BREACH OF AWARD

Otago Witness, Issue 3613, 12 June 1923, Page 31

BREACH OF AWARD

CASE AGAINST CITY CORPORATION*. In the Magistrate s Court on Tuesday afternoon, before Mr J. R. Bartholomew-, S.M., Luke D. Browed, inspector of factories, claimed from the City Corporation a penalty of £lO in respect to each of six I n l c nibers of the Local Bodies Labourers’ | Union, for failure to pay them travelling I time while going to their work at the i Southern Reservoir. j Mr Browett opened the case and called ' evidence. His Worship said that the corporation | was perfectly justified in taking up the j attitude that if it could get men within j the specified radius it_ would not go out- : side that radius and incur extra expense. | The evidence satisfied him. however, that i in the attempt to carry out this attitude j some of the subordinate officers had not I acted in an efficient manner, to say the j least of it. The form of application was jan unfortunate one. It contained unlimited j questions on various subjects, and it was ! obvious that the average labourer would | sign it as a matter of form. The document j really defeated its object. A labourer iookj mg for a job, after being pretty well i exhausted by answering all those questions, j would sign anything to get the job. The j evidence satislicd him that the men did not I appreciate what they were signing. His | Worship then dealt with the declarations, 1 and said that the signattnos in themselves j showed an inconsistency. The subordinates ! were quite aware of the position, and I there was the further fact rnat they j travelled on the train with the men. He i was satisfied that some of the men knew ! very little about the mile and a-ha!f radius, and that others, would net have stuck at it if they had known to long as they got a job. He was satisfied that the corporation. through its superior officers, had riot i deliberately made or intended to make ati J attempt to create a breach cf the award. | The corporation, however, was responsible ! for its officers, but under the circumstances ! he would take into consideration that a | local body should not be unnecessarily | mulcted in a heavy penalty, as there was 'no blame attached to its superior officers. ! A penalty of £1 would be inflicted in ! each case (£6 in alb. Witnesses’ expenses j were fixed at 12s per day. with extra exj penses in the case of Anderson, who had had to come from Kaitangata.