In this Act the term “strike” means the act of any number of workers who are or have been in the employment whether of the same employer or of different employers in discontinuing that employment, whether wholly or partially, or in breaking their contracts of service, or in refusing or failing after any such discontinuance to resume or return to their employment, the said discontinuance, breach, refusal, or failure being due to any combination, agreement, or common understanding, whether express or implied, made or entered into by the said workers—

In this Act the expression “to strike” means to become a party to a strike, and the term “striker” means a party to a strike.

In this Act the term “lock-out” means the act of an employer in closing his place of business, or suspending or discontinuing his business or any branch thereof—

When a strike takes place in any industry every worker who is or becomes a party to the strike and who is at the commencement of the strike bound by any award or industrial agreement affecting that industry shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

When a lock-out takes place in any industry every employer who is or becomes a party to the lock-out, and who is at the commencement of the lock-out bound by any award or industrial agreement affecting that industry, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five hundred pounds.

No worker or employer shall be liable to more than one penalty in respect of the same strike or lock-out, notwithstanding the continuance thereof.

No proceedings shall be commenced or continued under this section against any worker or employer who is a party to a strike or lock-out if judgment has already been obtained under the next succeeding section in respect of the same strike or lock-out against any industrial union or industrial association of which the worker or employer is a member.

Every person who incites, instigates, aids, or abets an unlawful strike or lock-out or the continuance of any such strike or lock-out, or who incites, instigates, or assists any person to become a party to any such strike or lock-out, is liable, if a worker, to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, and if an industrial union, industrial association, trade-union, employer, or any person other than a worker, to a penalty not exceeding two hundred pounds.

Every person who makes any gift of money or other valuable thing to or for the benefit of any person who is a party to any unlawful strike or lock-out, or to or for the benefit of any industrial union, industrial association, trade-union, or other society or association of which any such person is a member, shall be deemed to have aided or abetted the strike or lock-out within the meaning of this section, unless he proves that he so acted without the intent of aiding or abetting the strike or lock-out.

When a strike or lock-out takes place, and a majority of the members of any industrial union or industrial association are at any time parties to the strike or lock-out, the said union or association shall be deemed to have instigated the strike or lock-out.

In this section the term “unlawful strike” means a strike of any workers who are bound at the commencement of the strike by an award or industrial agreement affecting the industry in which the strike arises.

In this section the term “unlawful lock-out” means a lock-out by any employer who is bound at the commencement of the lock-out by an award or industrial agreement affecting the industry in which the lock-out occurs.

Every penalty hereinbefore referred to shall be recoverable at the suit of an Inspector of Awards in the same manner as a penalty for a breach of an award and not otherwise, and all the provisions hereinafter in this Act contained with respect to the enforcement of an award shall, so far as applicable, apply accordingly.

Section one hundred and eleven of the principal Act is hereby repealed, but in respect of all offences committed against that section before the commencement of this Act the same proceedings may be taken or continued as if this Act had not been passed.

If any person employed in any of the industries to which this section applies strikes without having given to his employer, within one month before so striking, not less than fourteen days’ notice in writing, signed by him, of his intention to strike, or strikes before the expiry of any notice so given by him, the striker shall be liable on summary conviction before a Magistrate to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

If any employer engaged in any of the industries to which this section applies locks out without having given to his employees, within one month before so locking out, not less than fourteen days’ notice in writing of his intention to lock out, or locks out before the expiry of any notice so given by him, such employer shall be liable on summary conviction before a Magistrate to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds.

This section applies to the following industries:—

Every person who incites, instigates, aids, or abets any offence against this section, or who incites, instigates, or assists any person who has struck or locked out in breach of this section to continue to be a party to the strike or lock-out shall be liable, on summary conviction before a Magistrate, to a fine not exceeding in the case of a worker twenty-five pounds, or in the case of an industrial union, industrial association, trade-union, employer, or any person other than a worker, five hundred pounds.

Nothing in this section shall affect any liability under section five or section six of this Act, save that when a judgment or conviction has been obtained against any person under any one of those sections no further proceedings shall be taken or continued against him under any other of those sections in respect of the same act.

