BLIND BASKETMAKERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 9 October 1926, Page 13

BLIND BASKETMAKERS.

DECISION OF ARBITRATION COURT.

. Br TelerraDi: — Vtqhb AaiocUttns. , i , . AUCKLAND, October 8. lhe decision of the Arbitration Court lit .the matter of an application by tilt rckerworkers’ Union to have the ■ Jubilee Institute for the Blind joined I A. P a H ; y to the award, was delivered [ by Mr Justice Frazer. r ??? Honour said’it appeared that the Institute trained its inmates in wickerworking, and so gave them an oppor--1 tunity of becoming self-supporting wlich they left. For various reasons, a number of inmates were not able to earn their own living, even when they had learned a trade, and they romained in the Institution. There was no suggestion that tho inmates • overworked, that' tho conditions Were s onerous, or that thoy wore underpaid., Further, their earnings were . jeupplifthentod by Government pensions of- 17s Gd per week, and by a grant ~ fOjf . 25, per cent, of their earnings, ujr certain limit. Any increase of wages beyond that limit would have the effect of reducing the Government pension and grant, and impose an added burden 1 on the funds of the institution. A further point was that the conditions fixed by the award would not be reason--1 ably applicable to such an institution. On tho other hand, the present application arose from complaints of undercutting' prices. It was not right that a- publicly supported institution should compete unfairly with private enteropriso, but the director had intimated that lie was willing to discuss prices with representatives of the trade; » That would seem to be the proper solution of tho question.