VALIDITY OF AGREEMENT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13348, 4 April 1914, Page 6

VALIDITY OF AGREEMENT.

INTERESTING TECHNICAL POINTS

(Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. When Mr Way, on behalf of the Coal and Cargo Workers' Union (the union formed of men who had been refused admission to the Arbitration Union), applied for an award m the Arbitration Court a few days ago, Mr Chas. Grosvenor (for shipping companies) questioned Mr Way's right to ask that par^ ties already bound by an agreement should be made parties to an award. Mr Way thereupon was granted permission by the Court to call evidence to attempt ,to show that the agreement was invalid, inasmuch as it had not been arrived at m accordance with the rules of the union which was a party to it. ' The legal question as to his standing as representative of an outside party to impeach the validity of an agreement to which it was not a party was held over, pending investigation of the facts. Yesteraay morning Mr Justice Stringer announced that the Court had considered preliminary questions, and had decided that the agreement which had been criticised had been duly executed m accordance with the" rules of the union. Further, his Honor gave it as his personal opinion that there was nothing m the Act that he could see which gave the applicant union any status m questioning the validity of the agreement which had been entered into by the other union. . Mr Way asked the Court then to make the award apply to those employers who were not parties to the agreement. His Honor said that even if it were possible to make such an award, it would be inadvisable to do so. It would not do to have an award conflicting with an* industrial agreement already m existence. Mr Way intimated that further steps would be taken to test the validity of the agreement.