RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 135, 8 June 1911, Page 6

RAILWAY EMPLOYEES.

IMPROVED CONDITIONS " WANTED. XECUBLE AHEAD. ,By ic.TfL.pb. - -ITi-iS A = -.x-i.iti..a.i \\ K|,| ! \i, In.v WCliie-day. V.,.n- i!i i n-li- .ii- .i! i-i.i U"ii e\-!"«f i.-" .■!'...; ■ :,,.,.-.-i.i.Hiv.- »...- .!il..|-n.«Hi, . ~.„.. ....,«..;. .»..!:,-:..,. .-:ii|.|..v.-. a 1 ~,i"~., ~ii i ,< !' ■ iiiir.. ii »'■ !■■•-■"■ i'" t- »."■■ mi ~.., ....I .. :i! .r - litiww •■' b . , . ;.. \ .;, , i.- [..: iiii-iv;i-i-1 »^.- r '- h... 1..-, II .-KIT.-c 1 :--V"i.- "■'« ; '» >»" r _ C b> , ,: ,„..,,. ;-,.m i..-m.h -;_•>■- <>l iiiue-l, >~ ..■. , ii .■ iiie |.;i.-M"- -I 1 in- < i.i.«.Mii,-.i----t.,, 1 \ 1 .... :h'.-i.- !■ -1., il 1- .i.-M-rli-.1. «v 1.. -i.-j; / .|in- .1.-1-i-ii.iimii..i. <•■• tai- |..,i ■■: She- ux-ii :■■ —vie imp.*-! eoi.-ii-.-.i.- Iμ h-m-iml pii"- l-rivat" mv . li.ivi h. .-n hi 1.1. .iii'l ii - under- *;„. ,1 1": .11 .1:1 n.-.uii.-.-.l »J.■ vi-ni.-ttt i- f>n i,,., »„„, Kir.hu, >■■- ti.e «»"l" "f l : 1,! b ,-.i w, .■ i1..J11 "iif. end 01 the country 10 1-~ ril •, , \n intpn«t»d [.arty .-tales t! ~ 1.:,.. matter 1- u> !■■■ iiMii.H.Hl in si <: ;.|..m;it].- manner, him] r<.r ihc pic-cnt i M.I i.- no atlcmpt i" r-.-i.r; !■' iii..!h...ls akin Li MnKin._>. ntli.T moan*. ]~. ~,inl. arc mhe tii — t -xhaufrte-.1. The f ~.i ~,, v μ-i iiuL-i im: In- misi oiiHtnifii ml. ; ~ ,„.,;,., ,-,,.,, ,1,,. ~,cmi were half LiMi-t-il or ill .ill ilillidf-nl. I'iii.itii \i. i.i\K> fii:.-t. I ~. ;,.,,, ~,|.i!i- 1- in l>.- ~11 |iiiliiir.il lines fir-l ■ Ii 1., in:-. way." remarked m<: •■ I-.,". ' inf-.niiiiiil. "Taken roJloe.tively 1: , i.niu.i , up ii (..rin a pretty bis; p'-r----<-..iii;,m,. ~, [1,,. .|,-..|,,i- uf tin- Dcuiiinion. \\ , ||. i; n- -, in-nil i-.'ivl inn is coniinu' "" !—:,. .i-i.i wi- an L".;!i_' i,. n-c inn- weight mi,l inilm-iii-i- in Kiii-h nuil i.\i-iv -ii-iinii iiiifl liranth nf ihr> j-rrvin , is micrii » ■'<<■ Aiiiiin: i-vitv candidate an,l pviTv filling nicnilirr of Parlianipni will In- iiVkfil if In' will r.-ivnur <>ur cirraands, ami. if he answers in t-hp altirmntirc. h« will lie iisked i" .-i_■ 11 our piri-ular In tha* pffpf-t. If hp rpfnsH* thnn a plump vote, us fur :,s wo nro , ~n -Miiir-rl. \viil be polii'il.' :iL''i in-' him. That. 1? our first move. ] niifiht arl«i that ii" , rat* nf pay is not Hip ~iilv pripvnnfr. ThPrr arp othrrf. Thcsp M.oy ennffrn partioulnr branches oiil.v of tln- -iTvifi', but in an Pndpavour to secure our ends w am all cambininß for our ni-.it ij nl bcnrlit. Should thp oroaBion arUr the whole railway (service will a,-l in a body." A i;ii; ITIIEAVAL. "And "if yon r]n not siiccpprl in your object, even then':" asked tlio l'ress-muD. "Well, then, therr will hr a ;nost deIprmined and big upheaval," was the answer, "Do you think the pmploypos will pn out on strike?" the reporter further a--ki-d. 'J Lit- reply was oouelipil in non-oommit-ta| U-rnis. The speaker explained that, in any case, beinp Government employees, they were differently situated to other workers. If the (iovernment pot wind of the fact thaf.the -workehop ]iand.s were puioK to strike-,7 it •wonW. he .-vsserted, close up all t-he works within two day«. 'Hip State hud no laws to work Under, as private employers had. Still. one never knew what might happen il the ineifs demands were again turned down. The AmaVgainatecL-iSociety a. Railway Servants '■was"~activply""snterpst ins itself in tlio matter, and one of t'n< main jjronnrts fo r their claim in refrarf to wapes was that no increase had beei pranteii to "" 1 radesnicn " since 1800. Ii that year, with the.pii-ss.ui{;_ol_th_e.Classi ligation Act, tho~:jiia\iiuum -wage fo tradesnKTi in thp shops was fixed a' 10/0. and that of second class tradesmpr at, D/n per day. Smce then, th< price of Ih-in" had £one up enormously, and the wages in miteide trades had beer raiße'l substantially,-all pay lind, &« con tended, remained unaltered. That of thi peneml laubtnirers in the shops had K.-er inorea.-ed to D/ 6, equal to a sep.ond-elas! •trndesman. A tradesman was respon Fibln for bis work. Tf it was done badly or a defect discovered, he was served will a '"please explain," a fine often follower! and. what was ivorse, a " block mark , was entered up against him. A labourer on the nthor hand, had no responsibility Riirl yet was paid almost the same wage " Besides," lie concluded. " it is out o all reason lo suppose that we pan kee] on a Ipvpl with our fellows in other walk of life when. a.s regards Avaaes, we are a a standstill, and have bepn so for th pust, fifteen years. . Yes, there's £oin: to be trouble this time." NO FAITH IX THE DEPUTATION. lie further added that they had los faith in the. deputation and the Minis terial answer. Parliament, he umlei Flood, was to consider next session th question of empowering a distributioi this year of an extra £50,000 in wage t<> the railway employees. Similarly, i tin! government Jiad other good veare proportionate sums would be distributee \Vhat the workshop hands wanted, how over, was some proper ba-sis of payment He that the men should not hay i-ci be dependent for a living wape upo nn oecasioniil " bonus," or Parliamenlar favour. Incidentally, he added that som years'ago about .UIS.i.OOO or so was dis tribufced in (his fashion, and of tha amount about £80.000 was. he alleprec alsorbed hy the New Zealand Goveru input railways offices. '•We want." hp eoneUided, "a definit inoroasp in our daily wage, not a lum sum thrown at un from time to time, i an endeavour to palliate us, so as t tide o\er another election." THE BURNING GRIEVANCE. IMKKASK Till-: WAGE:-. KO TllurullT ok A STRIKE. "You can disabuse your mind of an idea Unit the railway men think < going out on strike. We have no intei tion whatever ~f resnrtinp to .Midi nieasur.'." remarked a ir»'inlicv ~f tli IAS.R.S. to a pressman this murninj.. •wlien spoken to on vhe suiijcrt of t,- ,- ---raiVwaymeiVs gvievanecs. '-But,"' he midod, -the of -wag-es has ' become an acute one in the shops, and the men arc determined to impress the necessity of njn improvement to the present anomalous state of affairs upon Uμ. authorities. The statement that tlie wagee ot the peneral labourers has gone up while that of the tradesmen ha« remained Matimwry i>. however. \ {W \ tent Inaximll.ll f.ir labourer, Js s 1; ,„. day, ;md a ,„.,,, | MS ~, ,„. ', . kiri ,.,,',., l-oim-r to p,.i tI KII . 1,,,, ,„,. W:1 ,, ( . s ;_ We iron ina,hi,ii>t, in the -!in,,.J | IUI wen increase.| v, !i 1; r ,, M - ,!,i V ,',mhl t. »i kiiow,, „„„,.,; rai ,; ¥ v ~.r VHnt that infrpZn arc a,, -n,,,i,.;-,,.,; | |~,.|. 01 men."!,,, wt-nton -<.„„, ,■,,,'„ /J.,,!: man's point of v ,,, u . ~„.,, ~ ■ „•) that." 13 no westioa abou