When an industrial union or industrial association of workers is convicted under section nine of this Act of having incited, instigated, aided, or abetted a strike by any of its members in breach of that section, or the continuance by any of its members of a strike commenced in breach of that section, or when judgment is obtained under section six of this Act against an industrial union or industrial association of workers for a penalty incurred by it for inciting, instigating, aiding, or abetting a strike by any of its members, or the continuance of any such strike, or for inciting, instigating, or assisting any person to become a party to any such strike, the Court in which the conviction or judgment is obtained may in the said conviction or judgment order that the registration of the union or association shall be suspended for such period as the Court thinks fit, not exceeding two years.

During any such period of suspension the said union or association shall be incapable of instituting or continuing or of being a party to any conciliation or arbitration proceedings under the principal Act or this Act, or of entering into any industrial agreement, or of taking or continuing any proceedings for the enforcement of an award or industrial agreement, or of making any application for the cancellation of its registration.

During any such period of suspension the operation of any award or industrial agreement in force at any time during that period shall be suspended so far as the award or industrial agreement applies to persons who are members of that union or association, or who were members thereof at the time when the offence was committed in respect of which the said judgment or conviction was given or obtained, and also so far as the award or industrial agreement applies to the employers of any such persons:

Provided that in making the order of suspension the Court may limit the operation of this subsection to any industrial district or districts, or to any portion thereof.

During any period of such suspension no new industrial union or industrial association of workers shall be registered in the same industrial district in respect of the same industry.

The industrial union or industrial association against which any such order of suspension is made may appeal therefrom in the same manner as from the judgment or conviction in respect of which the order is made, and on any such appeal the Court in which it is heard may confirm, vary, or quash the order of suspension, and may make such order as to the costs of the appeal as the said Court thinks fit.

The variation or quashing of an order of suspension on appeal shall take effect as from the date on which the order is so varied or quashed, and not as from the date of the order.

Every judgment or conviction in respect of which any such order of suspension is made shall be subject to appeal, whether on a point of law or fact, whatever may be the amount of that judgment or of the fine imposed by that conviction.

Sections thirty, one hundred and one, and one hundred and two of the principal Act are hereby repealed; but all orders for the payment of fines or other sums of money made before the commencement of this Act, or made thereafter in proceedings instituted before the commencement of this Act, may be enforced in the same manner as if this Act had not been passed.

This Part of this Act applies to all awards and industrial agreements whether made before or after the commencement of this Act, and to all breaches of awards or industrial agreements whether committed before or after the commencement of this Act, save that all proceedings for the enforcement of any award or industrial agreement which are pending at the commencement of this Act may be continued in the same manner as if this Act had not been passed.

Every industrial union, industrial association, or employer who commits a breach of an award or industrial agreement shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds in respect of every such breach.

Every worker who commits a breach of an award or industrial agreement shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds in respect of every such breach.

Subject to the provisions of section twenty-one hereof, every such penalty shall be recoverable by action in a Magistrate’s Court, and not otherwise.

Every such action may be brought in any Magistrate’s Court in any industrial district in which the award or industrial agreement is in force or in which the cause of action or any part thereof arose, and shall be heard and determined by a Magistrate only.

Every such action may be brought at the suit of an Inspector of Awards or at the suit of any party to the award or industrial agreement.

A claim for two or more penalties against the same defendant may be joined in the same action, although the aggregate amount so claimed may be in excess of the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Court in an ordinary action for the recovery of money.

No Court fees shall be payable in respect of any such action.

No industrial union or industrial association shall be capable of bringing any such action until a resolution to that effect has been passed at a meeting of the members of the union or association in accordance with the rules thereof.

In every such action the summons shall be served on the defendant at least five clear days before the day of the hearing of the action.

Unless within two clear days before the day of the hearing of any such action the defendant delivers to the plaintiff, or to the Clerk of the Magistrate’s Court, a notice of his intention to defend the action, he shall not be entitled to defend the same except with the leave of the Magistrate, and the Magistrate may without hearing evidence give judgment for the plaintiff.

In any such action the Magistrate may give judgment for the total amount claimed, or any greater or less amount as he thinks fit (not exceeding in respect of any one breach the maximum penalty hereinbefore prescribed), or, if he is of opinion that the breach proved against the defendant is trivial or excusable, the action may be dismissed, and in any case he may give such judgment as to costs as he thinks fit.

Every penalty recovered in any such action shall be recovered by the plaintiff to the use of the Crown, and the amount thereof shall, when received by the plaintiff, be paid into the Public Account.

