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STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS SETTLED BY CONCILIATION OR ARBITRATION,

1904-1913.

Summary table showing for each of the years 1904-1913 the strikes and lockouts which were settled during those years by conciliation or arbitration, classified according to the agencies by which the disputes were settled.

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1 In certain other cases action was taken under the act which was directly helpful in bringing about a settlement. In addition, disputes in which no stoppage of work occurred were settled under the act as follows: 1904, 7 cases; 1905, 12 cases; 1906, 10 cases; 1907, 22 cases; 1908, 32 cases; 1909, 30 cases; 1910, 35 cases; 1911, 33 cases; 1912, 37 cases; 1913, 44 cases.

WORK OF VOLUNTARY PERMANENT CONCILIATION

AND

ARBITRATION

BOARDS AND STANDING JOINT COMMITTEES IN 1904-1913.

Summary table showing, so far as known to the department, the work of voluntary permanent conciliation and arbitration boards and standing joint committees in each of the years 1904-1913, classified by trades.

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1 The cases include both disputes causing stoppage of work and those in which no stoppage occurred. 2 Includes 2,488 cases in 1911, 1,287 in 1912, and 1,596 in 1913, considered by the South Wales Tinplate

Board.

3 Includes cases settled by arbitration under reference from the boards.

• Includes 2,371 cases in 1911, 996 in 1912, and 1,100 in 1913, settled by the South Wales Tinplate Board.

TEXT OF CONCILIATION ACT, 1896.
[7th August, 1896.]

AN ACT To make better provision for the prevention and settlement of trade disputes.

1. (1) Any board established either before or after the passing of this act, which is constituted for the purpose of settling disputes between employers and workmen by conciliation or arbitration, or any association or body authorized by an agreement in writing made between employers and workmen to deal with such disputes (in this act referred to as a conciliation board), may apply to the Board of Trade for registration under this act.

(2) The application must be accompanied by copies of the constitution, bylaws, and regulations of the conciliation board, with such other information as the Board of Trade may reasonably require.

(3) The Board of Trade shall keep a register of conciliation boards and enter therein with respect to each registered board its name and principal office and such other particulars as the Board of Trade may think expedient, and any registered conciliation board shall be entitled to have its name removed from the register on sending to the Board of Trade a written application to that effect.

(4) Every registered conciliation board shall furnish such returns, reports of its proceedings, and other documents as the Board of Trade may reasonably require.

(5) The Board of Trade may, on being satisfied that a registered conciliation board has ceased to exist or to act, remove its name from the register.

(6) Subject to any agreement to the contrary, proceedings for concilation before a registered conciliation board shall be conducted in accordance with the regulations of the board in that behalf.

2.-(1) Where a difference exists or is apprehended between an employer, or any class of employers, and workmen, or between different classes of workmen, the Board of Trade may, if they think fit, exercise all or any of the following powers, namely:

(a) Inquire into the causes and circumstances of the difference;

(b) Take such steps as to the board may seem expedient for the purpose of enabling the parties to the difference to meet together, by themselves or their representatives, under the presidency of a chairman mutually agreed upon or nominated by the Board of Trade or by some other person or body, with a view to the amicable settlement of the difference;

(c) On the application of employers or workmen interested, and after taking into consideration the existence and adequacy of means available for conciliation in the district or trade and the circumstances of the case, appoint a person or persons to act as conciliator or as a board of conciliation;

(d) On the application of both parties to the difference, appoint an arbitrator. (2) If any person is so appointed to act as conciliator he shall inquire into the causes and circumstances of the difference by communication with the parties and otherwise shall endeavor to bring about a settlement of the difference, and shall report his proceedings to the Board of Trade.

(3) If a settlement of the difference is effected either by conciliation or by arbitration a memorandum of the terms thereof shall be drawn up and signed by the parties or their representatives, and a copy thereof shall be delivered to and kept by the Board of Trade.

3. The arbitration act, 1889, shall not apply to the settlement by arbitration of any difference or dispute to which this act applies, but any such arbitration proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with such of the provisions of the said act, or such of the regulations of any conciliation board, or under such other rules or regulations as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties to the difference or dispute.

4. If it appears to the Board of Trade that in any district or trade adequate means do not exist for having disputes submitted to a conciliation board for the district or trade, they may appoint any person or persons to inquire into the conditions of the district or trade and to confer with the employers and employed, and, if the Board of Trade think fit, with any local authority or body, as to the expediency of establishing a conciliation board for the district or trade.

5. The Board of Trade shall from time to time present to Parliament a report of their proceedings under this act.

6. The expenses incurred by the Board of Trade in the execution of this act shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.

7. The Masters and Workmen Arbitration Act, 1824, and the Councils of Conciliation Act, 1867, and the Arbitration (Masters and Workmen) Act, 1872, are hereby repealed.

8. This act may be cited as the Conciliation Act, 1896.

COURT OF ARBITRATION.

The following is the text of a memorandum communicated by the president of the Board of Trade to chambers of commerce and employers' and workmen's associations in September, 1908, with reference to the formation of a court of arbitration as an auxiliary to the conciliation act.

MEMORANDUM.

1. Under the conciliation act of 1896 the Board of Trade has power to appoint a conciliator in trade disputes and an arbitrator at the request of both parties. These slender means of intervention have been employed in cases where opportunity has offered, and the work of the department in this sphere has considerably increased of recent years. In 1905 the Board of Trade intervened in 14 disputes and settled them all; in 1906 they intervened in 20 cases and settled 16; in 1907 they intervened in 39 cases and settled 32; while during the first eight months of the present year no fewer than 47 cases of intervention have occurred, of which 35 have been already settled, while some of the remainder are still being dealt with.

