FOUNDRY AWARD BROKEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18942, 13 February 1925, Page 12

FOUNDRY AWARD BROKEN.

ACTION BROUGHT BY UNION. NOMINAL PENALTIES IMPOSED. Claims for £lO on each of 10 alleged breaches of the award governing the employment of boilermakers, iron and brass founders, and shipworkers, wero heard before Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court. The charges, which related to last November, were brought by tho Auckland Boilermakers' Union and the Amalgamated Engineers' Union (Mx. Dickson) against the Senior Foundry, Ltd., engineers, of Halsey Street, Auckland, for whom Mr. S. E. Wright, employers' representative, appeared. Mr. Dickson said tour employees had worked 68 hours in one week and tha wages had been wrongly computed on tha basis of a 48-hour week instead of a 44 hours. Six employees had worked 15 hours in 24, but did not receive payment as proscribed by the award. Tho defence was that the alleged breaches had been committed daring a week in which there was a change-over from day to night shift. Tho men had worked from 8 a-m. till noon on the day of tha charge, and resumed duty at 8 p.m. Thoy had been definitely told they were going on to night shift, which would be continuous. Tho alteration really constituted a fresh engagement'. In effect, the men were dismissed at coon and reengaged for the night shift. The difference in wages between the two methods ol calculation amounted to only Is 4d. Mr. Cutten, in giving judgment for plaintiffs, said hs thought a technical breach had been committed in each case. A nominal penalty of Is in one caso of each class would be imposed, with solicitor's fees, £3 3s. Th« other informations were withdrawn.