EXEMPTION FROM AWARDS

Southland Times, Issue 23379, 10 December 1937, Page 6

EXEMPTION FROM AWARDS

WORKERS ON FARMS

AGREEMENT FAVOURED BY MINISTER OF LABOUR

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, December 9. The desirability of having farm work governed by voluntary agreements instead of awards of the Arbitration Court was admitted by both the Minister of Labour (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong) and Mr W. J. Polson (Nat., Stratford) during the second reading debate on the Agricultural Workers Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives today. The Bill was given a cordial reception by the House and was passed without amendment. Mr Armstrong said the principal Act applied originally only to workers on dairy farms, but power was taken to extend its provisions by Order-in-Council to other branches of the farming industry. The farmers were all anxious to be covered by those extensions as they did not want to be brought under the provisions of the Arbitration Court. The difficulty was to extend those provisions so that they would be binding in law. The Act prescribed weekly wages and annual holidays, but grain growers, for instance, wanted hourly rates and provisions for casual workers. As a result it was necessary to validate agreements which differed in some respects from the terms of the Act. “If this Bill is not passed,” the Minister added, “agreements which have been made already will not be renewed for the simple reason that there will be no power to enforce them in law.” . “What the Minister has said is entirely correct,” said Mr Polson. The original agreement covering dairy farm workers has been perfectly satisfactory. It has kept the dairy farmers out of the turmoil and contentious atmosphere of the Arbitration Court and I think the men, too, have been satisfied with the arrangement. This idea of men and masters meeting round a table provides a much better plan for securing industrial peace than anything else.” POSSIBILITY OF DIFFERENTIATION One weakness in the Bill arose from the possibility that wages for different classes of farm work might have to be varied in accordance with different prices, Mr Polson continued. If there was a fall in wool prices while the guaranteed price for dairy produce remained high the wool growers might be placed at a disadvantage. Difficulty had already been experienced by the fruit growers, said Mr Polson. They had agreed to a set of conditions which were not in conformity with those laid down for other branches of the farming industry, inasmuch as they provided for the classification of workers, compulsory unionism and other details. The conditions as a whole were unworkable. The Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. I W. Lee Martin): The fruit growers were badly advised by their assessors. “They are in a hopeless position at present,” said Mr Polson. “They thought they were going to get a guaranteed price which would enable them to pay the wages and still earn a decent living for themselves. They are now faced with Arbitration Court proceedings and if the court gives them an award they cannot come under the Agricultural Workers Act. It is to be hoped that this matter will be settled.”

Mr Armstrong said that if the fruit growers came to an agreement with their workers in the Conciliation Council that agreement could be written into an order under the Act, instead of into an award.

The Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton): What if they do not come to an agreement. “If there is no agreement we will s4e what we can do about it,” said the Minister. “This Bill is a pretty fair indication that we do not want them to come under an award. Some doubt has also been expressed about the effect of the recent agreement on the ability of permanent farm hands to take part in shearing work unless they become members of the union. I have consulted my department on this point and the position of permanent farm hands had not been altered at all.”

The only speaker during the committee stages was the Speaker (the Hon. W. E. Barnard) who in his capacity as member for Napier appealed for consideration for the employers of labour on the fruit farms in Hawkes Bay. The Bill was then passed.