WAGE ORDER “MEAGRE”

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29021, 9 October 1959, Page 3

WAGE ORDER “MEAGRE”

Railwaymen’s

Protest

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, Oct. 8. A meeting of 300 members of the Woburn branches of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and the Railway Tradesmen’s Association yesterday protested against the “meagre increase granted by the Court of Arbitration.’’

The branch secretary of the A.S.R.S. (Mr P. Bleakley) in a supplied report today said the resolution stated, inter alia: “We note, in vivid contrast, how a Royal Commission established to recommend to Parliament the salaries of members of Parliament saw fit to grant increases ranging from £3OO to £5OO per annum. While this may be justified, it does highlight the ease with which a substantial increase can be granted to one section of the community compared with the long and tedious process required to grant a very meagre wage increase to wage and salary earners.” The statement added the meeting “abhorred” the fact that many workers were forced to work overtime to balance the family budget, and said a living wage based on the 40-hour week was the ideal of every worker in New Zealand.

The meeting called on the Government to stabilise prices so that the increase granted by the Court would not be absorbed by increased prices.