ARBITRATION COURT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21579, 25 August 1933, Page 13

ARBITRATION COURT

APPLICATION DISMISSED AGREEMENT NOT VALID A sitting of tho Arbitration Court commenced in Auckland yesterday, when the Auckland Plumbers and Gasfitters' Union applied for an order to declare an industrial agreement an award. Mr. Justice Frazer presided, with him being associated Mr. W. Cecil Prime, assessor for the employers, and Mr. A. L. Monteith. assessor for tho workers. The secretary to the union, Mr. J. Clark, produced a list of employers who had signed an industrial agreement, but Mr. W. E. Anderson, representing the employers, submitted two points for the consideration of the Court. He said the original agreement signed last October was invalid, since it was signed by a number of persons who were not employers, and, further, one clause which was included, and did not deal with industrial matters, made the agreement invalid. After considerable discussion His Honor said the question was one of whether the agreement was valid, under the provisions of the Act. In view of €i recent decision of the Court of Appeal, saying that it was not possible to separate a clause from the remainder of a document, the application would be dismissed. In the present agreement there was a clause not dealing with industrial matters.