Section 5: Special power to refer disputes to Industrial Arbitration Panel for settlement

Where any trade dispute exists or is apprehended and it appears to the Minister that the dispute is one to which persons employed in any essential service are a party or might become a party, the Minister may, whether or not a report in respect of the dispute has been received by him under section 6 of the Trade Disputes Act, refer the dispute for settlement to the Industrial Arbitration Panel established under section 9 of the Trade Disputes Act, and the provisions of that section (as well as any other relevant provision of the Trade Disputes Act) shall apply in respect of the dispute to the same extent as they apply to any trade dispute referred to the Industrial Arbitration Panel under the Trade Disputes Act.