THE I. C. AND A. ACT

Southland Times, Issue 20613, 11 October 1928, Page 8

THE I. C. AND A. ACT

AMENDING BILL. NEW CLAUSES INSERTED. (Special to the Times.) Wellington, October 9. That the five year agreement principle to be introduced into the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act is to apply only with respect to the fixing of a method or basis for calculating wages in the industry or industries concerned in the agreements, was made plain in the House of Representatives to-day when new clauses were inserted into the amending Bill which was brought forward in the House early this morning. As drafted the Bill allowed for awards and agreements with the consent of the parties being made for five years instead of three years, the limit allowed by the Act. Provision was also made for extending existing awards with the consent of the parties to five years. This was going further than was intended and after the short title of the measure had been adopted in committee, further consideration was held over until the clauses could be reconsidered. As a result the new clauses were brought in this afternoon. Explaining the amendments the Prime Minister (the Right Hon. J. G. Coates) said that they allowed an agreement or award to be made with the consent of the parties for the purpose of prescribing a basis or method for the calculation of wages over a period of five years, and with like consents any existing award or agreement might be amended for the same purpose. Except in this respect the Bill did not alter the existing law insofar as an award or agreement dealt with matters other than the method of calculating wages. The present limitation of three years would continue to apply. The amendments were agreed to by the House and the Bill was read a third time and passed without further discussion. As the Prime Minister stated this morning the amendment was made as a result of an agreement which had been reached between the Sheepowners’ Federation and the Shearers’ Union. This provided for a sliding scale of wages over a period of five years, the wages to rise when the prices of wool appreciated over defined points and to ease should there be a retrograde movement in wool values.