AUXILIARY MOTOR VESSELS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18888, 22 December 1924, Page 9

AUXILIARY MOTOR VESSELS.

QUESTION OF AWARDS. ACCOMMODATION FOR MEN. Matters in relation to the coastal shipping trade were brought before the Arbitration Court on Saturday. An application was made in respect of the cooks and stewards' award, covering small coastal steamers. Mr. B. L. Hg aimond, for the employers, intimated that he and Mr. E. ( Kennedy, the secretary of the Cooks and Stewards' Union, had agreed upon the actual conditions for the award, the point left in dispute being whether certain companies l] should bo joined in respect of their uuxili- | ary motor vessels. j The Seamen's Union applied for an ex- |; tension of the seamen's award to cover certain auxiliary coastal vessels. Evidence as to the pay, hours of work and conditions of servico were given by men serving as cooks and stewards in motor coasters owned by tho Northern Steamship Company, Ltd. Captain M. McDonald, master of the motor vessel Otimai, who also gave evidence, was cross examined by Mr. W. T. Young, general secretary of the Seamen's

Union, as to the possibility of more ac-

commoo-ation being provided. Mr. Young suggested that if accommodation could not be found elsewhere they might take it off the master's room. Why, he asked, should the master have a room' with only two bunks in it ?

The President (Mr. Justice Frazer): Discipline. Witness said that if more accommodation were given in the forecastle it would have to be taken from the hold.

Mr. Young: That would be a severe crime. Down South we have taken it off the cargo space. We want accommodation for the men who I lake their homes on board ship. Witness: I don't think the men have much to complain of as to accommodation. Asked what speed the Otimai had, witness replied: "From two to seven knots, and sometimes she went backwards." Mr. Young: What can she do under ordinary circumstances ?— About knots. Mr. Young: Have you ever known a steamer go backwards ?'—l have seen them go sideways. Captain Perotti. marine superintendent of the Northern Steamship Company, in reply to Mr. Hammond, said that if the vessels in dispute were brought under the cooks and stewards' award, and also the seamen's award, they would just about cleai fiemselves and'no more. His Honor sue that the Court could not deal with tl:e question of competition. It would have tc- deal with it on its merits.

Mr. Hammond said that in 1922 Mr. Young had mad» a similar application, and then the Court refused to add those vessels. He tnsted the Court would be consistent, and again refuse to add them. Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Young also addressed the Court.

j As Mr. Young was stating the case from the standpoint of the Seamen's Union, His Honor said that Mr. Young's difficulty was a legal one.. Mr. Young was not asking for vessels to be added, but for an amendment of the award. Mr. Young: It is an application to extend the award. It would necessitate an amendment of clauses 50 and .33. Hilt Honor: That is the trouble- the other side are objecting. A defect, pro ceeded His Honor, could bo amended without the consent of the other side, hut if in some other direction, then consent had to be given. Mr. Young: It appears to me that we aro going out, but if wo ge out we shall cotno back again. His Honor: You can al ,va fa come back when there <s a fresh award., Mr. Hammond said the employers were not standing on any lepal technicality lhey wished the case to bs decided on its merits. The Court reserved its decision.