HOURS OF WORK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22532, 24 September 1936, Page 14

HOURS OF WORK

\ ORDERS BY COURT i « ______ % : QUESTION OF EXTENSION f'■ ' " |. CASE OF LATER APPLICANTS $ t I PRINTING TRADES POSITION A case of importance to many indusi tries was heard in the Arbitration I Court yesterday, when applications I were considered for tho extension to \ employers who did not apply at tho j Wellington hearing of an order made ; by the Court in respect of tho printing, « stationery manufacture, photo-process ' engraving and related industries. The s , Court had declined a 40-hour week and " f ' fixed the hours at those set out in the » various awards and agreements. The secretary of the Federated - Master Printers, Mr. E. W. Clarkson, appeared for the employers, and Mr. ; C. H. Chapman, M.P. and Mr. K. Baxter, president and secretary re- ) spectivelx of the Now Zealand Printing ; and Belated Trades Federation, and • Mr. <J. Mclnnarney, local secretary, opposed tho applications on behalf of ' • tho employees. , f . The employers wished the question to be treated on a Domim<m basis, but on the employees' representatives ' ' opposing the hearing of 82 southern ' applications, on the ground that there i had been insufficient time to consider i them, the Court ruled that only 50 \ applications from tho Northern indusI trial district, should be dealt with. Delay from Misunderstanding '■ Mfi Clarkson said that occupiers of ; 172 factories, representing, on tho basis I of output, more than two-thirds of the j industry, had applied to the Court in • Wellington and sinco that date 132 ' further applications had been filed. I '■ The delay was due to a misundorstandJ ing of the fornial procedure. Many ' occupiers understood that, by reason J of the arrangement made by the Court »■ to hear cases by industries, individual * applications were not necessary, since ! the case on behalf of the industry was \ being presented by its representative \ organisations, and they believed that *• this presentation would be accepted by the Court as being; on behalf of every J occupier. In fact, it was understood » that in some industries applications J were made and accepted by the Court i i in such ternis that the consequent ' orders applied without doubt to every 1 factory engaged in those industries. j The present application was designed < to remove any possibility of doubt ; regarding the order and to ensure that ; effect was given to the Court's inten- ; tion as they iftiderstood •it to be, that * the benefits of the orders should apply „ uniformly and without exception to ' every occupier of a factory. throughout , the "industry. Since the Court had de- ' clined the unions' applications to amend s,ii the awards 1 and agreements, the em- *' ployers now sought authority under 1 the Factories Amendment Act, 1936, ' to adhere to the hours provisions set ; out in the current awards and agree- «• inents. Representative Balance Sheets ! Reviewing the information on which ' the Court had held a 40-hour week impracticable, Mr. Clarkson recalled > that its judgment stated that the bal- | ence sheets submitted were fairly repre•V eentative of the whole industry. * Actually 138 of the : 172 applicants I; furnished balance sheets. The balance « Eheets represented seven daily city J newspapers, 33 provincial dailies, 29 t o'ther newspapers,' and 69 printers, I: manufacturing stationers and photo- « engraver's. ' * " | The returns , to " the 'Government ? Statistician in respect of newspaper > production and commercial printing | were presented at the hearing and supi plemented by returns collected by the two employers' associations, bringing ; the official* information Tip. to date. J Two-thirds of Industry • From a list of factory occupiers who ' furnished balance-sheets, a return had t now been, compiled, hy the Government ' Statistician; giving a direct comparison \ for 1934-35, between - these' factories )' and. the: industry. ' The : figures t were:— 'i. >. • . • Whole I'actorieß \ V:".' Industry concerned V £ £ P.C. Value or products 3,758.037 2,417,873 64 Salaries 4 wages 1,513,478 94'2,846 6jMaterials .. 063,028 50--.289 62 Other expenses 055.403 "Surplus .. 326.428 236, , -JS6 io This was conclusive evidence that, since the balance-sheets represented virtually-two-thirds of the industry, the Court was fully justified in accepting them as "fairly representative of the whole industry." ' . : Employees' Contentions Opposing the applications, Mr., Baxter bald that employers had lost their right to ask for exemption; under the Factories Amendment Act, 1936, as paragraph S, clause 3, stated:— "This section shall come into force on September 1, 1936." The employers had had over a month to exercise their right, yet about 201 out of 373 printin° p 'establishments had not applied. They were apparently indifferent or reconciled to a 40-hour- week. Jho federation intended.to contest these applications on every occasion. Air. Baxter quoted a number of firms working shorter hours, or five-day weeks- He contended ;that many of the occupiers who Jtailed to make application for exemption from the 40-hour vroek before September 1 had considered tho reduced hours a foregone conclusion, but still thought it possible to overcome any financiail, embairassment. He thought they also .considered this would be in the. best interests of the industry an making for contentment among the . workers. The position now was that a minority .of the occti piers had approached the Court before the Act came into opcration and the majority after the decision had been given. In any case, they claimed that the new applicants should be 'Compelled to pay overtime rates for hours worked over 40 sinco September 1. In reply, Mr. Clarkson said he had alreadv shown that the Court s decision bad been given after receiviug applications from the greater part or the industry. He emphasised that the delay in other cases had been merely the result of a misunderstanding. _An entirely wrong interpretation had been placed bv the employees on paragraph 8, clause" 3, of the Act. The employers, indeed, considered it operated in pxactly the reverse manner. Tho Court reserved its decision.