RIGHT TO WORK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15548, 4 March 1914, Page 10

RIGHT TO WORK.

ANOMALOUS AGREEMENT.

THE PAINTING TRADE.

f_BT TELEGRAPH.—

" New Plymouth, Tuesday. An interesting industrial case came before the Magistrate's Court to-day, when Nippert Bros., painters' and paperhangers, were prosecuted by the inspector of awards for. an alleged breach of an industrial agreement with the journeymen painters by employing men on Saturday afternoon.

Counsel admitted the offence, stating that the clause in question was most anomalous, in that it denied the men the right to work. In this case the employers had a,painting contract, and found it was necessary to push on the work- The men worked voluntarily one Saturday afternoon, and were paid for it. The time was long past when men could be denied the right to work. The magistrate remarked that the agreement was ill-considered. The clause should have been objected to long before. The painters' trade is peculiarly dependent on the state of the weather. The inspector asked for a light penalty, but he wished to make an example, as the employers were too ready to treat industrial agreements lightly. The magistrate imposed a nominal penalty, remarking that the clause was an anomaly. The next development will be the prosecution of the workmen.