RAILWAY DISCONTENT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 43, 14 November 1907, Page 11

RAILWAY DISCONTENT.

AUCKLAND VIEWS. EMPLOYEES' STRONG CRITICISM. [bt telegraph.—own correspondent.] . Auckland, November 12. According to the "Horald," serious disapproval ; of the Railways Classification Bill exists l Amongst members of the Auckland branch of tho raihvay service. The paper referred to publishes interviews in support of this" ttatementS v , RESIGNATIONS ON A BIG SCALE. "The neglect of the Government and the callous disregard of the .troubjo that is seething- throughout tho Service," said ono officer, 'is simply staggering. Wo-ask each other if we would not be bettor in Russia. The position in the first division is simply atrocious. Of courso, lam speaking of the Auckland section. I believe it to bo the worst treated in-the whole Dominion, becausb, owing to the enormous expansion, of railway traffic consequent upon the rapid progress of settlement in this province, and owing to the grossly, understaffed. condition of the whole section the officers-are. being worked to death. As.'the 'Herald' already has abundant evidence, men are being kept at it as hard as-they cango for twelve and fourteen hours ;a day;' ; some - of .them more. The first division, I caiv assure you,.is in a state , of'ferment over the' absolutely inadequate -proposals.... . The whole section thought that after, the 'Herald's' .exposure, of the ' evils wo would • /get 50m,0.-' honest attempt...',to- remedy 'thqm', but; our grievances, have been simply ignored. We asked for bread, and thoy. gave .us a stone. There is not' only' talk of retiring, but I have reason to . believe • the resignations''will be on such,a scale , as to prove, thoroughly how acute the feeljrig'really, is. There are too many .advantages offering to the best men in other T'alks of .life in this new country for them'.to remain in their present state. Of course, I do not say there are not improvements provided in the Classification Bill, i but -generally; ; speaking they are so -slight and so niggardly that it seems that no endeavour whatever has been mado to meet the) position .- It is like trying to 'stop a leak in a wa,ter reservoir- with-a few haudr fuls of eand."' ,', , .■ ; .■'■'•.': : To a'suggestion that'in'the past the railway men were content to work for tho wages now ruling, or even less, and did not seem f o have" complained very much', another, member of'the,service: said: "That's not'a fair way to ; put itj because you have to remember that in 'the last few 'years there. has been such a wonderful growth of railway traffic, .especially in tho North Island,- lhat it has meant far, harder work and longer hours, and "with"the vastly increased traffic there is more continued strain and greater responsibility, i' iI can remember the time' when,, at some stations, you passed a train through in the 'morning, , and could then go to sleep practically, for the rest of the day. It isn't so now by a , long way.. Men have to bo smarter and keep their iwits on the jump.tho whole time, and have to slog in like niggers to get the work through, ■ and a you must remember that the cost' of living 'has gonorup about 50 per cent., and : when wages have increased all round, why should the railway meri.be shut out from the pros- ' perity of the .country?" ".. ■A'iIRST DIVISION 'OPINION.'' " "The inducements to enter the postal and telegraph service are infinitely greater than ' they are in .the case of the railway service," remarked an officer of the first division. "The.ne , / classification provides higher,rates for youths'entering.the service,' but a look ahead at the salaries they are to succeed to is sufficient-, to deter anyone who intends to remain ir:- AVo cannot get junior porters now, >and.the l ol'a'ssi-' 1 fication, , if<-npt very greatly'amended,' will 'lead, to'/so many vacancies that I'hardly like' to think what will become of the service on the Auckland.section. We are opening up new, lfcngths.>of. line getting- tho Main , Trunk ihrough, but;where.is the Department to get the"men to provide for the increased traffic? It now has to put up with •incom- . petents in-fairly responsible positions, and . I doubt very muoh if •it will find the position any more satisfactory under, the new classification. , I rather think the Department will find itself in a serious hole'/' Several men in different Departments were questioned, and in each case the reply was that the new Classification Bill simply accentuated the dissatisfaction, and men in various branches of the service were looking round for better paid occupations. They stated uhat the. service had relied on the Minister's promise to better the. conditions, but the proposals came as a rude shock, and were received with disgust. Past experience, more than one man remarked, had led the service to believe that • the Department took every opportunity to keep, the men in the low grade as, long as possible. It might have be.in the intention of. the Minister to better tbe bositions of tnn mem-