SHOWING LOYALTY. ■•The tradesmen generally have hitherto loyally bowed to the departmental regulations prohibiting tln-m from taking p,r! in poli'.iis. Hut tlio position baa , now l.c--ouii- *•> acute that they feel the time hi- arrived win n their only cli.in c of le.ires.. is through political channels. | Tlu-v iir.. looking tmward confidently, oi course, to gelting a reason-hie pro- I pr.:ti"M of the u""><".'*"*'"". which i- lo be; p.\i.c:i.li il. i. I',-iuig to the Minister, in j iiicrea.- :v_ the wages of railway servants! i .ii- ;-a r. A OIE-TION ci|-' KQUITY. K,r. we consider that this compassion-( an- Uuius sun of system does not fulfil tin- requirements of the situation. Tin- < la-sihVauon Act, which is I I ii.- law bearing mi the subject, says j that t.-o- maximum shall he 10 fi a day j f..i tr.i li-M-i-n. i hat i-- '-" mv. li"""'" ! cl.iss ; i.i.:■:.;,ii ii. and the minimum rind- I , lass ir.v!.-:ii'-iii '■' '"• a d.iy. What wo vmi ..-■ -ii iln- Minister will bringdown im aiiii-ii Inii-ii: iin-rcasin_ the maximum. Mv ~.-.. ii; imon is that, whilst it was ah-nlulelv 'ui-ii-s.irv to give the iron ma ilnri ■■ in remuneration for their) ri-i.-jn.n.-il pities, it is equally necessary | to r-ii--«■ the wages of the tradesmen in pi-.j-.H-tioii. If a tradesman's responsi j |.|i-i.-s M,. t c worth 5' more than t!io.-c of i.il.oun-rs ten years ago. surely they are worth a- nun li at tin- present time." Twi-iU.\ years ago a fir>t class tradesmini whs gi-tthiL' 10 f>, nnd hi- i = getting the s.ime today, whereas the labourer's wane has gone up 50 per Cent. Tin-re are. of course, other grievances, but in comp-u-isiiii with this wages' question thi-v iimonnt to men- pin prick*. Tin- bend ,-mil fr..nl of the whole trouble i-i-st- wiih the presenl inequitable scale iiTIII-.'lt '.'OXOITION'S SATISFACTORY "'I can say with confidence." concludi-,1 our informant, "that the railway with are perfectly satisfied with the methods prevailing in the workshops under the present administration, apart, of course, from the burning and irritating matter of wages."