2. It is not proposed to curtail or replace any of the existing functions or practices under the conciliation act, nor in any respect to depart from its voluntary and permissive character. The good offices of the department will still be available to all in industrial circles for the settlement of disputes whenever opportunity offers. Single arbitrators and conciliators will still be appointed whenever desired. Special interventions will still be undertaken in special cases, and no element of compulsion will enter into any of these proceedings. But the time has now arrived when the scale of these operations deserves, and indeed requires, the creation of some more formal and permanent machinery; and, with a view to consolidating, expanding, and popularizing the working of the conciliation act, I propose to set up a standing court of arbitration.

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3. The court, which will sit whenever required, will be composed of three (or five) members, according to the wishes of the parties, with fees and expenses to members of the court and to the chairmen during sittings. The court will be nominated by the Board of Trade from three panels. The first panelof chairmen-will comprise persons of eminence and impartiality. The second will be formed of persons who, while preserving an impartial mind in regard to the particular dispute, are nevertheless drawn from the employer class." The third panel will be formed of persons similarly drawn from the class of workmen and trade-unionists. It is hoped that this composition will remove from the court the reproach which workmen have sometimes brought against individual conciliators and arbitrators, that, however fair they mean to be, they do not intimately understand the position of the manual laborer. It is believed that by the appointment of two arbitrators selected from the employers' panel and two from the workmen's panel in difficult cases, thus constituting a court of five instead of three persons, the decisions of the court would be rendered more authoritative, especially to the workmen, who, according to the information of the Board of Trade, are more ready to submit to the judgment of two of their representatives than of one. As the personnel of the court would be constantly varied, there would be no danger of the court itself becoming unpopular with either class in consequence of any particular decision; there would be no difficulty in choosing members quite unconnected with the case in dispute, and no inconvenient labor would be imposed upon anyone who consented to serve on the panels. Lastly, in order that the peculiar conditions of any trade may be fully explained to the court, technical assessors may be appointed by the Board of Trade, at the request of the court of the parties, to assist in the deliberations, but without any right to vote.

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4. The state of public opinion upon the general question of arbitration in trade disputes may be very conveniently tested by such a voluntary arrangement. Careful inquiry through various channels open to the Board of Trade justifies the expectation that the plan would not be unwelcome in industrial circles. The court will only be called into being if, and in proportion as, it is actually wanted. No fresh legislation is necessary.

5. Steps will now be taken to form the respective panels. September 1, 1908.

The following regulations have been drawn up by the Board of Trade in connection with the appointment of courts of arbitration:

REGULATIONS.

1. The application should state (a) the subject matter of the dispute; (b) whether the parties wish the court to consist of (1) a chairman and two arbitrators, or (2) a chairman and four arbitrators; (c) whether the parties desire the Board of Trade (i) to appoint a chairman and arbitrators, all of whose names have been jointly selected by the parties from the respective panels, or (ii) to appoint a chairman whose name has been jointly selected by the parties from the chairman's panel, and to select and appoint the arbitrators from the respective panels, or (iii) to select and appoint the chairman from the chairmen's panel, and to appoint arbitrators jointly selected by the parties from the respective panels, or (iv) to select and appoint all the members of the court from the respective panels; (d) whether the parties wish the court to appoint, or apply to the Board of Trade to appoint, a technical assessor or

assessors.

2. A court of arbitration shall, if either party or both parties shall have so requested, or may on their own initiative, if they consider that the assistance of a technical assessor or assessors is expedient, appoint or apply to the Board of Trade to appoint a technical assessor or assessors accordingly.

3. Technical asessors shall not be members of the court. They will be appointed solely for the purpose of giving the court information on technical matters when required by them. They will only be entitled to be present at such stages of the proceedings as the court may direct. Every assessor before taking up his duties shall pledge himself in writing to keep secret all matters with which he shall in the course of the performance of such duties become acquainted.

4. All procedure in connection with the hearing of a case shall be settled by the chairman after consultation with other members of the court, including the mode of appearance thereat.

For the convenience of the court, each application should be accompanied by a statement showing (a) whom the parties desire to represent them at the hearing and (b) the approximate number of witnesses each side desires to call. 5. The award of a majority of the members of the court shall be the award of the court. When no majority can be obtained in favor of an award, owing to the arbitrators being equally divided, then the matter shall be decided by the chairman, acting with the full powers of an umpire.

6. After an award is made it shall be signed by the chairman on behalf of the court, and he shall then cause a copy to be sent to the representatives of both parties to the dispute. The original award, together with any shorthand notes and all relevant papers, shall be forwarded to the Board of Trade.

7. Shorthand notes (and transcripts of such notes) of any part of the proceedings shall only be paid for by the Board of Trade if the chairman of the court certifies that the notes were necessary for the purpose of the court. The Board of Trade will also pay any expenses connected with the drawing of the award, and for the hire of a room for the hearing of the case when necessary. They will also pay the expenses of the members of the court.

RULES OF LONDON LABOR CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION BOARD.

I. That a permanent body be constructed, to be called The London Conciliation Board, which shall be affiliated to the London Chamber of Commerce, and that its composition shall be as follows, viz:

(a) Twelve members representing capital or employers, to be elected by the council of the chamber.

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