Train cut ‘sensible’

Press, 17 February 1978, Page 3

Train cut ‘sensible’

From Front Page

The bus service replacing the Johnsonville suburban train link would be adequate and represented a sensible response to the low patronage of the trains, said Mr McLachlan.

“The replacement bus service provides 16 services each way on Sundays, of which four each way will be provided by two buses each with a capacity of 38 seated passengers and 16 standing,” he said. “To use a fully crewed train where these buses will be sufficient would be a gross misuse of public-trans-port facilities. “It is not a question of

running down the Railways, as has been asserted, be- ' cause some Sunday rail services in Wellington have been increased in accordance with the need to adjust services depending on passenger demand.” Mr McLachlan said that the travelling public was sick and tired of disruptions by militant unionists attempting to usurp the role of the Government and the management, whose duty it was to make the best possible use of available transport facilities. The Minister of Labour (Mr Gordon) yesterday'

turned down a rail union proposal for a compulsory conference on the dispute, reports the Press Assocation from Wellington.

Mr W. File, national secretary of the Locomotive Engineers’, Firemen’s, and Cleaners’ Association, said after more than six hours of talks with Mr Gordon that he and other national representatives had agreed to go back to the Wellington union members to discuss proposals put forward by the Minister.

Asked if Wellington commuters would have to find other means of getting to work again today, he said, “I would tend to think so but 1 cannot be really certain.” Mr Gordon told the national union representatives that he would be available to see them later last night. But he was adamant, that he would not talk to the local unions.

“I will not meet people who are on strike. That is definite.”

Mr Gordon said that the attitude of the railwaymen’s national representatives had been “quite responsible.” “They have acted in a very patient and tolerant manner.” But there was no precedent for calling a com-

pulsory conference in the present circumstances.

The decision by the Railways management to take trains off the Johnsonville line on Sundays and run buses instead had been taken in good faith and could not be discussed at a compulsory conference. “W.- are not going to sell the management out down the drain,” said Mr Gordon. “The Government governs, not the unions. We are not going to be pressurised into taking action by an intemperate group.” Mr Gordon said that the national union representatives v.ere going back to the local unions with an idea of the possible way in which the dispute could be solved today. The Values Party yesterday commended the stand taken by the railwaymen over the erosion of rail services and the “sell-out of New Zealand’s most economically viable transport system to foreign oil and motor-industry interests.” However, the leader of the party (Mr A. H. Kunowski) said that strike action tended to penalise the commuter instead of the culprit. Railways employees involved in industrial disputes should instead maintain services but not collect fares.