ARBITRATION AFFAIRS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15639, 5 October 1921, Page 10

ARBITRATION AFFAIRS.

SHEARERS’ AWARD. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day,’ The Minister of Labor was urged by Mr I). Jones to/mako the appointment of \vi i-kcrs’ aSse-.si.'r mi the Arbitration. Court as soon as possil le after the election, owing to tin- number of important cases now held up. These include framing the freezing workers’ award. Mr Anderson stated that the election will end on October 7, and, the appointment will lie made at the earliest opportunity afterwards. Mr Glenn asked the Minister to state if the shearers’ award applies through the whole Dominion. Mr Anderson replied that, lie had rereived a number of similar queries, and bad asked the Labor Department- to •state the legal position. The award operated in every industrial district except Nelson and the West Coast, because the hearing was Held in all except two districts, and it was the request of both parties that- the award should he uniform. Tl was no doubt correct that a number of slieepowners were not bound bv the award as not being members of the Slieepowners’ Federation. Neither were these persons bound by the previous award which had been superseded by the new one. They could only lie bound by being cited as parties to the new award. He wished particularly to emphasise Clause 31 of the award, which provided that neither the union nor any member thereof shall directly or ' indirectly tlo anything to prevent anv person from working under the conditions of tlio award, or to abstain from working. Thus any attempt to influence the shearers to refrain from accepting work under the award would be a breach of the clause rendering it an offence punishnble, in the case of a union, by £lO9 fine, or bv a worker by a tine not exceeding 05. ' 6