23. All meetings of a concillation board shall be convened by the single secretary or by the separate secretary of either side, as the case may be. The agenda shall be circulated with the notices of meeting, and no question not on the agenda shall be brought up except with the consent of both sides. APPOINTMENT AND POWERS OF ARBITRATORS. 24. Any 1+ference to arbitration shall be to a single arbitrator, to be appointed by agreement between the two sides of the central board, or, in default of agreement, to be appointed only on the application of either side of the central board by the speaker of the House of Commons and the lord president of the court of session, or, in the unavoidable absence or inability of one of them to act, then by the remaining one. 25. Proceedings before the arbitrator shall be regulated by him, including the period during which the award shall be binding. 26. The decision of the arbitrator shall be binding on all parties. AS TO COUNSEL AND LAW AGENTS. 27. In order to keep procedure simple and inexpensive, counsel or law agents shall not be entitled to appear or plead in any matter or question before any conciliation board, and counsel shall not be entitled to appear or plead in any arbitration proceedings. EXPENSES OF CONCILIATION BOARDS AND ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS. 28. In the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the expenses of conciliation boards and arbitration proceedings shall be borne and paid equally by the company and the employees. INCLUSION OF OTHER GRADES OF EMPLOYEES. 29. If the employees belonging to any grade not included in any of the sections should desire hereafter to participate in this scheme, they may make application to the central board, which, if it thinks desirable, may either admit them to an existing sectional board, or form a new sectional board for such grade of employees. DURATION OF SCHEME. 30. The present scheme shall be in force until 12 months after notice has been given by one side to the other to terminate it. No such notice shall be given within six years of the sealing of this scheme. INTERPRETATION. 31. If any question should arise as to the interpretation of this scheme it shall be decided by the board of trade, or at the request of either party, by the lord president of the court of session. METHOD OF ADJUSTING DISPUTES IN OTHER PUBLIC UTILITIES AND PRIVATE INDUSTRIES IN GREAT BRITAIN. In other public utilities than the railway service, as well as in the entire range of industry, the development of the machinery for the settlement of trade disputes by boards of conciliation and arbitration and by joint committee has assumed great_importance in Great Britain. After three years of discussion in Parliament and outside the act for the prevention and settlement of trade disputes, commonly known as the conciliation act of 1896, was passed. Its most important feature was the authorization of the Board of Trade as a standing agency of mediation, ready to act at the request of either party, or to offer its services when the public welfare seemed to demand such action. It will be noticed that the Board of Trade was given no powers of compulsion whatever, but the mere fact that a body of its weight and reputation had been told off for such a service tended to dignify the idea of conciliation, while the ease with which its services could be secured was a strong inducement to call upon it in cases of disagreement.1 CONCILIATION ACT OF 1896. A summary statement or digest of the principal provisions of the conciliation act of 1896 are as follows: 2 DIGEST OF CONCILIATION ACT, 1896. SCOPE OF LAW. (a) Employers: Any class; (b) Employees: Any class. ADMINISTRATION. (a) The Board of Trade; (b) Conciliators or boards of conciliation, either appointed for the time or resort may be had to existing registered conciliation boards established for the various trades or industries; (c) Arbitrators appointed on the application of both parties. Acting under his general powers, the president of the Board of Trade has established (1908) a standing court of arbitration, made up from three panels— one of "persons of eminence and partiality," from which chairmen are taken; one from the "employer class," and one from "the class of workmen and tradeunionists." Technical assessors may also be appointed to assist, but without the right to vote. A later addition (1911), brought about in the same general way, is the industrial council, to be made up of equal numbers of representatives of employers and of workmen, who serve for yearly terms, and whose chairman is known as chief industrial commissioner. The acceptance of the services of these bodies is entirely voluntary, and they are intended to supplement and not to supersede prior methods. MATTERS COGNIZABLE. Differences existing or apprehended between employers and workmen or between different classes of workmen. JURISDICTION OBTAINED. (a) For conciliation, by the request of either party; or the Board of Trade may act on its own motion; (b) For arbitration, on the application of both parties. PROCEDURE. (a) Matters may be referred by the parties in interest to a conciliation board; (b) The Board of Trade may offer its services, or act on the request of a party by appointing a conciliator, or of both parties by appointing an arbitrator or board of arbitration. Agreement to arbitrate: No provision. DUTIES AND POWERS OF CONCILIATORS. To inquire into the causes and circumstances of the difference, and otherwise to endeavor to bring about a settlement, and to report their proceedings to the Board of Trade. 1 Conciliation and Arbitration in Great Britain. Bureau of Labor, p. 82. 