, This Day. No agreement was reached on most issues when employers of drivers’ representative of Auckland city and country commercial transport operators, oil companies and bakers met representatives of the Auckland Driy. ers’ Union, with Mr A. Parlane, president of the New Zealand Drivers’ Federation, in Wellington yesterday. The Auckland delegates returned home last night. When the meeting concluded, Mr H. J. Bishop, who acted as chairman, made this statement on behalf of the employers: “The complaints of alleged unsatisfactory operation of the New Zealand Motor and Horse Drivers’ Award, which originated as a result of the Auckland drivers’ stopwork meeting on Wednesday, were discussed. The complaints concerned the seasonal hours of long and short weeks under part 2 of the award, the interpretation of ‘serious misconduct’ in the same section, the method of working under the country work clause and the alleged delay in putting into effect the judgments of Mr Justice O’Regan and Mr J. L. Gilmour, S.M., granting a 40-hour week to certain drivers.

“The employers offered to agree to any future cases that might arise as to long and short weeks or the interpretation of ‘serious misconduct’ being referred to a disputes committee as provided in clause 20 of the award. It appeared that the interpretation placed on the country work clause by the two employers whose cases were specifically quoted by the union was identical with that placed on a similarly worded clause by the Court of Appeal, in 1935, and consequently that there had been full compliance with the award. The wording of the clause was taken from the workers’ own claims in the dispute out of which the award was made. "As to the delay alleged in putting into effect the judgments, it was pointed out that there had been conflicting views expressed by the two Courts of Arbitration as to the legal position and further proceedings had been commenced in order to obtain a judgment clarifying the position; an appeal had been lodged from the decision of Mr Gilmour with the same object. The employers would not agree to waive their legal rights in these cases, but did agree to join with the union in asking the Minister of Labour, Mr Webb, to arrange for these proceedings to be heard at the earliest possible moment. “Accordingly a joint deputation waited on the Minister, as a result of which he promised to endeavour to get the cases heard by the Court either in Wellington, under the presidency of Mr Justice O’Regan, or in Dunedin under Mr Justice Callan, at the earliest possible date.

“As this matter was the only one in # which a combined course of action and agreement could be reached, the meeting broke up without any settlement being reached on the other issues.”