THE AUSTRALIAN TIMBER WORKERS' UNION V. METAL MANUFACTURERS LIMITED

c12380/45

HL E, Dew, Gor. Prit,, Mold.

EJ IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

THE AUSTRALIAN TIMBER WORKERS" ~___ UNION= _.

METAL MANUFACTURERS LIMITED

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

QRAL JUDGMENT

| Fudgment delivered at _Syaney \ on___1yth November, 19460000000

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES REGISTRY

AUSTRALIAN TIMBER WORKERS UNION v. NETAL MANUFACTURERS LTD.

14th November, 1946. JUDGMENT.

LATHAM. C. Jd. This is an appeal from a dismissal by a Magistrate o£ an Information alleging a breach of the Timber Workers' Award made * by the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The charge made against the respondent Company, which is bounddy the award in respect of wages, was as follows:- ."That the Company did commit a breach of the said award by failing to observe the same : in that the said Defendant had for the week ending 28th July last im its employment at its Works at Port Kembla one R. C. Birch an adult male as a wood turner and had not-paid to him the minimum ammount as a weekly wage provided by the said award for the class of work performed by him."

The minimum amount provided by the award for the class of work alleged by the Informant to have been performed by Birch is, umder clauses 1 (a) and 2 (a) of the award, the basic wage and an additional amount as set out in Tables A. and B. In fact the man Birch was paid a wage of £5516. 0. as a casemaker. It was claimed tinat he should have been paid under a provision in the award relating : to wood turning which provides for a higher wage.

The Magistrate held that the evidence showed that Birch had been engaged for some portion of his time in performing some of the duties of a wood turner but in his opinion the occupation of a wood turner required much wore skill in the many branches of wood turning than he Birch possessed or had been called upon to exercises