2 For the full text of this act, see pp. 174 et seq. Bulletin No. 98 (January, 1912). No provision is made as to registered boards of conciliation, other than that, subject to agreements to the contrary, proceedings before such boards shall be in accordance with the regulations of the boards themselves. They must furnish to the Board of Trade such returns, reports, and proceedings, and other documents as the latter "may reasonably require.” DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. (a) To make inquiry as to causes and circumstances, or take such other steps as it may deem expedient to secure a conference with a view to the settlement of the dispute; (b) To appoint conciliators on the request of one party, or arbitartors on application from both. Where a settlement is reached, whether by conciliation or arbitration, a memorandum of its terms is to be drawn up, signed by the parties, and a copy filed with and preserved by the Board of Trade. Awards: No provision. Appeals: No provision. PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION. Since the passage of this act, two important additions have been made to the machinery which the Board of Trade was authorized to call into existence when occasion demanded: The first was the provision in 1908 of the permanent court of arbitration. In providing for this the president of the Board of Trade expressly disclaimed any intention of curtailing or replacing any of the functions already performed under the conciliation act; the proposed court was to be an addition, not a substitution, and its creation was ascribed to the fact that the scale of the operations carried on by the Board of Trade "deserves, and indeed requires, the creation of some more formal and permanent machinery." Another reason given was the desire to test public sentiment in regard to arbitration; it seems to have been felt that the general attitude toward conciliation was already pretty well known. The panels from which the members of the court were to be drawn were prepared at once, and the system was put in operation in 1909.1 INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL. The second addition to the machinery provided by the Board of Trade was made during 1911 largely as an outcome of the industrial conflicts during the summer of that year. This new body was designated the "industrial council," and was composed of prominent representatives of employers and of workmen in equal numbers who were to serve one year. Regular meetings were to be held three times a year--in January, June, and November-and special meetings might be called at any time by the chairman, who was given the title of industrial commissioner. Sir George Askwith, comptroller general of the labor department of the Board of Trade, was selected for this office. At the first meeting it was decided that the proceedings in general should be considered private and that the members should not act as advocates but in a judicial capacity. It was agreed that the following classes of cases might be acted upon by the council: (1) Cases which may be referred to the council, as an impartial body, for their opinion upon the facts only of the case, to be conveyed to the parties privately. 1 Ibid., p. 175. (2) Cases which may be referred to the council in order that the facts may be impartially ascertained and recommendations made to each side, the acceptance of such recommendations not to be obligatory nor made public. (3) Cases similar to those last mentioned, but both sides agreeing beforehand that the recommendations of the council be made public. (4) Cases which may be referred to the council upon which a decision may be given, the parties agreeing to accept the decision as a final settlement. (5) Cases which may be referred to the council, under special circumstances, by the Board of Trade or the Government. (6) Other matters, apart from particular disputes, which the Board of Trade or the Government may decide to refer to the council, with a view to obtaining a considered and representative opinion upon specific points. It will be seen that while the courts of arbitration were merely another agency through which the Board of Trade must act, the industrial council is intended to serve to a large extent as a substitute for the board. The latter reserves the right to offer its services, in case the disputants fail to call on the council or the council fails to adjust a serious difficulty; but it is confidently expected that such cases will be few and far between.' CONCILIATION BOARDS. In a Conciliation boards, or joint meetings of representatives of employers and employees, are now the generally accepted method in the principal industries of Great Britain for adjusting disputes which otherwise might lead to strikes or a cessation of work. In addition to industrial boards, a number of district conciliation boards have also been created, which are not restricted to any particular occupation but which offer mediation of a general character. number of industries, such as the Brooklands agreement in cotton spinning, they provide special and elaborate machinery for adjusting all differences between employers and the working forces. A few of the boards do not provide any means for avoiding a deadlock through equal representation of both sides and equal voting strength. În by far the greater number of cases, however, an arrangement exists for securing a final decision on disputed points by referring the matter to an independent person or agency. The Board of Trade classifies, according to the provisions for the selection of a final authority to settle disputes, the different boards, as follows: (1) Reference to the Board of Trade for appointment of final authority to settle disputes; (2) Reference to permanent neutral chairman, president, arbitrator, umpire, or referee; (3) Reference to arbitrator, umpire, or referee appointed for the particular case; (4) Reference to three arbitrators or referees, with decision by the majority. The prevailing method of procedure is to refer a deadlock to an arbitrator, umpire, or referee who is appointed for each particular case. THE OPERATION OF BRITISH LAWS. The following tables, which have been taken from official sources, show the extent to which the principles of conciliation and arbitration were operative in settling industrial disputes in Great Britain during the period 1904-1913.2 The official statistics for 1913 are the latest available. 1 Ibid., p. 127. 2 Great Britain. Labor Department. Report on strikes and lockouts, 1912-13. STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS SETTLED BY CONCILIATION OR ARBITRATION IN 1913. Summary table of strikes and lockouts settled in 19131 by conciliation or arbitration, classified according to the agencies by which the disputes were settled. 1 The table includes strikes and lockouts which were settled in 1913 by conciliation or arbitration, irrespective of dates of cessation and resumption of work. Disputes which began before 1913 and were settled in 1913 are included, but not those which were in progress in 1913 but were unsettled at the end of the year. * In addition, 44 disputes in which no stoppage of work occurred were settled under the act. In certain other cases, alsó, action was taken under the act which was directly helpful in bringing about a settlement. |