The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9,1966. Railway Strikes—And Charges

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31238, 9 December 1966, Page 16

The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9,1966. Railway Strikes—And Charges

The erosion of margins of pay for skill and responsibility is “ the greatest single industrial “ problem of the present time ”, according to the Minister of Labour (Mr Shand). From the Minister’s statement it could be inferred that he was sympathetic to the claims of the Railway Tradesmen’s Association for higher pay. But his statement was made before the association issued a statement giving its reasons for calling a strike. The association is concerned to “ refute the suggestion of non-co-operation with the “Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants”. The public at large will not share the association’s interest in trades union politics, except, perhaps, in the claim that “none of this” (the retention of the lid an hour margin) “would have been possible if “ the R.T.A. had not stopped work in protest ”. At this point the argument involves rather more than internecine rivalry. The association is boasting that it got its way in 1964 by a strike—euphemistically called a “stoppage”. Whether that is true or not, the R.T.A.’s officers are now using the threat of a strike in their bargaining for higher wages. The Railways Department will be just as concerned to demolish the R.T.A.’s claim that it gets results by strike action as the R.T.A. will be to justify it. The increased passenger fares and freight charges announced this week by the Minister of Railways (Mr McAlpine) are attributed to higher wages and salaries. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) deplores the higher charges; the Minister, he says, “has taken another step along the road to “pricing the railways off the market”. An even more effective method of restricting the sale of a commodity than “pricing it off the market” is to remove it from sale altogether—which would be the effect of a strike. Not only would the department’s revenue suffer from the loss of passengers and freight while the strike lasted, but the effect would be continuing. Some of the department’s customers who were obliged to make other arrangements during the strike might not use the railways after the strike was over. Railway tradesmen who have voted for strike action should ask themselves whether it is in their long-term interests to cause a continuing loss of revenue by their employer.