TRAMWAY ADMINISTRATION.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14368, 30 May 1912, Page 5

TRAMWAY ADMINISTRATION.

BOARD'S REPLY TO RECENT CHARGES.

At tlio hist meeting oi the Train•wav Board reference was made to a l-'ttcr sent to tho Press by Mr Hiram Hunter, secretary oi the Tramway Union, and the General Manager was mitnictcd to reply. The reply is as follow.*! :— Statonsc-nt I.—That the Board hafi 2000 tons of slack coal, purchased from : the Wt.stport-Stocktoii Coal Company, lyinj; in the yard at the present ti.uc, for whicli it has paid ISs lOd per ton. which is oi" inferior quality to State coal procurable at IGs 4d per ton. Tiie reply is that the prico j>-*r ten is not tiie only determining iactor in j fi-citu*; coal vames. The sioam-produc-j i;i*> pouvr iniiat be taken into account. j'J lie coal contracts were lot eighteen I month.-, apo, and the tests dis-closed I that best valuo was obtained by mix- ] ing State and Stockton in eijual pro- '• portions and at the prices mentioned. i the- reserve coal mentioned consists of about SUU toiit> of Statu and 7iA) tons i of Stockton. ' Statement 12. —That thousands of pounds worth ol track and other i material has been purchased which is I not useable. Tlio reply is that the statement is not only incorrect, hut has absolutely no foundation. Statement '*.—That permanent way employees are short of tools, the consequence being that when cert.i.in tools are being used hy some men, others havo to sit by and wait Ui'-ir turn The inference is that- either tiie men lose time or the* Board is paying for work -.ot done. The. Engineer stales that thii is not correct. Statement 4.—That the night-shift men are compelled to cat their meals in a dirty, draughty room, unfit for human beings to congregate in. Tiie reply is that tiie men clean their room themselves, and that the Board pay-them for so doing, the Board moreover pays them lor their meal hour, although the award doc.s not require it to do so. The room has brick walls and one window. An open fire is provided. On the Ifith inst. the secretary of tho union asked that backs should lie provided for the seats, instead of the men being ■••*f**iired to i.se the brick wall for this purpose. On the 17th inst. ho was informed that this would be done, aud that the arrangements re cleaning were as stated above. Statement s.—That the regulations provide for speed of twelve miles per hour, but, cars are compelled to run up to 25 miles per hour, then if late tho inotormeu -*.-c punished. Tho statement is not correct. Statement G.—That the speed required on the New Brighton line is excessive; that the ordinary cars making all stops are only given two minutes more than the "express" trips with few stop_ only; that tho task set tho motormeu is ridiculous: and that the car equipment is rattled to piece.--. The reply is that the equipment does not suffer prejudicially; that the speed between Wainoni and Bexley, the fastest stretch, does not exceed 17 miles per hour, the maximum sliced under Order in Council being 18 miles per hour, and that more timo is allo'.ved than formerly. Moreover, New Brighton is one of tho runs wtiich is sought for by the men. If more run-ning-tiine were given, another ear. at a cor.t of roughly £1400 per annum, would havo to be employed. Statement 7.—That the working conditions of the spare list men involves sweating of the worst type. Tho reply is that broken, or snare list work, is inseparable from any tramway -system where loading fluctuates. Some time ago an endeavour was mado to minimise this unavoidable disadvantage by distributing the work over the wholo of the staff; but the union strenuously objected, and requested that thia work be done by the new men. and that the older men should be lelicvcd. Tho spare list was therefore re-established. Tho wages of sixteen men on the spare list (new men') averaged last week £2 lis 8d each for 50} hours. Nine men workvd on ibe Sunday, but this is not included. If it were included the average wage ' earned would be correspondinclv higher. The time of these spare list men is necessarily broken. The alternative would be either to run trams not wanted by the public in order to give these men unbroken time each day, or else to pay for work not done. Thc conditions of npare list work were thrashed out before the Arbitration j Court. Thc award given is being ad- ! hercd to. The increase in the aggregate wages given by the award, added to the natural objection of the public j to pay increased fares, compels the ' Board to keep within the award. Statement S.—That- men work* till midnight on Saturday night. 13 hours on Sunday without meal relief, and i then to complete tiie torture are I booked up for early tliift on Monday. ! Tho reply is that so long as tbe $un- j day shifts number more than half the ' ordinary :-iiift.*>, it is impossible to i avoid some Monday morning .shifts fol- | lowing Sunday work. ; With resard to tiie length of the Sunday shift the 13 hours were divided ] into two f-hifts of about six hours each. ; but the union requested that the i longer shifts be reinstated, and its \ wishes were :■< ceded to. A number of the. men prefer Sunday ! work, because timo and a half wage*3 ! are paid. i "With regard to tho moil lelief. A i plebiscite of the men was taken some j years ago. but the majority voted i against it. If it was now der.ircd. it- ! would havo been included in the ! union's recent demands before tlio ! Arhitr\it : on Court. It was not men- ' tioncd, i [f th-.i unir-n can submit any* practi- ! eal method by which some "of the j pc-nliar conditions inseparable from i tramway working can be met to the I satisfaction ol even a majority of the I men. and whicli would not entail the j payment for wo He not done, every ! consideration would be given thereto. ; but in the absence of any «uc-h proffered i solutioi it must b 0 assumed that the • union --ecognises the difficulty of the j position. " i