When the plaintiff is any person other than an Inspector of Awards the amount of the penalty shall be paid into Court or to an Inspector of Awards and not to the plaintiff, and shall thereupon be paid by the Clerk of the Court or by the said Inspector into the Public Account.

In any such action the Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, before giving judgment, state a case for the opinion of the Court of Arbitration, and may thereupon adjourn the hearing or determination of the action.

No appeal shall lie from any judgment in any such action to the Supreme Court or District Court; but an appeal shall lie to the Court of Arbitration in the same cases and in the same manner as in the case of an appeal to the Supreme Court or District Court under the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1908.

On any such appeal the Court of Arbitration shall have the same powers as the Supreme Court in respect of an appeal from the Magistrate’s Court, and the determination of the Court of Arbitration shall be final.

In respect of any such appeal sections one hundred and fifty-three to one hundred and fifty-eight, and sections one hundred and sixty and one hundred and sixty-one, of the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1908, shall be applicable, and shall be read as if the references therein to the Supreme Court were references to the Court of Arbitration.

No such action shall be removed into the Supreme Court.

The judgment in any such action shall be enforceable in the same manner as a judgment for debt or damages in the Magistrate’s Court, and in no other manner:

Provided that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section twenty-seven of the Wages Protection and Contractors’ Liens Act, 1908, where application is made in pursuance of any such judgment for the attachment of the wages of any worker, an order of attachment may be made in respect of the surplus of his wages above the sum of two pounds a week in the case of a worker who is married or is a widower or widow with children, or above the sum of one pound a week in the case of any other worker:

Provided also that, for the purpose of any such application for attachment, all wages which may at any time thereafter become due to the judgment debtor by any employer, although they are not yet earned or owing, and whether they become due in respect of any contract of service existing at the time of the application or made at any later time, shall be deemed to be a debt accruing to the judgment debtor within the meaning of the provisions of the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1908, relating to the attachment of debts; and on the making of any order of attachment in respect of such wages the employer shall pay into Court from time to time, as those wages become due and payable, such sum as is sufficient to satisfy the charge imposed thereon by the order of attachment:

Provided also that no charge upon or assignment of his wages, whenever or however made, by any worker shall have any force whatever to defeat or affect an attachment, and an order of attachment may be made and shall have effect as if no such charge or assignment existed:

Provided also that no proceedings shall be taken under the Imprisonment for Debt Limitation Act, 1908, against any person for failing or refusing to pay any penalty or other sum of money due by him under this Act.

Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, any action for the recovery of a penalty under this Act may be brought by an Inspector of Awards in the Court of Arbitration instead of in a Magistrate’s Court.

The decision of the Court of Arbitration in any such action shall be final.

The procedure in actions so brought in the Court of Arbitration shall be determined by regulations to be made by the Governor in Council in pursuance of this Act.

The provisions of sections fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen of this Act shall, so far as applicable, extend and apply to any action so brought in the Court of Arbitration, and shall in respect of any such action be read as if every reference in those sections to a Magistrate was a reference to the Court of Arbitration, and as if every reference therein to the Clerk of the Magistrate’s Court was a reference to the Registrar of the Court of Arbitration.

A certificate of the judgment of the Court of Arbitration in any such action, under the hand of the Registrar of that Court, specifying the amount payable under the judgment and the parties thereto, may be filed in any Magistrate’s Court or Magistrates’ Courts, and the said judgment shall thereupon be deemed to be a judgment duly recovered in an action for a penalty under this Act in the Court or in each of the Courts in which a certificate has been so filed, and shall be enforceable in all respects accordingly.

The Governor may by Order in Council make regulations, consistent with this Act, prescribing the procedure in actions brought under the foregoing provisions of this Act and in appeals to the Court of Arbitration.

When an order for the payment of money is made by the Court of Arbitration, and no other provisions for the enforcement of that order are contained in this Act or in the principal Act, a certificate under the hand of the Registrar of the said Court, specifying the amount payable and the persons by and to whom it is payable, may be filed in any Magistrate’s Court, and shall thereupon be enforceable in the like manner as a judgment given by the last-mentioned Court in an action for the recovery of a debt.