bers '.of the' first division a little, but Sβ long as tho executive of .'the Uioartment

had the option of promoting or retarding the men fair treatment could never be expected. This option, experience had proved, had resulted in bicii a minimum allotment of tho maximum /,- benefits, and the men had lost faith in the executive of the Department. " ■ ■■■■ "■'■■: ■■■•''■''■ ' MAILOART- DRIVER BETTER OFF THAN '■".,. EXPRESS GUARD. ;- " It was found in-the case of the second division that the guards were more than dissatisfied with the proposals. They considered they had received-no recognition of their grievances for yoars, and the sixpence advance. offered jfvas looked upon as a totally inadequate provision.' " Why," remarked one guard, " it's only given to a third of the number. There aro mon now in the second grade who will still only got Bs. 6d. per day, and that after sixteen years , ' service; and there are men with twojvty and twentytwo years' sorvico who can only got from 9s. to 10s, Look at the postal service. Take the.class of letter carriers, drivers, night watchmen, etc. - Tho wages of the first-grade men aro £180. to £200 a year, arid yet a first-class guard has to get along on £156, so: that- the driver of a one-horse mail-cart is better/paid than a guard who has' to- tako charge of express passenger trains with all, their attendant responsibilities, At the- very least, , the ■ first-grade guards should get 11s., per day, , and the second-grade up to 10sl, and there should be increases by annual increments as in tho postal service." " I cannot understand it," said another. "The Department must know tho position, and yet it tinkers away at the problem in this wretched fashion; : and if it does not know the position, then it must havo very incompetent advisers'." ; ' ■

AN OFFICIAL'S SUMMING- W. ' An official in touch with 'all branches "of the service on the Auckland section, when interviewed, summarised tho postition in regard to the second ; division. He said it would | appear that the guards were' being better treated, but ifi reality the, majority were not. An increase to 10s. 6d. per day was provided for, but the percentage was re 7 duced from 50 to 30 in the first grade. This partly neutralised the effect of tho rise, because, assuming that there were 400 guards, it would only mean a total increaso of £4 or £5: At present nearly 50 por cent, of the guards were in tho , 'first grade, and wore receiving 10s. por day. , When .the percentage was reduced to 30, theso men, would not be reduced in pay, but the others in tho service would havo to wait so much longer for promotion. _• ~-.■'■ - • I Then, again, junior porters would be started at ss. por day. There was, however, no provision made for any increase to those who had already served one year. These would bo exactly on the same footing as those now entering the service, and would receive the same pay, thus giving new-comers, in a sense, .a twelve months' start. The experience gained by the men already engaged would-,apparently not count for anything, i though they would probably be given seniority m filling advanced positions. "The Locomotive' Department has not much to complain of," added the official.

"In the workshops tho loading hands aro increased from 12a. to 125.-6 d. por day, but thoro is a weak point in ordinary.tradesmen only being ablo to get 10s. 6d. per day, no increase boing mado .to these- ..An increaso was asked for both theso branches by tho men's organisation, and it was thought,, gonerally speaking, that, if preferences was given, the, lower paid men would receive the incrcaso. No provision has been' niata for placing the staff of tho dining car on the official list of the Railway Department, Gangers will probably be satisfied, as they receive n Gd. a day rise all round." Tho increases in all tho lower grades waro said to bo more apparent than real. "Unless some alterations were made in the ■Bill tho members of the first division (principally tho clorical staff) would not, it was added, bo a great deal better off than at present, excepting the very high grade men.