ARBITRATION SYSTEM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19721, 22 August 1927, Page 11

ARBITRATION SYSTEM.

SOME TROPOSED CHANGES. PAYMENT BY RESULTS. A PROTECTIVE MINIMUM. PREFERENCE TO BE OPTIONAL. A COURT OF THREE JUDGES. fr,Y TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON, Sunday. Some important and far-reaching changes in the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act will be made if Parliament adopts the amending bill which is to be brought down this session. The bill is still being considered by the Government, and, although no official information is available as to the exact nature of the contemplated changes, there are grounds for believing that it will provide for payment on the piecework principle, with a fixed minimum wage and for a change in the constitution of the Arbitration Court. The stumbling-block to the general introduction of payment by results has been the attitude of official Labour as represented by the unions, although it is common knowledge that many of the men prefer the system under which the speedy and careful worker receives more than the man of merely average ability. The view of the officials has been that men who, although they are worth employing, are not blessed with the mental and physical capabilities of their neighbours, would not be able to earn a decent living wage in competition with fast pieceworker*, and because of this they have always held out for a regular wage. It is said this difficulty may be overcome by including in this year's amending bill a clause providing for payment by results and also for the fixing .of a minimum weekly wage based on / the amount which the average ■worker in the industry concerned might earn under the piecework system. It is anticipated that the bill will contain a clause to this effect, and that it •will meet with the approval of the Labour Opposition in the House. /Preference by Consent. The attention which has been focussed recently on the preference to unionists clauses in the Act is expected to be rejected in the bill, but not to the extent that preference will be abolished. The change that is considered likely is. one providing for preference by consent; that is, both parties to an industrial dispute ■will have to agree that the unionists shall be preferred when there'are vacancies before the clause will be included in the award. It is expected, however, that ■when the bill comes before the House, the opponents to preference will make an effort to have it abolished altogether. It is probable that the bill will seek to alter the constitution of the Arbitration Court by making the personnel three Judges of the Supreme Court instead of one Judge and a representative each of the employers and employees 'as now obtains. / The cause of the discontent with the present constitution of the Court is said to lie in the fact that the representaives of the contending parties, employer and employee, cannot by reason of the manner of their appointment and the conditions under which they may continue to hold office, be as impartial as is desired on the part of a Court. Three independent Judges are considered more likely to hold the balance more evenly between Capital and Labour.

The Calling ol Evidence,

The powex of the Court in making its inquiries when a dispute is before it may also be extended. The Court is now more or less 'limited to the evidence which is brought before it by the contending parties and it has been suggested that the bill will give the Court power to call any additional evidence it thinks fit, and also, if necessary, authority to consult experts in the industry concerned. Such consultation may not necessarily be by way of hearing evidence from experts thus called, but the members may be permitted to discuss* with the experts privately matters on which they seek further enlighenmerit. A further extension of the scope of the Court which may be made is the throwing on it the onus of determining the ability of an industry to pay the wages sought by the employees or suggested by the employers.