THE TRAMWAY TROUBLE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16398, 18 December 1918, Page 7

THE TRAMWAY TROUBLE.

STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN OF BOARD. Tho Hon. J. Barr, M.L.C., chairman of the Christchurch Tramway Board, has issued the following in responso to tno statement by the secretary of tho Tramwaymen's Union:— It is to be regretted that tli3 secretary of chc Tram vay Workers' Union lias seen lit to again violate an agreement. by forwarding to tho public Press matters being desalt with by representatives of lioth parties before negotiations xrere completed, in spite of an undertaking that newspaper correspondence should cIom; during negotiations. One can only conclude that so far as tho secretary is concerned tho intention was to have the whole hog, or fence for time.

"While many of the .statements made by the Union secretary are contrary to fact. I must, before dealing with.them, draw attention to a complete change of ground by the introduction of a 48 hours' week at £3 4s minimum. This naturally carries with it the almost total abolition of overtime. .This is very different from tho demand mado in tho original communication of October 16th, namely, "the granting of increases in pay to meet n some small degree tho over-increasing Post of the necessaries of life." 'l<il:ing as a basis the authority quoted by tho Union secretary (tjko Government Statistician) this Board increased tho wages of all wageearners bv 75 per cent, on October 23th last. This puts tho Christchurch Tramway men on a hotter footing than those of "Wellington when tho difference in cost of living is taken into account. The tables dealing with _ this matter were supplied to the Union secretary, and have not been challenged by him. The men have been in receipt of and have n.ccepto:l tho 7\ por cent, increase since the date named. Tho average rate of tirst-year conductors is at present £3 15s per week, rising to £4 9s, with a minimum for motormen of £4, rising to £4 17s, with working clothes free, also annual holidays from 8 to 12 days given and paid for. Tho details of the present working conditions were agreed to by the Union a v e:ir »S°. when an agreement was entered into to havo currency . for two years. That agreement was subsequently on tho request of the Union, made an award oI the Court. The conditions were, however, the result of an agreement of the- parties, and were, so far as tho Hoard is concerned, entered into independent of what transpired in Wei- j lington, and, in fact, ahead of "Wellington conditions in various provisions. But if tho secretary of the Union wants a 48 hours' week established at £3 4s, he may take advantage of a clause that wu& passed 1-st week, which ompowor t . th«» Arbitration Court to review an award. No member of tho Board is in favour of overtime if it can be avoided, and although tho reduction of ovortimo will naturally mean a reduction of tho men's present earnings, they will havo a few more hours in tne week to themselves. Although tho individual earnings may bo reduced, tho cost to the Board will bo greater as moro men will bo required. So far tho Board has avoided the popular habit of passing it on, but this cannot much longer bo postponed. The £3000 lost through tho epidemic is, we hope, a non-recurring loss. The increases in wages recontly given will amount to £0000 per annum. which is about to the whole of last year's balance. The go-slow policy meant a Joss of £12o0; while tho possible merging of spooial rating areas will account for a further considerable sum. It will bo seeri therefore that the "passing-on" may have to be adopted as suggested by tho Union secretary himself, if a further £6000 is paid in compliance with the secretary's demand. True, tho employees of tho Board should not suffer merely for tho sake of providing cheap faros, but I would ask tho owners of the undertaking to glance at the following list of wages being earned undor noxmnl conditions, r*nd judge as to whothor they are so low that th© smashing of an agreement and award of the Court is justified.

MOTORMEN. Per week. w . • £ s. d. First year ... ... 4 0 6 Second year ... ... 4 14 Third year ... "... 4 7 3 " Special grade ... ... 4 17 1 CONDUCTORS. * Per weejc. £ s. d. .lst tear 3 15 10 I 2nd and 3rd year ... 318 b I Over 3 years ... 4 0 2 Special Grade B ... 4 4 9 Special Grade A ... 4 9 7 Pius - working clothes and paymont f6r annual holidays'. "Whilo I desire to be as brief as possible . there are certain statements in tho letter which has now reached the Board's offices, that I would like to doal with. Firstly, the Board is accused of tailing to redeem a promise. This is incorrect, as the Board has neither failed to redeem a promise nor keep an agreement. It will he romembercd tnat the secretary ab the outset refused a conforence, and when the demands were turned down he inaugurated the "go-slow" policy, subsequently certain men, after due warning, were dismissed for not carryjng out their duties in compliance with instructions. The Union professed to instinct its members to observe the speed rules in the rule book, but these men wero harassing the public and losing revenue by running much slower than the rules. The Union's representatives urged leniency for them on tho ground that they had allowed their zeal to overcome their judgment. This, under tho circumstances, is a poor ex- j cuse, but even if it is admitted, there remains the further point that the staff was advised that the timo-table was framed on the regulations, and that if. in the opinion of the motormen, the two were in conflict, the rule which requires motormen to endeavour to run to time must take precedence. Notwithsanding that, the public-irritat-ing "go-slow" policy continued. The men were thus left without a shadow of excuse.

