ARBITRATION COURT AWARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2697, 22 November 1905, Page 65

ARBITRATION COURT AWARD.

;. LIME-BURNERS.

The following is the award of the Arbitration Court in' the dispute between the- Otago Agricultural" and General Labourers'- Union of Workers, and the lime' manufacturers m Otago and Southland: — - Hours- of Work.— l. Forty-eight hours shall constitute a week's work. ' - Overtime.— 2. Overtime - shall v be paid for *t .the rate of time and a-quarter for the first two-hours and time- and a~half afterwards. Wages. — 3. The following minimum wages shall be paid: Quarry hands, strippers, limeburcerß, drawers, trollymen, 7s per day; ..youths under years employed driving trolly, 4s 56d5 6d per day. « "Waiting Time.— 4. Time during which work is suspended while waiting for the firing bf shots shall not "be deducted from the men's time.

Payment of Wages.— s. Wages shall be paid fortnightly on- the work's within four days after the expiry of the fortnight. This clause shall not «ome "info operation until "the fortnightly pay 'day after the 31st of December, 1905. Holidays. — 6 Holidays shall be arranged for between employers and employees. Double time rates >• shall be ' paid for work done on. New Year's -Day, 'Good Friday, and Christmas Day, and all Sundays. - Termination of Engagement. — 7. Four days' notice shall be given to any employee before discharging him, and an employe© leaving Bhall similarly give to the manager four, days' notice of his intention to do so.. T-his clause ■hall not apply to dismissal for a cause legally entitling the employer, to dismiss a man without notice. •

"Cnder-rate Men, — 8. Jf -any worker is from «ny^ cause unable to ,earn the minimum wage provided by the' award for 'any class of work for winch he may desire employment, such •worker .may be employed- at suck less wag« ac 'may be, agreed upon in writing between the representative of the unio,n and the manager Tof the works for the time being, of, 'in default of such agreement, as may be fixed "by the stipendiary magistrate sitting at Milton after 48 hours' notice to the secretary or .representative of the union, who shall be heard upon such application.

Preference.— 9. -If, and -so long as the rules of the union shall permit any person in this industrial district, and any person who may hereafter reside "in this industrial district, to become' a member of such union upon payment of an entrance fee not exceeding ss, and of subsequent contributions, whether payable weekly or not, not exceeding sixpence per ■week, upon a written application of the pereon so desiring to join the union, without ballot or election, then, and in such case, employers shall, when engaging a workman, employ members of the union in preference to non-members, provided that there are members of the union equally qualified with non-members to perform the particular work required to be done, and ready and willing, and presently able, to undertake it; but this award shall not compel any employer to dismiss or refuse employment to any person now employed by him. 10. So long as the rules of the union are such as to entitle the members of the union to preference under the foregoing clause, the union shall keep in the post office at Milburn, or, if the employers so desire, at some public, municipal, or county office at Milton, ior such other place as the court may. appoint, a book, to be called the " employment book," wherein shall be entered the names and exact addresses of all members of the union for the time being out of employment, with an accurate statement of the class of work in which such member claims to be proficient, and the names and addresses and occupations of one or more employers by whom such member shall have been employed during the preceding year. Immediately upon such member obtaining employment a note thereof shall be entered Sn such book. The executive of the union

shall use its best endeavours to verify all the entries contained in such book, and. the union shall be answerable as for a breach ot this award in case any entry therein shall in any particular be wilfiuly false to the knowledge of the executive of the union, or in case the executive of the union shall not have used reasonable endeavours to verify the same. Such book shall be open to every employer without fee or chai-ge withyi office hours. If the union fail to keep the employment book in manner provided by this clause, then, and in such case, and so long as such failure shall continue, any employer, if he so thinks fit, may employ any person or persons, whether a member of the union or not, to perform the work required to be performed, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions. Notice shall be given by the union to the employers of the place where such employment Look is kept, and of any change in such place.

Detail Disputes. — 11. Should any dispute arise while this award remains in force relating to matters not herein dealt with, it shall be referred to a conference between the union and the employer or employers interested, and, failing agreement at such conference, the matter shall be referred to the chairman of the Conciliation Board, or, if more conveniently dealt with locally, to ihe •stipendiary magistrate sitting at .Milton. Seope~ of Award. — 12. This award shall bind the employers carrying on operations within the external limits of the County of Bruce. The employers in the portion of the industrial distriot beyond the above described limits are exempt from the operation of the award so long as present conditions are ob■served by them. The court reserves to itself power, in case of any alteration, to make a supplemental award dealing with the conditions in other parts of the district, when application is made to it to do so.

Term of Awaxd. — 13. This award shall come into operation on the 30th day of November, 1905, and shall continue in operation until the 30th day of November, 1907, and thereafter shall remain in force until superseded by another award or an industrial agreement.

Reasons.— -On the applicaiion of the employers then cited, the court adjourned this case and ordered the union to join, and cite j other parties alleged to be competing with the Mi'ibum Company from works in the | Waitaki and Southland Counties. After ! tailing evidence in those portions of the -mdii.atria.l district, the court found that the ' conditions prevailing in Southland were so different that it could not regulate them on 'tlio lines prevailing in Bruce County, without , making a complete alteration, which was n-ot } called for, and would not surf the parties there; moreover, the court was, not presented with such definite evidence of competition as would causa the present award to give producers in Southland an unfair advantage over employers in Brace County. It has j therefore decided not to bind these parties at j present. At Oamaru it found the trade m building -lime in a somewhat declining conI dition owing to competition through the importation of hydraulic lime from Auckland. It has taken the same course with respect to this portion of the district. The court does | not 3ee its way to increase the wages jn Bruce' County. Several % witnesses who were called -expressed satisfaction with their present position, as the wage is a, steady one.- The business of the company is chiefly in agricultural Ji'me. This cannot be sent away free j by rail save when sold directly to farmers at a. price not exceeding l-3s per ton. The Milburn Company could not therefore make up the loss caused by paying a higher wage by Taising the price to the farmers using this class of lime, while with respect to building lime it has to meet competition from the north. The company informed the court that it was willing to increase the wages of the men if placed in a position to make a higher I charge against the purcEasars of agricultural lime. In the case of the horse driver, the comrt has abstained from fixing the wage, asthe withdrawal of other employees only leaves one man in the class, who expressed himself satisfied with his position. The ©"gine-drivea- 'has been omitted for similar reasons. The court was asked to insert clauses as to the conduct of blasting operations and other matters connected with the health and well-being of men, but it considers that these are matters which ought to be dealt with under the general law, if it is found necessary to. deal with them. A clause waa to the effect that sub-contrac-tors should be compelled to nay the rates of wages provided by the award. This is unnecessary as sub-contractors would be bound a 'f ,? v i seqllent P arfa «® by force of section 86 •of The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1900;"