If in any action judgment is given under the foregoing provisions of this Act, whether by a Magistrate’s Court or by the Court of Arbitration, against an industrial union or industrial association, and is not fully satisfied within one month thereafter, all persons who were members of the said industrial union or industrial association at the time when the offence was committed in respect of which the judgment was given shall be jointly and severally liable on the judgment in the same manner as if it had been obtained against them personally, and all proceedings in execution or otherwise in pursuance of the judgment may be taken against them or any of them accordingly, save that no person shall be liable under this section for a larger sum than five pounds.

Judgment recovered at the suit of any person for a penalty under this Act shall not, until and unless it is fully satisfied, be a bar to any other action at the suit of any other plaintiff for the recovery of the same penalty.

No action shall be commenced for the recovery of any penalty under this Act save within six months after the cause of action has arisen.

After the commencement of this Act no industrial dispute shall be referred to any Board of Conciliation under the principal Act.

In the case of an industrial dispute which at the commencement of this Act has already been referred to a Board of Conciliation, further proceedings for the settlement of that dispute shall be taken in the same manner as if this Act had not been passed.

After the commencement of this Act no person shall be elected or appointed as a member of a Board of Conciliation; and all persons theretofore so elected or appointed shall retire from office on the expiration of the term for which they were elected or appointed.

After the commencement of this Act no industrial dispute shall be referred to the Court until it has been first referred to a Council of Conciliation in accordance with the provisions hereinafter contained.

Every party to a dispute so referred to a Council of Conciliation shall be either an industrial union, an industrial association, or an employer.

The Governor may from time to time appoint such persons as he thinks fit (not exceeding four in number) as Conciliation Commissioners (hereinafter referred to as Commissioners) to exercise the powers and jurisdiction hereinafter set forth.

Every Commissioner shall be appointed for a period of three years, but may be reappointed from time to time, and may at any time be removed from office by the Governor.

Every Commissioner shall exercise his jurisdiction within such industrial district or districts as may be from time to time assigned to him by the Governor by Order in Council.

Every Commissioner shall receive such salary or other remuneration as is from time to time appropriated by Parliament for that purpose.

If on or before the expiry of the term of office of any Commissioner he is reappointed to that office, all proceedings pending before him or before any Council of Conciliation of which he is a member may be continued and completed as if he had held office continuously.

If from any cause any Commissioner is unable to act, the Governor may appoint some other person to act in his stead during the continuance of such inability, and while so acting the person so appointed shall have all the powers and jurisdiction of the Commissioner in whose stead he is acting.

If any Commissioner dies or resigns his office, or is removed from office, or if his term of office expires without reappointment, all proceedings then pending before him or before any Council of Conciliation of which he is a member may be continued before his successor or before the said Council, as the case may be, and for this purpose his successor shall be deemed to be a member of that Council, and all the powers and jurisdiction vested in the first-mentioned Commissioner as a member of that Council shall vest in his successor accordingly.

Where in any case no Commissioner is immediately available to deal with any dispute which has arisen, the Governor may appoint some person to act as a Commissioner for the purpose of dealing with such dispute, and while so acting the person so appointed shall have all the powers and jurisdiction of a Commissioner, and any Commissioner so appointed shall be paid such fees as may be fixed by regulation.

No appointment made in pursuance or intended pursuance of subsection five or subsection seven of this section shall in any Court or in any proceedings be questioned or invalidated on the ground that due occasion for the appointment has not arisen or has ceased.

Any industrial union, industrial association, or employer, being a party to an industrial dispute, may make application in the prescribed form to the Commissioner exercising jurisdiction within the industrial district in which the dispute has arisen that the dispute may be heard by a Council of Conciliation.

No such application shall be made by an industrial union or industrial association unless the proposed application has been approved by the members in manner provided by section one hundred and seven of the principal Act.

Two or more industrial unions, industrial associations, or employers may join in making a joint application in respect of the same dispute.

Every application made under this section shall state—

Every person so recommended as an assessor must be or have been actually and bona fide engaged or employed either as an employer or as a worker in the industry, or in any one of the industries, in respect of which the dispute has arisen (whether in the same or in another industrial district):

Provided that if in any case, by reason of the special circumstances of that case, the Commissioner is of opinion that it is impracticable or inexpedient that all the assessors should be persons so qualified, he may appoint as one of their assessors, on the recommendation of the applicants, a person who is not so qualified.

Any person so recommended as an assessor may be one of the parties to the dispute, or may be a member of an industrial union or industrial association which is a party to the dispute.

