West Ham. Croydon. East Ham. Walthamstow. Ilford.

APPENDIX 6.

RAILWAY SHOPMEN-GT. NORTHERN SECTION OF THE LONDON AND NORTH EASTERN

RAILWAY.

Presented to Parliament by
Command of His Majesty.

LONDON:

PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purchased directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2; 23, Abingdon Street, London, S.W.1; York Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff;

or 120, George Street, Edinburgh;

or through any Bookseller

1924

Price 3d. net.

Cmd. 2113.

APPOINTMENT OF COURT OF INQUIRY AND RULES OF PROCEDURE.

RAILWAY SHOPMEN-GREAT NORTHERN
RAILWAY.

Whereas by the Industrial Courts Act, 1919, the Minister of Labour is empowered to refer any matters appearing to him to be connected with or relevant to a trade dispute, whether existing or apprehended, to a Court of Inquiry, and to make rules regulating the procedure of any such Court;

And whereas the Industrial Court issued, on 8th July, 1922, Decision No. 728, concerning the rates of pay and conditions of service of various classes of men employed in the several departments of the railway shops or in connection therewith;

And whereas the Great Northern Railway Company (which has since become the Great Northern Section of the London and North Eastern Railway Company) was not a party to and has not put into operation the above-mentioned Decision No. 728 of the Industrial Court;

And whereas the National Union of Railwaymen has made application for the above-mentioned Decision No. 728 of the Industrial Court to be put into operation by the Great Northern Section of the London and North Eastern Railway Company;

And whereas a dispute is apprehended, which may lead to a stoppage of work involving serious public inconvenience;

Now, therefore, the Minister of Labour, by virtue of the powers vested in him by the said Act, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, appoints the following to constitute a Court of Inquiry:

HOLMAN GREGORY, Esq., K.C., Chairman,

R. A. AUSTEN-LEIGH, Esq.,

ARTHUR SHAW, Esq., J.P.

And the Minister of Labour directs that the terms of reference of the Court shall be as follows:

"To inquire into the threatened dispute concerning the claim of the National Union of Railwaymen for the application of Decision No. 728 of the Industrial Court, dated 8th July, 1922, to the various classes of men employed in the several departments of the railway shops of the Great Northern Section of the London and North Eastern Railway Company or in connection therewith, and to ascertain and report on the facts."

And the Minister directs that the following Rules regulating the procedure of the Court shall have effect, that is to say :

(1) (i) Any person may by notice in writing signed by the Chairman of the Court, be requested to attend as a witness and give evidence before the Court, or to attend and produce any document relevant to the subject-matter of inquiry, or to furnish, in writing or otherwise as the Court may direct, such particulars in relation to the subject-matter of the inquiry as the Court may require.

(ii) The Court may require any witness to give evidence on oath, and the Chairman, or any person duly authorised by him, may administer an Oath for that

purpose.

(2) The Court may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its
number, and two members shall form a quorum.
(3) The report and any interim reports of the Court shall be
made to the Minister in writing, and shall be signed
by such of the members as concur therein, and shall
be transmitted to him as soon as practicable after the
conclusion of the Inquiry; and any minority report
by any dissentient member of the Court shall be
made and transmitted in like manner.

(4) Subject to these Rules the Court may regulate its own
procedure as it thinks fit.

(5) In these Rules the expression "Act" means the Industrial Courts Act, 1919; the expression "Minister" means the Minister of Labour; and the expression "Court" means the Court of Inquiry appointed above by the Minister under the Act.

And the Minister further appoints Mr. G. H. Ince to be Secretary to the Court.

Dated this 7th day of March, 1924.

Given under the official seal of the Minister of Labour.

H. J. WILSON,

Secretary, Ministry of Labour.

47254

A 2

SIR,

REPORT.

TO THE RIGHT HON. THE MINISTER OF LABOUR.

We have the honour to submit the following report :

1. The Court of Inquiry constituted by the prefixed Minute of Appointment held a preliminary meeting at which representatives of the Railway Company and a number of the Trade Unions concerned were present, on the 12th March, 1924, at Montagu House, Whitehall, and considered procedure. The Court sat in public at the Civil Service Commission, Burlington Gardens, London, on 25th March and 2nd April, 1924.

2. At the Inquiry Mr. Kenelm Kerr represented the London and North Eastern Railway Company; Mr. C. T. Cramp, the National Union of Railwaymen; Mr. A. Lorimer, the Amalgamated Engineering Union; Mr. J. Compton, the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades; Mr. John Hill, the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders; Mr. A. Chadwick, the National Union of Foundry Workers; Mr. W. T. Kelly, the Workers' Union; and Mr. Collingson, the United Society of Saddlers and General Leather Workers. The Electrical Trades Union and the National Federation of Building Trades' Operatives were not represented at the Inquiry.

3. Five witnesses were called in the course of the Inquiry, three on behalf of the National Union of Railwaymen and two on behalf of the Amalgamated Engineering Union. Documentary evidence was also submitted by the parties.

Circumstances leading up to the Dispute.

4. In 1920, negotiations commenced between the Railway Companies and the Trades Unions concerning the rates of pay and conditions of employment of railway shopmen, and in February, 1922, in default of agreement, the question was referred for settlement to the Industrial Court in the following terms :—

"To determine the rates of pay and conditions of employment applicable to the various classes of men employed in the several departments of the railway shops or in connection therewith, on the understanding that the rates of pay and conditions of employment so awarded shall be applied as from the date determined by the Court alike to present staff and to future entrants."

The workpeople covered by the reference were those engaged in the railway carriage and wagon departments, running sheds, mechanical and civil engineering departments, signal and telegraph departments, and docks and marine departments (hereinafter referred to as railway workshops) of the sixteen Railway Companies who were parties.