CONCILIATION (TRADE DISPUTES) ACT, 1896. THIRD REPORT BY THE BOARD OF TRADE OF AN 20 19 PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE CONCILIATION (TRADE DISPUTES) ACT, 1896. (PRESENTED PURSUANT TO ACT 59 & 60 Vict. c. 30, s. 5.) Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 1 August 1901. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from E. PONSONBY, 116, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN. 1901. CONTENTS. II.-Documents relating to the Taff Vale Railway Dispute III.-Text of AWARDS and AGREEMENTS settling disputes dealt with under the Conciliation Act, since the passage IV.—List of Arbitrators, Umpires, Conciliators and Chairmen of Conferences appointed by the Board of Trade since the passage of the Conciliation Act, 1896 V.-Rules of Conciliation Boards and other Agreements containing clauses which provide for the reference of THIRD REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE CONCILIATION (TRADE DISPUTES) ACT, 1896. TO THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. SIR, Two reports of the Board of Trade on their proceedings under the Conciliation Act, 1896, have been issued since the passing of the Act. The First Report dealt with the first ten months during which the Act was in operation, viz., from August 1896 to June 1897; and the Second Report covered a period of two years from July 1st, 1897, to the end of June 1899. The present Report also covers a period of two years, viz., from July 1st, 1899, to the end of June 1901. During the period covered by the present Report, the two most important points to be noted in connection with the administration of the Conciliation Act have been the relative increase in the number of joint applications to the Board of Trade for arbitration, as compared with ex parte applications for conciliation, and the growing tendency on the part of Voluntary Boards of Conciliation and Arbitration to embody in their rules a provision for appeal to the Board of Trade to appoint umpires in case of deadlock. POWERS AND PROCEDURE OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. Under the Conciliation Act the Board of Trade, in addition to their functions in connection with the registration of Voluntary Conciliation Boards, are authorised to take certain action in cases in which a dispute exists or is apprehended either between employer and workmen or between different bodies of workmen. The Board may, of its own initiative, inquire into the circumstances, or take steps to promote a conference between the parties, while, on the application of either party they may appoint a conciliator, and on application from both sides an arbitrator. No special form of application is prescribed by the Act, and the Board have not suggested one, as, owing to the very different circumstances of the cases, they have considered that it is undesirable for a stereotyped form to be invariably employed. It has, however, been pointed out, in answer to inquiries from correspondents, that all applications, whether made by one or both parties to a dispute, should state as definitely as possible the particular points at issue, and should refer to the section of the Act under which it is desired that the Board should take action. In consequence of numerous inquiries having been made with regard to the procedure adopted by the Board of Trade with reference to expenses connected with arbitrations, &c., under the Conciliation Act, it is considered desirable to state that it is the usual practice for the Board of Trade to pay the fees and travelling expenses of arbitrators and conciliators appointed by them, and that it is customary for the parties to the dispute to share the local expenses, such as those connected with the hire of a room for meetings and conferences, and the payment of a shorthand writer in cases in which they consider shorthand notes necessary. NUMBER OF CASES UNDER THE ACT. During the two years covered by this Report 46 cases have arisen, as against 32 in the preceding two years, and 35 in the period of ten months covered by the First Report. The total number of cases since the passing of the Act amounts, therefore, to 113. SOURCE OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED. During the last two years there were three cases of action by the Board of Trade without application from either side, three cases of applications from employers only, 16 from workmen only, and 24 from both employers and workmen. In the following Table these figures are compared with those given in the First and Second Reports: |