If the Commissioner to whom the application is made is of opinion that any person so recommended is not duly qualified in accordance with this Act, he shall reject the recommendation, and the applicants shall then recommend some other qualified person in his place. The provisions of subsection two of this section shall not apply to any such substituted recommendation. The decision of the Commissioner as to the qualification of any person recommended as an assessor shall be final.

If and as soon as the Commissioner is satisfied that the proposed number of qualified persons have been so recommended by the applicants, he shall by writing under his hand appoint those persons as assessors for the purpose of the said application.

So soon as assessors have been nominated in manner aforesaid the Commissioner shall appoint a day and place for the hearing of the dispute, and shall in the prescribed form and manner cite the respondents to attend at the hearing thereof, and in the meantime to recommend qualified persons for appointment as assessors at the said hearing, equal in number to the number so appointed on the recommendation of the applicants.

The foregoing provisions as to the qualification of assessors recommended by the applicants shall also apply to assessors recommended by the respondents.

If the Commissioner is of opinion that any person so recommended by the respondents is not duly qualified in accordance with this Act he shall reject the recommendation, and shall require the respondents to recommend some other qualified person, and so also in the case of any such subsequent recommendation, and the decision of the Commissioner as to the qualification of any person so recommended shall be final.

If and as soon as the Commissioner is satisfied that qualified persons to the required number have been recommended by the respondents, he shall by writing under his hand appoint those persons as assessors for the purposes of the application.

Unless the respondents recommend the required number of qualified persons as assessors at least one clear day before the day appointed for the hearing of the dispute, the Commissioner shall forthwith appoint on behalf of the respondents such number of qualified persons as is necessary to supply the full number of assessors required.

The recommendation of assessors by the respondents shall be in writing, signed by or on behalf of the respondents. If they cannot agree in the recommendation of assessors, separate recommendations may be made by the several respondents, and in that case the Commissioner may appoint as assessors such of the qualified persons so recommended as he thinks fit.

On the appointment of assessors in accordance with the foregoing provisions, the Commissioner together with the said assessors shall be and constitute a Council of Conciliation (hereinafter referred to as the Council), having the powers and functions hereinafter provided.

The assessors shall be entitled to receive out of the Consolidated Fund such fees as are prescribed by regulations.

The validity or regularity of the appointment of any assessor by a Commissioner shall not be questioned in any Court or in any proceedings.

If at any time before the Council has completely exercised the powers vested in it by this Act any assessor dies, or resigns his office, or is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner to be unable by reason of sickness or any other cause to act as assessor, the Commissioner may, on the recommendation of the applicants or respondents, as the case may be, appoint some other qualified person as an assessor in lieu of the assessor so dying or resigning his office or becoming unable to act.

If the applicants or respondents, as the case may be, cannot agree on any such recommendation, they may make separate recommendations, and the Commissioner may thereupon appoint as an assessor such one of the qualified persons so recommended as he thinks fit.

The powers and functions of the Council shall not be affected by any such vacancy in the number of assessors, and during any such vacancy the Council may, so far as it thinks fit so to do, exercise all its powers and functions in the same manner as if it were fully constituted.

It shall be the duty of the Council to endeavour to bring about a settlement of the dispute, and to this end the Council shall, in such manner as it thinks fit, expeditiously and carefully inquire into the dispute and all matters affecting the merits and the right settlement thereof.

In the course of the inquiry the Council shall make all such suggestions and do all such things as it deems right and proper for inducing the parties to come to a fair and amicable settlement of the dispute.

The procedure of the Council shall in all respects be absolutely in the discretion of the Council, and the Council shall not be bound to proceed with the inquiry in any formal manner, or formally to sit as a tribunal, or to hear any addresses or evidence save such as the Council deems necessary or desirable.

The Council may on the inquiry hear any evidence that it thinks fit, whether such evidence would be legally admissible in a Court of law or not.

The inquiry shall be either public or private, as the Council thinks fit.

Meetings of the Council shall be held from time to time at such times and at such places within the industrial district in which the dispute has arisen as the Commissioner appoints.

No such meeting shall be duly constituted unless the Commissioner is present thereat, but the absence of any of the assessors shall not prevent the exercise by the Council of any of its powers or functions.

In all matters other than the making of a recommendation for the settlement of a dispute the decision of a majority of the assessors present at a meeting of the Council shall be deemed to be the decision of the Council, but if the assessors present are equally divided in opinion the Commissioner shall have a casting-vote, and the decision of the Council shall be determined accordingly.

