Action Condemned

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29998, 6 December 1962, Page 16

Action Condemned

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, Dec. 5. “I can only express my deep regret that one of the four railway unions, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, together with the Federation of Labour, has instructed members of the A.S.R.S. to go on strike in an effort to intimidate the Government and divert it from a course which it believes to be just and right, both in the public interest and in the interest of Government servants,” the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) said tonight, commenting on the 48-hour rail strike. “The Government will not be intimidated. A Government which submitted to pressure of this nature would no longer be worthy to govern,” he said. “The effect of the action taken is clear. The men who have unwisely .been directed to withdraw their labour will lose their wages for the period of the strike. The public, or those of them who patronise the railways, will be seriously inconvenienced. “The whole economy will suffer to some extent, while

the already heavy losses of the Railways Department will be further increased at the expense of the tax-paying public. “I can only repeat the points at issue and let the people judge,” said the Prime Minister. “A Royal Commission which sat for almost a year recommended certain changes designed to improve the wages and salaries of public servants. An essential part of their proposal was the revocation of clause 103 (3) of the Railways Act. "The Government, after long and careful consideration, and after hearing representations from all parties, has amended the proposals of the Royal Commission to safeguard even further the position of Government employees. “As a result of the amendments in the bill, State servants will probably receive an increase in pay next February which they would not otherwise have received. From then, and in the future, they will receive, as of right, the same rate that the average man in industry is receiving,” said Mr Holyoake.