National Dock Labour Board v. Pinn & Wheeler, Ltd.

Pinn & Wheeler, Ltd. (Pinn) and K&B Forest Products Ltd. (K&B) (plaintiffs) were controlled by Sabah Timber Company Ltd. (Sabah) (plaintiff). Pinn was located on a wharf. K&B was located approximately 500 yards across a road from Pinn (although not directly across the road). Cargo belonging to Sabah was loaded and unloaded by Pinn, which transported unloaded cargo to K&B for processing and manufacturing for Sabah. Pinn, K&B, and Sabah filed a joint application to an industrial tribunal, seeking a declaration that they should be treated as a single entity for the purposes of the Docks and Harbours Act 1960. The act generally subjected dock work to the jurisdiction of the National Dock Labour Board (NDLB) (defendant). However, waterside manufacturers were exempted from the NDLB’s jurisdiction. A waterside manufacturer was an entity that had (1) a wharfing facility (i.e., abutted the water’s edge) and (2) a manufacturing process. The industrial board ruled that Pinn and K&B should be considered together in determining whether they were a waterside manufacturer. The industrial board further ruled that a waterside manufacturer could have a manufacturing process that was located at some distance from the wharf. The NDLB appealed, arguing that the industrial board erred in piercing Pinn’s and K&B’s corporate veils to treat Pinn and K&B as a single entity.