A record of the proceedings of every Council of Conciliation shall be made and preserved in manner prescribed by regulations, or, in default of such regulations, in such manner as the Commissioner thinks fit.

The Commissioner shall have the same power of summoning witnesses and of taking evidence on oath, and of requiring the production of books and papers, as if the inquiry were the hearing of a complaint heard before a Justice of the Peace under the Justices of the Peace Act, 1908, and all evidence given on oath before the Council shall for all purposes be deemed to have been given in a judicial proceeding before a Court of competent jurisdiction.

No person shall be bound at any inquiry before the Council to give evidence with regard to trade secrets, profits, losses, receipts, or outgoings in his business, or with respect to his financial position, or to produce the books kept by him in connection with his business.

If any person desires to give any such evidence as is mentioned in the last preceding subsection, or to produce any such books as aforesaid, he may, if the Commissioner thinks fit, do so in the presence of the Commissioner alone sitting without the assessors; and in such case the Commissioner shall not disclose to the assessors, or to any other person, the particulars of the evidence so given or of the books so produced, but may inform the assessors whether or not, in his opinion, any claim or allegation made by the applicants or respondents in the inquiry is substantiated by the said evidence or the said books.

An employer being a party to the dispute may appear before the Council in person, or by his agent duly appointed in writing in that behalf.

An industrial union or industrial association being a party to a dispute may appear before the Council by its chairman or secretary, or by any number of persons (not exceeding three) appointed in writing by the chairman, or appointed in such other manner as its rules prescribe.

No barrister or solicitor, whether acting under a power of attorney or otherwise, shall be allowed to appear or be heard before the Council.

If any or all of the applicants or respondents fail or refuse to attend or to be represented at the inquiry, the Council may nevertheless proceed with the inquiry in the same manner so far as practicable as if all the said parties were present or represented.

The Commissioner may at any time before or during the inquiry make an order joining any industrial union, industrial association, or employer as an applicant or respondent, or striking out the name of any industrial union, industrial association, or employer as an applicant or respondent.

If a settlement of the dispute is arrived at by the parties in the course of the inquiry, the terms of the settlement shall be set forth as an industrial agreement, which shall be duly executed by the parties or their attorneys, and all the provisions of the principal Act and of this Act with respect to industrial agreements shall apply to any such agreement accordingly.

If no settlement of the dispute is arrived at by the parties in the course of the inquiry, the Council shall endeavour to induce the parties to agree to some temporary and provisional arrangement until the dispute can be determined by the Court of Arbitration.

The Commissioner may at any time, if he thinks fit, after application has been made to him under section thirty of this Act, and whether assessors have been appointed or not, take such steps as he deems advisable, whether by way of a conference between the applicants and respondents or otherwise, with intent to procure a voluntary settlement of the dispute.

Not earlier than one month or later than two months after the date fixed in pursuance of section thirty hereof for the hearing of the dispute, the Council shall, unless a settlement of the dispute has been sooner arrived at by the parties and embodied in an industrial agreement duly executed in manner aforesaid, deliver to the Clerk of Awards for the industrial district in which the dispute has arisen a notification under the hand of the Commissioner that no settlement of the dispute has been arrived at.

The notification shall be accompanied by a copy of the application made to the Council by the applicants, together with a record of the proceedings of the Council, every such copy and record being under the hand of the Commissioner.

Before delivering any such notification to the Clerk of Awards the Council may make such recommendation for the settlement of the dispute according to the merits and substantial justice of the case as the Council thinks fit, and may state in the recommendation whether, in the opinion of the Council, the failure of the parties to arrive at a settlement was due to the unreasonableness or unfairness of any of the parties to the dispute.

No such recommendation shall be made unless it is unanimously agreed to by all the assessors, and the Commissioner shall have no vote in respect of the making or nature of any such recommendation.

The recommendation of the Council shall be signed by all the assessors, and shall be delivered to the Clerk of Awards under the hand of the Commissioner, together with the notification.

The recommendation of the Council shall be published by the Clerk of Awards in such manner as may be prescribed.

The recommendation of the Council shall in no case have any binding force or effect, but shall operate merely as a suggestion for the amicable settlement of the dispute by mutual agreement, and as a public announcement of the opinion of the Council as to the merits of the dispute.

