When a Trede Board propose to fix or vary a rate of wages public notice of such proposal must be given, and if after considering any objections thereto from employers or workpeople, the Board decide to fix or vary the rate, they inform the Minister of Labour accordingly, and normally he makes an Order confirming the rato or varia ion. Such Orders are enforceable under penalty of a fine. Employers are required to exhibit copies of the Order in their workshops ar factories, and to maintain such records of hours worked and wages paid as ore necessary to show that workers are paid at not less then the appropriate rate.
(c) Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act, 1924.
Agricultural. Wages (Regulation) (Scotland) Act, 1937.
Agricultural labour, weak in organisation, is among the lower-paid occupations in this country,
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The present system, which is very similar to the Trade Board system, was applied under the 1924 Act only to England and Wales, and extended to Scotland, with slight variations, by the 1937 Act.
Under the 1924 Act, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries is required to set up, in each county or group of counties, an Agricultural Wages Committee consisting of representatives in equal numbers of employers and workers, together with two impartial members appointed by the Minister and a chairman selected by the Committee. Each Committee is required to fix minimum rates of wages in its area, which as far as practicable shall be such that an able- bodied man's earnings will be "adequate to promote efficiency, and to enable a man in an ordinary case to maintain himself and his family in accordance with such standard of comfort as may be reasonable in relation to the nature of his occupation.
The co-ordination of the work of the Committees is carried out by a Central Agricultural Wages Board consisting of representatives of employers and workers, together with a number of impartial persons appointed by the Minister, and not exceeding one-quarter of the total nembership of the Board.
The rates fixed by Committees do not become operative until confirmed by the Central Board, and are then legally enforceable.
(a) Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act, 1912.
The institution of legislation for fixing minimum wages for coal miners, who in 1912 were amongst the highly paid and most strongly organised workers in the country, originally arose from a demand to safeguard picce workers operating in abnormal places where extraction of coal was difficult. This demand was however extended to one for minimum guaranteed time rates for all grades of underground workers, without reference to abnormal work places.
The passing of the Act referred to above followed a national strike, and met in part the miners' demands.
Under the Act, the Board of Trade can recognise as a joint district board any body of persons which fairly and adequately represents the coal miners and employers of the district, and is presided over by an impartial person. These boards fix minimum rates for each respective district, and in fixing such rates are required to take into consideration the average daily rate of wages paid to workmen of the class for which the minimum rate is to be fixed. No provi- sion is made for the enforcement of the rates so fixed.
As in practice the rates fixed by collective agreements in most districts have been higher than those fixed in accordance with the Act, it has, to a large extent, no operative effect.
(e) Cotton Manufacturing Industry (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1934.
This Act was passed to prevent the collapse of old established collective bargaining arrangements in the weaving section of the industry and made temporary provision (which has been renewed each year to date) for enabling statutory effect to be given to rates of wages agreed between representative organisations in the weaving section of the cotton manufacturing industry.
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