CO129-603-4 Industrial relations- necessity for introducing arbitration procedures 16-10-1946 - 20-12-1946 — Page 52

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The Act also provides for the reference to the Industrial Court in certain circumstances of complaints made by any road haulage worker employed in comection with vehicles used for the carriage of goods not for hire or reward, or by his trade union, or by a trade union representing a substantial number of road haulage workers that the remuneration being paid is unfair. The Act provides certain criteria for the purpose of determining what remuneration cannot be deemed to be unfair and in connection therewith requires the Court to also have regard to the provisions of collective agree- ment covering similar workers and the general level of remuneration of other classes of workers in the trade or industry to which the reference relates.

If the Industrial Court finds that the remuneration paid was unfair, it is required to fix the remuneration to be paid, which is known as "statutory remuneration" which applies not only to the worker by whom or on whose behalf the reference to the Court was made and his employer, but also to all other workers employed by that employer on the same work.

It will be seen that in all the above forms of statutory wage regulation, representatives of employers and workers in the industries concerned are directly associated with the wage fixing machinery. In the sense that the machinery provides every opportunity for consultation and agreement between employers and workers in the industry concerned it is modelled upon and permits of the adoption of methods closely approximating to those employed in voluntary collective bargaining.

VIII.

THE "FAIR WAGES RESOLUTION" OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

OF 10TH MARCH, 1909.

The observance of the terms and conditions of collective agreements between organisations or employers and of workers or of agreements drawn up by the various forms of joint negotiating machinery, is to some extent, dependent on the strength of the organisations concerned to enforce such agreements.

The operation of the Fair Tages Resolution of the House of Commons of 10th March, 1909 in regard to Government contracts, and the wide extension of the principle it embodies by legislative and administrative action has, tended to exert a considerable influence in the direction of the observance of such agreements.

The Resolution owed its origin to an agitation started in 1884 against public contracts being given to "sweating" employers, which led the Government to take measures to provide against "sweating" and abuses from sub-letting.

In its present form as passed by the House of Commons on 10th March, 1909, the Resolution reads:--

"That, in the opinion of this House, the Fair Wages Clause in Government contracts should be so amended as to provide as follows:- The Contractor shall, under a penalty of a fine or otherwise, pay rates or wages and observe hours of labour not less favourable than those commonly recognised by employers and trade societies (or in the absence of such recognised wages and hours, those which in practice prevail amongst good employers) in the trade in the district where the work is carried out. Where there are no such wages and hours recognised or prevailing in the district, those recognised or prevailing in the nearest district in which the general industrial circumstances are similar shall be adopted. Further the conditions of employment generally accepted in the district in the trade concerned shall be taken into account in considering how far the terms of the Fair Wages Clauses are being observed. The Contractor shall be prohibited from transferring or assigning directly, or indirectly, to any person or persons whatever any portion of his contract without the written permission of the Department. Sub-letting other than that which may be customary in the trade concerned, shall be prohibited. The Contractor shall be responsible for the observance of the Fair Wages Clauses by the sub-contractor".

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