ENFORCEMENT.

Any breach or nonobservance of any term or an order or award subjects the person or organization so offending to penalties in amounts determined as to their maximum by the court; such penalties may also be imposed by any court of summary jurisdiction. If the offender is an organization, its property may be levied on, and if this is not sufficient, then also the property of the members, not to exceed, however, the sum of £10 ($48.67) per member, unless it be an organization of employers with less than 100 members, when the individual maximum may be the pro rata part of £1,000 ($4,866.50).

A mandamus or injunction may also be issued at the instance of any party to an award, requiring compliance under pain of fine or imprisonment.

Persons unlawfully engaging in strikes or lockouts, or willfully failing to comply with an award, forfeit all rights under the award and also lose their membership in any organization to which they may belong, together with any existing or accrued rights to benefits therein, and are subject to a fine. A board of reference may be appointed by the court on its own motion or on application of a party in interest, to which may be assigned the duty of allowing, approving, fixing, or otherwise dealing with any specified matter under the award, but subject to the conditions specified in it.

NEW ZEALAND.

The industrial conciliation and arbitration act of New Zealand is perhaps the best known of the whole body of Australian labor legislation, largely because it has been in active operation since a year or two after its adoption in 1894. The act has been amended on several occasions, but some of its more essential features as it operated up to the act of 1908 were similar to the corresponding acts of the Commonwealth referred to above, and of Western Australia. The great change introduced in the New Zealand act of 1908 is one by which failing voluntary and informal settlements the reference of "disputes" in the first instance to special councils of conciliation is made, save with regard to Government railway workers, obligatory. The court remains as an integral part of the structure of the act, but it can be applied to only if the councils of conciliation fail in the task of adjustment. These councils, although appointed ad hoc to deal with "disputes," and not for a period of years to fix certain specified conditions in a trade, are, alike in their position and as regards their more important duties, of the nature of wages or special boards.

As regards strikes and lockouts, the legislature has never entirely prohibited them, except with respect to bodies on behalf of which cases were pending or when they were subject to award.

HISTORY OF LEGISLATION.

The industrial conciliation and arbitration act of New Zealand now in force was enacted in 1908, being a consolidation of earlier acts of 1905-6. The act has been the subject of several amendments up to the year 1913. It covers all employments and has a central court of arbitration as its permanent administrative agency. There are also councils of conciliation, at the head of which are commissioners appointed for terms of three years, and acting in the first instance in most cases, though certain classes of disputes (those affecting Government railroads and those extending to more than one industrial district) may be considered by the court without previous action by a council.

The investigative powers of the councils of conciliation are limited to the extent that trade secrets and business profits and losses are not subject to disclosure. Otherwise, if no agreement between the parties is brought about by a council, it may, on a unanimous agreement of its members, furnish its findings and recommendations for publication. The recommendations may be accepted by the parties, and such acceptance, as well as any agreements reached, are of the same binding effect as awards.

Matters not otherwise settled may be taken up by the court of arbitration, which has full investigative powers, its awards being binding on the parties, districts, and industries specified therein.

The parties are employers, singly or in association, and associations or unions of employees, such bodies being registered under provisions of the act. Jurisdiction is obtained by councils of conciliation by application of a party to a dispute and by the court by reference, except in cases where it may act in the first instance, when application of the parties, one or both, gives jurisdiction.

Engaging in or inciting strikes or lockouts where there is a valid existing agreement or award subjects the offender to a fine, and so also in specified (public utility) industries, even if there is no agreement or award, until after at least 14 days' notice.

DIGEST OF INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT, 1908,
AMENDED TO 1913.

SCOPE OF LAW.

(a) Employers: Any employer of one or more workers.

(b) Employees: Any person employed to do any work for hire or reward.

ADMINISTRATION.

(a) The minister of labor, who has general charge.

(b) A court of arbitration, consisting of three members appointed by the governor, one, "the judge of the court,' to be eligible to be a judge of the supreme court, and to have the tenure, salary, etc., of such a judge; the others to be nominated, one each by unions of employers and of workers, respectively, and to serve for three years.

(c) Councils of conciliation, consisting of a conciliation commissioner appointed by the governor for a term of three years, to have jurisdiction within a designated industrial district, and one, two, or three assessors appointed by the commissioner for the occasion on the nomination of the parties applying for a reference to a council, a like number to be appointed on the nomination of the respondents.

(d) Boards of investigation.

(e) A registrar of industrial unions and a deputy registrar.

(f) District clerks of awards.

(g) Inspectors of awards.

MATTERS COGNIZABLE.

