The Industrial World

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20266, 28 March 1934, Page 4

The Industrial World

i CONDUCTED BY OBSERVER

This column is devoted to the j news of the industrial Labour movement as represented by the secretaries of the various unions whose headquarters are at the Trades Hall. Trade Union News and Views. MEETINGS FOR COMING WEEK. The Bootmakers’ Society, to-night, 7.30. The Hotel and Restaurant Workers’ Union, to-night, 8.0. The Alliance of Labour Conference, to-day, 10 a.m. The Storemen and Packers’ Union, Saturday, 8 p.m. The N.Z. Labour Party Conference, Monday, 10 a.m. The Stonemasons’ Union, Tuesday, 7.30. The General Labourers’ Union, Tuesday, 8.0. The Amalgamated Engineering Union, Tuesday, 7,30. Another Appeal Court Case. Another very interesting case, which concerns trade unionists, has been decided by the Appeal Court. The Clothing Workers’ Union had taken a case before the. Magistrate’s Court in reference to a firm not paying the increments in wages as determined by the Factory Act. The Magistrate decided in favour of the union. As the decision affected a large number of firms throughout New Zealand it -was agreed by all concerned that the case be taken to the Appeal Court for final jurisdiction. The appeal was brought to the Court in the name of a Christchurch firm against the decision of the Magistrate upon the question of the wages of female improvers. The four Judges comprising the Court of Appeal gave a unanimous decision that the appeal be allowed. The Arbitration Court. In fact this whole question should have been settled by the Arbitration Court, as that Court is the final Court in matters of industrial agreements. The Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal can be made use of by one of the parties only if the decision of the Arbitration Court is deemed to be ultra vires. There is, however, a provision in the Arbitration Act, under •which the Arbitration Court, if in any doubt as to any point of law, can state a case for the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Appeal is then authorised to advise the Arbitration Court on the. question stated. This procedure was made use of by the employers and that is why the Court of Appeal gave its ruling against the contention of the union, and the decision of the local Magistrate. The Clause Disputed. The question under dispute was the meaning of the clause in the Factories Act. .which reads as follows; “ Every persdn who is employed in any capacity m a. factory shall be entitled to receive frbm the occupier such payment for his work as is agreed upon, being not less than 10s in any one week, with an annual increment of 5s a week until a wage of 30s is reached, and thereafter not less than 305.”

j The union contended that the annual increment must be added to the wage agreed upon, that is the # wage fixed by an industrial award. Mr Justice Sim agreed with this construction in a judgment in 1907. The contention of the employers was that the clause in the Factories Act stipulated only a minimum scale bf wages and to make the annual increments payable only upon the minimum of 10s a week and not upon any higher agreed wages. An Appeal to the Privy Council. The union will discuss the possibility of taking the case before the Privy Council. It will be renjembered that, as a result of the Napier earthquake the Appeal Court gave a judgment which was reversed by the Privy Council. The workers or their relatives are now receiving compensation as a result. Unfortunately for the workers the cost of taking a ease before the. Privy Council is a large one, and no one union can stand the cost. As this later decision of the Appeal Court is against the interests of the workers, it may be advisable to place the matter before the Alliance of Labour in order to secure the co-operation of all unions in meeting the cost. In cases like this the whole body of workers are concerned, and naturally it is not fair to ask the union concerned in the. dispute to bear the whole cost, particularly after the matter had been taken both to the Lower Court and then to the Appeal Court. Organisation of Industry. A great attempt is now being made in Britain to organise upon some systematic plan the iron and steel industry. This is a result of the protection given to the industry by the Government. As far back as 1932 a plan was prepared by a committee, which plan covered firms directly engaged in the production of iron and steel and of rolling mills with a combined capita] of £105,000,000. Last April the plar. was at last accepted by a majority of the firms concerned, and the committee received from the Chancellor of the Exchequer a promise that, so long as the Government was satisfied with the progress made by the industry in setting its own house in order, it could rely on official support. The rate of progress in the adoption of the plan was a slow one, but the possibility of losing the protection afforded by the tariff has facilitated the acceptance of the plan by many firms. It now appears that the largest industrial organisation in the country will be this one of the iron and steel industry. Thus, by tariffs and Government influence, the day of free competition is drawing to a close. With national organisation and control of industry coupled with Government oversight of industry the ground is slowly being prepared for the Government control of industry. It means that one more step is then essential'for the realisation of the Socialist of Government ownership of industry. A similar development is taking place in America. Naturally, then, economic fqrces are working towards the goal long advocated by trade unionists and Socialists.