CONTRAST IN SALARIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 241, 11 October 1929, Page 9

CONTRAST IN SALARIES.

, STATE AND MUNICIPAL P AND. T. OFFICERS PROTEST. POLITICAL SLOGANS "INSINCERE." . "We are in hearty accordance witli tjic slogan, 'More business in Government,' and the suggestion of placing the Civil Service and State enterprise on a com--1 noercial business'footing but from bitter experience we feel and know that those > responsible for echoing such sentiments t are really insincere." This statement was made by the Auckland Telegraph Economic Committee fco- ; day. The committee says it has been 1 able to gather certain information that i would permit the salaries paid to execu- ' tive and administrative officers of the Department to be placed in an unfavourable light in comparison with those paid to similarly classed officers on the salary 1 list of the Auckland City Council. In the list (appended below) it is pointed out that a Department, which holds securities valued at £49,000,000, and conducting an efficient service finds itself in an invidious position in comparison with business institutions. The salaries paid are set. out in salary value sequence to permit our unfavourable position to be more closely viewed for purpose of comparison:— Town Clerk, Auckland City Council. £1500 City Engineer, Auck. City Council 1500 Manager Auckland Transport Board 1500 Secretary P. and T. Department . . 1300 Chief Telegraph Eng., I'. & T. Dept. 1250 First Asst. Secretary, I'. & T. Dept. 1050 City Treasurer, Auckland C.C 1000 Tramway and City Elec. Eng., A.C.C. 050 Second Asst. Secretary, 1\ & T. Dept. 050 Assistant City Engineer, A.C.C. . . 000 Assistant Town Clerk, A.C.C 800 City Valuer, A.C.C 800 Chief Postmaster, Auckland 700J District Telegraph Eng., Auckland. 700J . Chief Accountant, Transport Board 750 Telegraph Engineer, Auckland .... 005 Law and Committee Clerk, A.C.C. 050 ; Traffic Supertd. Tramways, A.C.C. 050 Chief Sanitary Inspector, A.C.C. .. 050 Waterworks Superintendent, A.C.C. 050 Chief Clerk and Tramway Cashier, Auckland City Council <V. 050 .Manager of Abattoir 050 Chief Traffic Inspector, Auckland City Council 050 Chief Librarian, Auckland C.C 050 Engineer, Auckland .... 015 Assistant Chief Postmaster, C.P.0., Auckland 015 Parks Superintendent, Auckland C.C. 000 City Organist, Auckland City Council 000 Engineer's Assistant, Auckland City Council (plus £50 bonus) 000 Accountant, Chief Post Office, Auckland 505 Assistant Telegraph Engineer Auck, land 505 Senior Supervisor. Telegraph Branch. C.P.0., Auckland 505 Garage Superintendent, Auckland City Council 550 Chief Building Inspector. A.C.C. . . 550 Bandmaster. Auckland City Council . 520 Superintendent of Mails, C.P.0.. xUickland _••• 515 Supervisor, Money Order and Savings Bank. C.P.0., Auckland 515 Checking Officer, Auckland C.C 500 Rolling Stock Superintendent, Auckland City Council 500 Overhead Superintendent, Auckland City Council 500 Superintendent of Claims, Auckland City Council • 500 Chief Draughtsman, General Post ' Office, Welinglon -170 The. secretary of the: Post and Telegraph Department, controlling a staff of 11,727 officers, will be seen to possess a salary value of £200 below that paid to the town clerk, manager of the Transport Board and city engineer. The Chief Postmaster, Auckland, who directly, controls a Chief Post Office staff of 713 officers, and a district 008. making a grand total of 11)1/; (8 permanent officers ar.d 381 non-permanent officers, or a grand total of 450 post and telegraph officers altogether] who is responsible for approximately 350 mail contracts,, ranks, in salary value £9 10/ below that .•■■paid to ..the City Council valuer and assistant town cleik. Further Comparisons. Fpr purposes of further eompaiisons tlie following salaries paid in. the Auckland city may also be interesting: Town Clerk, Mount Eden Borough Engineer, Mount Eden Borough Managed of' the' Bank of New, Zealand 2500 Manager of Auckland Savings Bank.. -000 ;To more forcibly emphasise the Cinderella aspect of the Post and Telegraph Department, we will now; pass on to a few minor comparisons in the way of salaries paid to rank and nleis in the' Public Works Department and Transport Board officc in Auckland. We can quote (rcf. F6) an officer -in the Public Works Department; Auckland (performing duties similar to that carried out by multiplex chief operators), with seventeen years service, .j4 years of age, drawing a salary of £4Zu per annum, and who expects to be regraded next year. This particular salary 3 anomoly is all the more glaring when we consider that lie possesses a salary value equal -to that paid to testing supervisory officers in the telegraph branch with 27 and 20 years' service, respectively,-behind them, and who at periods are in sole charge of the telegraph branch, and occasionally act as relieving officers when the senior supervisor happens to be absent. The senior supervisor, it may be mentioned, controls a staff of well over one hundred officers. The only qualifications of case (ref. E0) is a junior Civil Service pass, against the passes held by the supervisors referred to which are (case A) senior examination, senior technical examination, and multiplex examination; (case .B) controllers technical and multiplex examination. , Another example (ref. F7) shows that a rank and flip officer attached to the Transport Board, who assists the secretary to the board, with only four years' service and no examinations or other qualifications, draws £400 per annum in salary. Business men who administer the Guardian Trust recently competed for the services of a Public Trust official (F-ll ref.) who was on a salary of'£7so per annum, and they, raised it to £1250, approximately, to secure his services. From inquiries made there was little or no increased responsibility in the new position. (Note: The latter salary figure quoted is approximate only, but it was quoted as being correct.) There is a sound, practical, psychological truth behind a policy which would help executive officers of this Department to-accumulate some of this world's wherewithal in more substantial amounts 'where such officers perform superior social service. The District Telegraph Engineer, with a staff of 801 officers, who controls millions of pounds of valuable electrical plant, and administers a district that reaches from the North Cape to Gisborne, commands a salary value of a minor executive officer on the City Council staff.

Executive Officers,

The: following executive officers on the Chief Postmaster's stafr, carrying responsibilities that put many of the chief administrative officials on the Auckland City Council staff in the relative shade as regards importance and

the number of transactions handled, all rank lower in salary value than the City Council's rolling stock superintendent, overhead superintendent, ancl superintendent of claims, all of whom draw £500 per annum by way of salary. Supervisor Engineer's Office ........ £470 Chief Mechanician •• • ' 470 Supervisor Parcels Branch, . C.P.O. 470 Supervisor Registration Branch, C.P.O. ,;..-.. 425 Supervisor Mails Branch. C.P.O. 425 Supervisor Telegraph Delivery Branch 425 Supervisors, Telegraph Traffic Branch ..:.,.. 4'25 Supervisor. Clerical Branch. C.P.O. 425 Senior Draughtsman, Engineer's Office 425 Supervisor of Postmen, C.P.O. ... 425 Another table below shows up the unfavourable position of executive officers of the Post and Telegraph Department compared with the rest of the Civil Service under the control of the Public Service Commissioner: — Public Service P. and T. Department. Department. Over £500 ... 701 S.'J Over £300 ... 1888 035 Under £300 .. 4780 11,01.1 Totals . . 74;)0 11,727