If before the delivery of the notification of the Council to the Clerk of Awards as aforesaid a partial settlement of the dispute is arrived at by all the parties thereto, the terms of that partial settlement may be reduced to writing, executed by all the parties thereto or their attorneys or representatives; and such writing (hereinafter termed a memorandum of partial settlement) shall be delivered by the Council to the Clerk of Awards, together with the notification aforesaid and the recommendation (if any) made by the Council.

No such memorandum of partial settlement shall in itself have any binding force or effect, but the Court of Arbitration may, if it thinks fit, in making its award in accordance with the provisions hereinafter contained in that behalf, incorporate in the award the terms of the said memorandum, or any of those terms, without making inquiry into the matters to which those terms relate.

The Council may at any time state a case for the advice or opinion of the Court of Arbitration.

When the notification of the Council has been delivered to the Clerk of Awards in manner aforesaid, he shall forthwith refer the dispute to the Court of Arbitration for settlement, and thereupon the dispute shall be deemed to be before the Court.

When an industrial dispute has been referred to the Court in pursuance of this Act the Court shall have the same jurisdiction in the matter of that dispute as if the same had been referred to the Court by the applicants in pursuance of the principal Act after a reference to a Board of Conciliation, and all the provisions of the principal Act shall, so far as applicable, apply accordingly.

Subject to the provisions of the principal Act as to the joinder or striking-out of parties, the parties to the proceedings before the Court shall be the same as in the proceedings before the Council.

Sections fifty-one and fifty-two of the principal Act are hereby repealed.

The Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council, make such regulations as he deems necessary for carrying this Part of this Act into effect.

The following sections of the principal Act (referring to Boards of Conciliation) shall extend and apply to Councils of Conciliation under this Act—namely, sections one hundred and eight, one hundred and fourteen, one hundred and fifteen, and one hundred and twenty.

In those sections every reference to a Board shall be read as a reference to a Council of Conciliation.

For the purposes of those sections a dispute shall be deemed to have been referred to a Council of Conciliation so soon as the Council is fully constituted in accordance with this Act.

Section two of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from the definition of “worker” the words “skilled or unskilled, manual or clerical.”

Section two of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting the words “employers of workers” in the definition of “industrial matters,” and substituting the words “employers or workers.”

Section five of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting the word “two” where it first occurs in that section, and substituting the word “three”; and by omitting the word “seven” where it first occurs in that section, and substituting the word “fifteen.”

Section twenty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting the words “of the one industry.”

Section sixty-six of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after paragraph (a), the following paragraph:—

Section ninety-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in subsection one thereof the following paragraph:—

Section ninety-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting therefrom all words after the words “breach of the award.”

Section one hundred of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting the words “section seven” in subsection three, and substituting therefor the words “sections seven and eight”; and by inserting the following subsections:—

The Judge of the Arbitration Court may in any matter before the Court state a case for the opinion of the Court of Appeal on any question of law arising in the matter.

This section is in substitution for section one hundred and six of the principal Act, which section is hereby repealed accordingly.

Every employer who dismisses from his employment any worker by reason merely of the fact that the worker is an officer or a member of an industrial union, or merely because such worker has acted as an assessor on a Council of Conciliation or has represented his union in any negotiations or conference between employers and workers, or merely because such worker is entitled to the benefit of an award, order, or agreement, is liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty-five pounds, to be recovered at the suit of an Inspector of Awards in the same manner as a penalty for the breach of an award.

A worker shall be deemed to be dismissed within the meaning of this section if he is suspended for a longer period than ten days.

In every case where the worker dismissed was immediately preceding his dismissal a president, vice-president, secretary, or treasurer of an industrial union, or an assessor for a Council of Conciliation, or represented his union in any negotiations or conference between employers and workers, it shall lie on the employer to prove that such worker was dismissed for a reason other than that he had acted in any of the said capacities.

This section is in substitution for section one hundred and nine of the principal Act, which section is hereby accordingly repealed.

When any payment of wages has been made to and accepted by a worker at a less rate than that which is fixed by any award or industrial agreement, no action shall be brought by the worker against his employer to recover the difference between the wages so actually paid and the wages legally payable, save within three months after the day on which the wages claimed in the action became due and payable.