Any dispute between employers or industrial unions or associations of employers and one or more industrial unions or associations of workers, on any subject affecting the conditions of employment, not including questions involying indictable offenses, but covering all matters of wages, hours, sex, the employment of children, preference of union members, usages and customs, etc.

JURISDICTION OBTAINED.

(a) Any industrial union or association, or an employer, party to a dispute. may make application to the commissioner for the district that the dispute may be heard by a council of conciliation; two or more unions or employers may make joint application.

(b) If the council fails to secure a settlement, it notifies the clerk of awards, either with or without a recommendation of terms of settlement; if without a recommendation, or if either party disagrees to the recommendation, the clerk refers the dispute to the court.

(c) Disputes involving workers on the Government railways or affecting more than one industrial district may be brought before the court in the first instance by application of a union of railway employees in the one case and of any party to the dispute in the other.

Engaging in a strike or lockout by a person at the time bound by an award or industrial agreement subjects the offender to a penalty not exceeding £10 ($48.67), if a worker, and not exceeding £500 ($2,433.25) if an employer. Inciting, aiding, or abetting a strike or lockout under such circumstances subjects the offender, if a worker, to a penalty not exceeding £10 ($48.67), and if a union, an employer, or any person not a worker, to a penalty not exceeding £200 ($973.30).

Any worker in certain specified (public utility) industries engaging in a strike without having given at least 14 days' notice is subject to a penalty not exceeding £25 ($121.66). Inciting, etc., subject to the same penalties.

Pending final disposition of any dispute by a council or the court, anything in the nature of a strike or lockout is forbidden under a penalty not exceeding £50 ($243.33). Dismissing or suspending a worker, or the discontinuance of work by a worker at such a time, subjects to a fine not exceeding £25 ($121.66).

PROCEDURE.

(a) A commissioner, after an application for the hearing of a dispute, may, if he thinks fit, take steps by way of conference or otherwise to procure a voluntary settlement.

(b) Councils of conciliation make inquiries and suggestions and take such other steps as they may think fit to determine the merits of the case and secure a fair and amicable settlement. If no settlement is reached, steps may be taken to secure a temporary provisional arrangement pending arbitration proceedings. The council may at any time state a case for the advice or opinion of the court of arbitration. Before transmitting a notification of inability to secure a settlement, the council may, if it thinks fit and has reached a unanimous agreement thereto, forward to the clerk of awards a recommendation of terms of settlement, which shall be published by the clerk in such manner as may be prescribed. Partial agreements, if any, shall also be furnished the clerk.

(c) The court of arbitration, on notice through the clerk of awards of the failure of a council to secure a settlement, holds hearings and makes determinations as to disputes. The court may refer any matter before it to a board for investigation and report, and may, if it thinks fit, base its award on such report. The judge may state a case on any matter before the court for an opinion of the court of appeals on any question of law.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE HEARING OF DISPUTES.

(a) Must state the name of the applicant and of all parties desired to be made responsible.

(b) Must give a general statement of the nature of the dispute and a detailed statement of the claims made against the respondents.

(c) Must state the number and give the names of the assessors (not more than three) to be the representatives of the applicants on the council of conciliation.

Two or more industrial unions or associations, or two or more employers, may unite in making an application.

Persons named as assessors must be or have been bona fide employers or workers in the industry or one of the industries affected by the dispute, or a member of an organization which is a party.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF COUNCILS OF CONCILIATION.

(a) To endeavor to bring about settlements by expeditious inquiry into the dispute and all matters affecting its merits and right adjustment and to do all things deemed by it right and proper to secure such ends.

101726°-H. Doc. 2117, 64-2- -14

(b) To summon witnesses, administer oaths, and require the production of books and papers, but not so as to require evidence as to trade secrets, profits and losses, or produce books kept in connection with the business of the witness. (c) To enter and inspect, in person or by appointee, any factory, workshop, mine, vessel, or place or premises of any kind where work is being done or has been done, or any matter is taking or has taken place that is the subject of a reference to the council, and to interrogate any person in or about the same, or inspect any material or thing involved in the dispute.

(d) To direct that parties be joined or struck out, errors be waived or amended, and to give such directions as are deemed expedient in the premises. (e) To take into custody any person guilty of contempt of the council.

(f) To endeavor, where no settlement is reached, to secure a temporary working basis, pending arbitration.

Where a recommendation of terms of settlement is made before notification of failure to secure a settlement, the council may include a statement of opinion as to whether the failure was due to the unreasonableness or unfairness of any of the parties. Notification of the failure to reach a settlement must be delivered to the clerk of award for the district not later than two months after the date of the hearing by the council.

