SCARCITY OF TELEGRAPHISTS.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14583, 6 February 1913, Page 2

SCARCITY OF TELEGRAPHISTS.

AN OPERATOR'S OPINION

(srEn.u. to "tue press.") WELLINGTON, February 4. Tho statement that competent and experienced telegraph operators are scarce in Wellington at present has received a contradiction from Mr W. •; U. Morris, secretary to the Post and I Telegraph Department, but an operator jof some years' experience, put tho 'men's position a "Post" re- ; porter somewhat differently. "For ! some consiuerable time past," he ex- | plained, "tho operators have been ■ leaving faster than the authorities can j replace them; in other words tho supply cannot meet the demand. As a I matter of fact the authorities have had !to get men from other parts of the Dominion, a_-'d the head office, to make up the deficiency. Recently so great was the pressure that men had to work from 8 a.m. to 3 o.m. without a spell. Tho boys brought up from the Oamaru Telegia'ph School to further relievo the pressure, however good they may be, will bo of little use as operators until they have had a few years' experience. It Is the experienced men who are leaving and it is their places that will have to be filled." Asked what was tho reason of the discontent among the operators, the "Post's" informant replied, "Well, ! there aro several reasous, but the principal one is the question of unnecessary examinations. Wo feel very strongly ! upon the point. The Department, not : content with having us work seven • hours a day at the telegraph key, must impose unnecessary examinations upon ! us, examinations having no bearing j whatever upon tho actual work in which wo are employed. "For instance," he continued, "we have to go through an examination uuder the Post and Telegraph Act, and ! also an advanced telegraph technical examination,.which dents with telegraph ! engineering work, a subject which does : not affect" our working at all. These ; examinations entail a lot of study which is not fair to the operator after a try- . ing day's work at the keys. What ; makes these technical examinations ap- ', pear ludicrous is the fact that they do not in any way make better telegraph- ' ist- 8 - ... j "On tho question of salary it is just 'as well for the public to know how the Department treats us. Can you wonder that we feel sore when it is a fact that tho Department has kept firstclass telegraphists on a salary of £110 , per year for as long as three years, when they were entitled by law to be drawing £150? This has had the effect of producing a feeiing of irritation in tho telegraphists, and no wonder. When wo are offered elsewhere better opportunities, no unnecessary examinations, and salary according to tho ability of tho man—no wonder that wo should accept them. That is the answer to tho query 'Why this drift to Australia?' One must not forget, too, the inducements held out to us by wireless companies." ) "The position has reached such an acute stage," he concluded, "that we are debating the question of forming n | Telegraphists' Union to safeguard oui j interests and obtain our rights."

THE DEPARTMENT'S ANSWER. These complaints were laid before the Department, which has made tho following reply:—"The recent temporary shortage of staff at Wellington was duo to quite exceptional causes, and does not by any means justify the attitude taken up by a certain section of the local staff. In addition to a number of men absent on annual vacation, there was an abnormal number of men absent on the plea of illness. This was met by the temporary transfer of men employed in other branches. It is true that a number of men attacked by the lovo of change, which is so prominent a feature of young New Zealanders, have sought fresh fields and pastures new. Although the Department regrets their departure, it wishes them God-speed in their new venture. Their place can bo supplied in due course, not necessarily, however, by means of inexperienced boys from a learners; gallery, but by officers who have bperi serving at country stations until they are qualified to do duty at a large office like Wellington, their places, in turn, being taken by the cadets from tho learners' gallery. "As regards the examinations, the objection thereto is not found to originate with the best class of men, but rather with those wno have not got sufficient coinage or application to faco the tests, which are enloreed to warrant a man being selected for promotion in a classified service. It would be a very sorry thing if selection for promotion should depend entirely on seniority, and decadence would soon follow the adoption of such a system, but with seniority and merit combined, a satisfactory selection can bo made. The hall-mark of merit can only be attained by a man mastering tho details of his work, and showing a proficiency therein greater than his fellows. In order to demonstrate a man's efficiency, he is subject to a test examination, and as the result thereof ho may satisfactorily demonstrate his superiority over other competitors. Ifc is not difficult to gauge the capacity of the man who jibs on submitting himself to the ordeals prescribed by the Department, but, if he lacks courage and application, he is ns a rule not deficient in the art of creating grievances and airing them in season and out. This class of man is a sourco of unrest in any office, and the service would be well rid of him. It docs not by any means follow that he is a callow youth, as men old enough to know better are often the worst. A man who has wasted the best years of his life without doing anything to fit himself for a higher position in tho service, is often the most unmitigated growler, apparently oblivious of° the fact that ho has only his own apathy and neglect to blamo for not being higher up tho tree. No man is now stopped at any stage of his official career before reaching the maximum of the class in which he is graded, unless lie has failed to pass tho test examination provided by tho Departmental regulations.