It nmy be remarked that the cases were those of men with recurring olfences, and care ivas taken to have evidence such as would satisfy a Magistrate. Other dismissals were being prepared for when the go-slow tactics wore discontinued. Three conductors were also dismissed for deliberate refusal either to collect fares or faro irregularities. Tho Board was approached with respect to reinstatement, and the following decision was communicated to the secretary on November 2nd: "That if the men will resume normal running at once, the Board will give the reinstatement of the motornien favourable consideration at a conference to be hold on Tuesday week, 12th inst." The secretary replied that it had been resolved to accept tho Board's assurance that the reinstatement of six motornien would be favourably considered, and that a conference would he. held on November 12th to endeavour to arrive at a full settlement. This conference duly took place, and the cases of the motormen were dealt with favourably, a promise being given to reinstate them when a full settlement had been arrived at as outlined in the Board's resolution and ■the secretary's reply. The subsequent action of the men and of the socretary has been practically an admission that they were rightly dismissed as they failed to take advantage of a provision put in the Tramway Act at the request of the employees, which provides for an Appeal Board to "hear and determine all appeals by Tramway men against dismissals, disrating®, * fines, or other punishments, etc." The Act protocts the men against any wrongful punishment, and creates a position whereby the Board, through its officors, cannot punish any

employee except for good and substantial reasons. At the second conferenco tho Board's representatives renewed thoir proposal to reinstate the sis motoriuen, but went one step further in its endeavour to meet the Union, and agreed to nay them the satno rate of pay as was paid to those who sutiered from influenza, from the time when the epidemic prevented the fnion meetings. ll tho terins were acceptable, the men were to commence woik on Mon<lay, the- 16th inst.

Tho secretary accuses the Board of committing a ureach ot tiio Arbitration Act by dismissing six men who had the right of appeal to an independent tribunal of tm* Union's cro.iting. No one knows better Uian he. tnal, to use a vulgarism, tho boot is on tiie other foot. .Such tiicticjj as were recently indulged in by tiio Union at tho secretary's instigation have already been declare;! to constitute a "strike."' aud ti.e individual-; liable to a £25 penalty, and the (;nion to a penalty ot £500, with tim suspension oi its registration as well as the suspension of any award or industrial agreement. He writes about what the bnion lias proved; tho one outstanding thing that the Union has proved is that it has allowo.l itself to be very badly guided, not only in this, but in all other matters.

Jit his'closing comparisons the secretary cpiotcs wnat tne grocen>' assistants have bec-n in recoipt of: —"£3 6s per week for the past year, and they have to do no signing oil and off." Perfectly truo, but tlioy have to sorve an apprenticeship of several- years before they receive the sum named. As for tho drivei o, they are probably more akin to tramwavmen tliun any other calling, and there is possibly every justification for his referring to thein, but more fully than just a more mention of what tncy havo refuted. The position of the drivers is, briefly, as follows Those engaged in that calling are governed by an award which is comparatively new, having beon creatod in Octobor. 191G, and expiring in November, 1918. In their award the hourly rato is not'touched, except as it pertains to overtime, and while 48 hours id stipulated, four additional hours must be worked without oxtra pay in the caso of the drivor of ono horse, and eight hours in tho case of tho_ driver of more than ono horse. "While the wages aru sot forth as £2 12s and £2 16s, or Is per hour, to this must now ho added 10 per cent. Drivers of motor vehicles have also to give four hours for attendance on vehicles with overtime aftor nine hours. The spread of duties in all cases is twelvo hours. Tho wagos stipulated in the award aro £2 15s to £3, according to the carrying power of the vehicles, for a 52 hour week, or from Is o}d to Is ljjd per hour, plus the added 10 per cent., or ljd per hour. Thoro are more callings than that of either drivers or tram car workers where difficulty is found in stopping and starting on a whistle. ] Towards the ond of his letter, the Union secretary states: —"If the Board can instantly dismiss a number of men by paying a week's wngefi, thon the men have an oqual right to leave tho job by giving a week's notice." Tho Board again showed leniency and consideration towards the mon, as they were not ontitled to the week's pay,, as the Board has power under clause 7 of the award to "dismiss any employee for good and sufficient causo without notice." The effect of the seven days' notice clause to which the secretary rofers is that tho Board must find continuous work for its employees. On the other hand, the employee has to give a week's notice of his desire to leave the service. Tho secretary hints that this may bo done on a largo scale. It may be regrettable if this should happen, but here again the secretary is a bad actor, as he must know that tho Board neither would nor could rofnso to let those resign who wish to do so.

STATEMENT BY MR HUNTER. Mr Hiram Hunter made a statement to a representative of "The Press" yestcuLay. Referring to the article which appeared in yesterday's issue dealing with the attitude of the Trnmwaymen's Union towards the Tramway Board, Mr Hunter said that the men had not yet asked for a revision of their working conditions. His statement proceeded: "It is just as "well to keen tn.o facts in mind. The question of the local '-men! getting similar terms to those granted to the Wellington tramwaymen is based, upon the general custom. In almost every instance the Arbitration Court has granted uniform rates throughout tho Dominion. All Government employees are paid similar rates wherever they may happen to reside. "Why should any exception be made in the case ofl the Cliristchurch tramwaymen? Even the president of the Arbitration Court, Mr Justice Stringer, stated, in his memorandum to the local timberworkers' award recently, that nothing was likely to cause discontent more than different rates of wages for similar classes of work in adjoining industrial districts. Anyhow, let us discuss the cJI-important factor in this disputed—the claim for Is 4d per hour as a minimum rate of pay for a oonductor. Leave Wellington out of the argument and answer a straight! question—is £3 4s for 48 hours' work am unreasonable claim in Chris tchurch, considering that it takes £1 8s Id ,to purchase twenty shillings' worth of the foodstuff required in the home as compared with 1914 prices? If tho Christchurch tramways cannot bo managed without compelling employees to accept starvation rates of wages, it is time they ceased running altogether."

A meeting of tho Tramway Board is to be held on Friday to consider the demands made by the Union. THE DUNEDIN MEN. (SPECIAT, TO "THE PRESS.") DUNEDIN. December 1". A ballot <yf tho tramway men will be taken on Friday as to whether thero Is to be a strilio or not. The ears were worked to-dnv mnch as they were yesterday—on tlie "go slow" method.