ARBITRATION WORK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23130, 31 August 1938, Page 18

ARBITRATION WORK

THE SECOND COURT

QUESTION OF RETENTION APPOINTMENT OF MAGISTRATES [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday The term of appointment of the members of the Second Arbitration Court, fixed for one year, will expire in November. The retention of the Second Court and the question of its personnel will not be considered until then, according to the Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, who states that the continuation of the Court would depend on the progress of its work.

"I hope the Second Court will get over that difficulty," said the Minister, when asked if he had any comment to make on recent complaints of the delay of the Court in issuing awards. "It has to be remembered that the Court is not so experienced in dealing with awards as the First Court." The original intention of the Minister to appoint three industrial magistrates will be suspended until the activities of the first appointee are studied. The announcement of the appointment of Mr. J. A. Gilmour, at present registrar of the Arbitration Court, as a temporary industrial magistrate was made on Friday evening by Mr. Armstrong. Mr. Gilmour will have his headquarters at Auckland; but he will not confine his activities to that district, Mr. Armstrong explained. There would be more call for his services in Auckland than in other districts, and, until further appointments were made, Mr. Gilmour would also deal with matters coming under his jurisdiction in other parts of the Dominion. "31 v original idea was to appoint two magistrates, one for each island, and possibly a third, and that will probablv be carried out after we have had an'opportunity of studying the effectiveness of the work of Mr. Gilmour,' said the Minister. Mr. Armstrong added that tho jurisdiction of the industrial magistrate would embrace interpretations of awards, cases of breaches of awards, and dealing with exemptions and additions to the list of parties. "He will also deal with disputes which may crop up at any time, such as the one at present in the Auckland freezing industry," he concluded.