Where by any award or industrial agreement the age at which young persons may be employed is limited, or the wages payable to young persons of certain ages are fixed, then, in so far as the employer is concerned, it shall be sufficient proof of the age of any young person desiring employment if he produces to the employer a certificate of age granted by an official of the Labour Department; and in any proceedings against an employer who has acted in reliance on any such certificate for a breach of the award or industrial agreement, the certificate shall be conclusive proof of the age of the young person so employed.

In the case of any factory or shop to which any award or industrial agreement relates, a printed or typewritten copy of the award or industrial agreement shall at all times be kept affixed in some conspicuous place at or near the entrance of the factory or shop, in such a position as to be easily read by the persons employed therein.

For any breach of the provisions of this section the occupier of the said factory or shop shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds on summary conviction on the information of an Inspector of Awards.

In this section the terms “factory” and “shop” have the same meanings as in the Factories Act, 1908, and the Shops and Offices Act, 1908, respectively.

The proviso to subsection two of section ninety of the principal Act is hereby repealed.

Where in any award or industrial agreement made before the commencement of this Act provision is made for the issue by the Chairman of a Board of Concilation, or in any other manner which is rendered impracticable by the provisions of this Act, of permits to workers to accept a wage below that prescribed for ordinary workers, all such permits may be granted by an Inspector of Awards in manner provided by section one hundred and twenty-three of the principal Act.

Section one hundred and twenty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding thereto the following paragraphs:—

Whenever it is proved to the Court that an industrial agreement (whether made before or after the commencement of this Act) is binding on employers who employ a majority of the workers in the industry to which it relates in the industrial district in which it was made, the Court may, if it thinks fit, on the application of any party to that agreement or of any person bound thereby, make an order extending the operation of that agreement to all employers who are or who at any time after the making of the said order become engaged in the said industry in the said district, and all such employers shall thereupon be deemed to be parties to the said agreement, and shall be bound thereby so long as it remains in force.

If anything which is required or authorised to be done by the principal Act or by this Act is not done within the time limited for the doing thereof, or is done informally, the Court of Arbitration may, if it thinks fit in its discretion, on the application of any person interested, make an order extending the time within which the thing may be done, or validating the thing so informally done.

Nothing in this section shall apply so as to authorise the Court of Arbitration to make any such order in respect of judicial proceedings theretofore already instituted in any Court other than the Court of Arbitration.

Every award or industrial agreement shall prevail over any contract of service or apprenticeship in force on the coming into operation of the award or industrial agreement, so far as there is any inconsistency between the award or industrial agreement and the contract; and the contract shall thereafter be construed and have effect as if the same had been modified, so far as necessary, in order to conform to the award or industrial agreement.

In making its award the Court may, if in its discretion it thinks fit, direct that any provision of the award relating to the rate of wages to be paid shall have effect as from such date prior to the date of the award as the Court thinks fit.

No award or industrial agreement made after the commencement of this Act shall affect the employment of any worker who is employed otherwise than for the direct or indirect pecuniary gain of the employer:

Provided that this section shall not be deemed to exempt any local authority or body corporate from the operation of any award or industrial agreement.

When an industrial dispute has been referred to the Court, the Court may, if it considers that for any reason an award ought not to be made in the matter of that dispute, refuse to make an award therein.

Notwithstanding anything in section twenty-one of the principal Act, the cancellation under that section of the registration of an industrial union shall not be prevented by the pendency of any conciliation or arbitration proceedings, if the application for cancellation has been made to the Registrar before the commencement of the said proceedings.

The said section and this section shall extend and apply to conciliation proceedings before a Council of Conciliation under this Act.

For the purposes of this section conciliation proceedings before a Council of Conciliation shall be deemed to have commenced so soon as the Commissioner has appointed assessors on the recommendation of the applicants, and shall be deemed to have ceased so soon as the notification of the Council has been delivered to the Clerk of Awards, or the dispute has been settled by an industrial agreement.

For the purposes of the said section and this section arbitration proceedings shall be deemed to be pending and in progress so soon as the notification of the Council has been delivered to the Clerk of Awards.

The provisions of an award or industrial agreement shall continue in force until the expiration of the period for which it was made, notwithstanding that before such expiration any provision inconsistent with the award or industrial agreement is made by any Act passed after the commencement of this Act, unless in that Act the contrary is expressly provided.

On the expiration of the said period the award or industrial agreement shall, during its further subsistence, be deemed to be modified in accordance with the law then in force.