Employers may appear in person or by appointed agents; unions or associations may appear by their chairmen or secretaries or by not more than three persons properly appointed thereto; but no barrister or solicitor may appear for any party under power of attorney or othewise.

Hearings may be public or private, and procedure is entirely within the discretion of the council. It is not bound by the legal rules of evidence, and may hear only such addresses or evidence as it deems necessary or desirable.

If any party is absent or without a representative without good cause shown, hearings may proceed the same as if he or it were present or represented.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE COURT OF ARBITRATION.

(a) To ascertain whether all persons who ought to be bound by its award have been cited to attend.

(b) To summon witnesses, administer oaths, require the production of books, papers, etc., and to admit such evidence as in equity and good conscience it thinks fit, whether it is legal evidence or not; any party to a proceeding may be summoned as a witness.

(c) To refer any matters to a board of investigation, and it may base its award on the report of such board.

(d) To appoint experts in its discretion, and on the recommendation of the parties, to sit with the court for the determination of technical questions only.

(e) To join or strike out parties, amend or waive errors or defects, dismiss trivial or frivolous cases, award costs (but not so as to include costs of barristers, solicitors, or agents), make rules for the regulation of practice or procedure, hold for contempt, and generally give such directions as it may deem necessary or expedient.

(f) To enter and inspect premises, etc. (Same as for councils of conciliation.) (g) To make awards, fix their terms (not more than three years), specify the parties, districts, and industries affected by them, determine what shall constitute a breach, and may amend or extend the same where circumstances are shown to warrant such action; the court may also refuse to make an award if for any reason it considers that an award ought not to be made.

Any party may appear before the court in person or by agent, or, with the consent of all the parties, by barrister or solicitor.

Proceedings shall, as a rule, be in public, but may on occasion be in private, as the court may determine.

If any party is absent or without representation without good cause shown, the court may proceed the same as if he or it were present or represented.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF BOARDS OF INVESTIGATION.

To investigate and report on any matter referred to them by the court of arbitration.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE REGISTRAR OF INDUSTRIAL UNIONS.

To keep a register of such societies (of not less than 3 members in the case of employers, and not less than 15 members in the case of workers) as men

comply with the regulations governing the formation of industrial unions or associations, so as to become eligible as parties under this act. Registration constitutes the society a body corporate, but only for the purposes of this act. The registrar may at any time state a case for the advice and opinion of the court as to any matter connected with the performance of his duties.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF DISTRICT CLERKS OF AWARDS.

(a) To receive notifications of unsettled disputes from councils of conciliation, receive and publish recommendations for settlement, receive and keep open for inspection awards of arbitration made by the court, and perform such other duties as the governor may prescribe.

(b) To give the parties to a dispute notice of any recommendation filed by a council of conciliation, and require them, if they disagree thereto, to give notice of such disagreement within one month, with reasons if they desire to give reasons; if such notice is not given, the recommendations shall, on seven days' notice, become enforceable as an agreement.

(c) If disagreement is signified, to refer the dispute to the court for settlement.

(d) To act as registrar if there be none or if he is absent.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF INSPECTORS OF AWARDS.

Inspectors under the factories and mines acts are charged with the duty of seeing that the provisions of any industrial agreement, award, or order of the court affecting subjects under their supervision are duly observed.

AWARDS.

(a) Shall be framed to best express the decision of the court, without technicality where possible, and shall specify the term and scope of the award, stating clearly what each party affected is to do or not to do.

(b) Shall be in force until a new award is made, unless by reason of the cancellation of the registration of an industrial union of workers.

(c) May be amended or extended to include other unions or localities for cause shown during the term of their existence.

(d) Certified copies shall be evidence in all legal and other proceedings involving their construction or application without proof of conditions precedent.

APPEALS.

No provision for appeals appears other than in the provision authorizing the judge of the court of arbitration to submit questions of law to the court of appeals.

ENFORCEMENT.

Breaches of awards committed by industrial unions or by an employer subject the offender to a penalty not exceeding £100 ($486.65) for each offense; if by a worker, to a penalty not exceeding £5 ($24.33). Subject to exemption laws, wages may be attached to collect penalties.

Members of unions are personally liable in case a judgment against the union is unsatisfied, but not in larger amounts per capita than £5 ($24.33).

Laws of Other Australasian Countries.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

The laws of other Australasian countries are similar to those of the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand.

In Western Australia the court of arbitration consists of a judge of the supreme court and two members nominated as representative of employers and workers, respectively, all appointments being made by