WAGE RATE CLAIMS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 95, 19 October 1944, Page 8

WAGE RATE CLAIMS

RAILWAY TRADESMEN'S CASE

The Railways industrial Tribunal yesterday afternoon continued consideration of the wage rate claims by the Railway Tradesmen's Association.

In reply to the association's assessor, Mr. W. J. C. Warrington, the Department's industrial officer, Mr. A. F. Taylor, said the belief that there would be no dearth of railway apprentices after the war was expressed on the "ground that conditions at present operating to attract youths to higher-paid work would not obtain, and that there would be the normal number of applications for railway apprenticeships. Dr. W. B. Sutch, representing the railway organisations on the tribunal referred to the statement in the Department's case that apprentices' rates had remained substantially unaltered as compared with 1929, the suggestion being that rates in the railway service had always been in advance of those provided for in apprenticeship ?Soo erS + uf th 4* Arbitration Court. "In 1929 the Department had certain reasons for paying railway apprentices higher rates than were paid outside?" he asked.

Mr. Taylor said he did not know the original reason. It was possibly because some boys left their homes in order to take up apprenticeships in the Department.

Dr. Sutch: Do you know whether the same reasons apply today?— The historical reason still obtains. We would not wish to reduce the apprentices' rates.

Nor the margins paid above outside rates?— No. We would not necessarily consider we had to increase our rates if appenticeship rates were raised outside.

COURT'S STANDARD RATE. »

inl n tv.epl?»t0 r' X Casey> represent™g «? c Department on the tribunal Mr- Taylor said that the Arbitration Court's standard rate of 2s 9d an hour for tradesmen, fixed in 1937 and still in operation, was for casual labour subject to lost time through wet weather arid other factors, and did not necessarily apply to regular employment. Had the request by railway 'tradesmen in 1939 been granted they would be receiving today 2s lid an hour. The present rate was 2s IOJd an hour. Since 1939 two cost-of-livin<* allowances had been granted +uAtJ he re(luest of Mr. F. W. Aickin the Department's assessor, Mr. Taylor quoted the numbers of foremen, inspectors, or sub-foremen and journeymen in each trade and the ratio between them. In the locomotive branch there was one foreman or inspector to 5J permanent fitters or to 1U of the combined permanent and casual fitters. Among the boilermakers the ratios were one to four and ona to eight, among the carpenters in the shops the ratios were one to nine and one to 18, among the moulders one to five and one to 11, among the turners one to 18 and one to 36 and among the coppersmiths one to five and one to nine.

Mr./W. Robertson, workshops superintendent, answering Mr. T. F. Gebbie advocate for the association, said there was a rolling stock programme for at least four years' work, and in addition there was a heavy vehicle replacement programme which it would take 10 years to complete. That would lt9n^ c ,\ considerable amount of fu e. dJ abour and it would require the staff to be increased to its 1939 size again. The increase in supervisory nS. CnJ S T° Ui d n-ot be as Sreat in proportion to the increase in total staff the numbers of foremen and sub-fore-men not having been reduced as'much as the numbers of tradesmen morning" 11™1131 adjourned this

At today's setting, Mr. R. s: Kent apprentice instruction officer of the Department, said that, generally speaking the railway apprentice of today had a wider training than the apprentice of, say, 15 years ago. The progress made in workshop methods machines, and operations required a S?^a^ witli a higher <&ree of training than formerly. At present the Department was not obtaining the same type of apprentice as before particularly with regard to educational attainments. This was probably due to a large extent to war conditions. Factors contributing to the aearth of apprentices in some trades probably included wages in outside work and unsettled home conditions me apprentice training given by the Department was most helpful in" raising the general efficiency of tradesmen.

~ S h Ais C ™ clu. de, d, the wages case of the R.T.A. Mr. Gebbie was allowed up to iubmiiSfs. 111 WhiCh t0 PreSent final

LEAVE CLAIM BY A.S.R.S

Consideration was next given to a claim by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants that the period of annual leave, exclusive of statutory holidays, be increased to three weeks for all members. The claim was presented by the society's general secretary, Mr. L Mcllvride, who stated that when the Government proposed the setting up of the tribunal the society was informed by Ministers of the Crown that the underlying motive was to secure, as far as practicable uniformity of conditions in the Pubhe Service. If that were the only reason, the extension claimed would he submitted, be fully justified, since comparisons with the other public service associations disclosed disparities in annual leave. At present A.S.R.S. members with under two years' service were granted five days' annual leave, and thereafter ten days, whereas members of the First Division of the Railways Department and other public servants with up to ten years' service, "received 12 ™ys ™l? l ave> and 18 days thereafter. Mr. Mcllvride claimed tr# t the present leave allowance was insufficient for men engaged in what had frequently been described as the most onerous of all the public services, and he emphasised the necessity of adequate rest periods from the physical, economic, and psychological points of view. (Proceeding.)