Australian Tramway Employees Association v Commissioner for Road Transport and Tramways (NSW) [1935] HCA 17

H.C. or A. Industrial Arbitration (Cth.}—State tramway employees—Award—Variation—Pre

1935. Ww Sypney, Mar. 19, 20; April 8. Rich, Dixon

'Evatt and McTiernan JJ.

THE AUSTRALIAN TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES

THE COMMISSIONER FOR ROAD TRANSPORT }

HIGH COURT (193i

[HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA.]

'ASSOCIATIONS Se en '} ABPLICAN

AND

AND TRAMWAYS (NEW SOUTH WALES) { P*S?NP>

scribed rates of wage—Employer authorized to deduct reductions imposed State statute—Discrimination between married and unmarried emplo Validity—Industrial dispute—Ambit—Matters not in dispute—Method of

13 of 1904—No. 43 of 1930), secs. 2144, 28 (2), (3), 38 (0), (oa), 388, 380 (1 (c), 39.

By an order made in September 1932 by the Commonwealth Cou Conciliation and Arbitration the wage rates prescribed by an award of

adjustment of wage rates should be made according to the purch power of money index numbers contained in the "all houses " tables of thi Commonwealth Statistician. In 1933 the Court ordered that a new metho of wage adjustment be adopted. The award and orders were successi expressed to continue in force until otherwise ordered by the Court. Meanwhil in 1931, the Legislature of New South Wales enacted that, subject to # Commonwealth Constitution, the wages of all employees of that State,

included members of the association, should be reduced by specified centages. Concessions made in favour of married men and widowers dependent children were not extended to unmarried men. Upon an

cation made in 1934 by the association for the rescission of the order m in September 1932, the Court ordered that the award be further variet so far as it affected New South Wales members of the association, (a) the termination of the operation of the ten per cent reduction of

} C.L.R.] OF AUSTRALIA.

generally ; (b) the setting aside of the method of wage adjustment adopted in 1933, and the substitution therefor of a new method of wage adjustment by means of the "all items" retail price index number of the Commonwealth Statistician and a new base rate of wage calculated according to a prescribed formula ; and (c) inserting in the award a new clause, numbered 35, which provided that the respondent " may in or from the rates of pay prescribed herein . . . tobe paid to employees of the " respondent " make reductions or deductions not greater than a statute of the State now or at any time requires to be made generally in or from substantially similar rates of pay of employees of the State or of State instrumentalities." Under this order the wages which would have been payable had the award remained untouched were reduced ; in a few instances the wages were reduced to an amount slightly less than the lowest amount conceded in the employers' log of demands. Held :— . (1) That clause 35 was outside the ambit of the original industrial dispute, and was therefore invalid. (2) That the provision relating to clause 35 was severable from the other terms of the order of variation. (3) That for the purpose of determining the dispute the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration had power to introduce a method of adjusting the basic wage which differed from the rival methods of the parties.