RAILWAY APPEAL BOARD.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 165, 6 April 1908, Page 9

RAILWAY APPEAL BOARD.

: — WORKSHOP MANAGER'S GRIEVANCE. TI-IE .BOARD'S FUNCTIONS. ■ Tlio South Island Appeal Board sat on Saturday. Tho Board comprised Mr. District Judgo Hasclden, Mr. Gray, traffic, inspeptor, Christchtirch; and Mr: J. H. Jones, of tho workshops, Duiiedin. < . Mr. M'Villy; Chief Clerk of tho Railway Department, represented the Department. ' S. PI: Evans, workshop manager, Hillside, who is.in Grado sof tho railway classification, desired to show that he should be placed in- Grado 4 and receivo tho higher salary.. Ho asked for a definition of the powers of tho Board.' Unless the Board was prepared to ad judicata ho would withdraw at onco. The President said ho could not givo uri opinion on the matter without argument and going fully into, tho question. Mn -M'Villy said this was asking, the Board to take the functions'of, the liead of a department or of the general manager. Ho took, it that tho Board's function was to determine whether, on tho evidence, tho appellant :had, •' established • the . fact that. lie had been improperly treated —that his recommendation for promotion had been improperly withheld. The Board had lio right to say the appellant should receive moro salary than lio was at present' getting.' It had its duty to perform if it could be shown that Mr.; Evans had been'improperly dealt with. Tho position was clearly set forth in the Railway Classification Act of last session. , ■• • . • -

Mr. Evans .went on to say that if the Board could : not mako the hp; doaired' it appeared • -useless for him ,to havo -gone to tlio expense and trouble of bringing the appeal. Tho position',, would be nn unfortunate one for railway servants: Miv'M'Villy: Do you mean to say. that tho- Board should make recommendations simply because a man;appears, before it? ,: The President: said; tho Bijard. was composed of men who were anxious to do their duty. It was-legally wrong for an appellant to come forward and say lio wanted to know beforehand, whether .it was any uso present-' ing his evidence, and, whether any bonefit woidd result to him from so doing. Mr. Evans wanted to know .absolutely whether tho Court had any jurisdiction. His counsel'had said lie had tho right to. know before opening his' case, otherwise he would withdraw.

After further discussion Mr. Evans was about. to withdraw.. The President said he knew what would happen: .that, this would probably.-bo an occasion for misrepresentation and. misunderstanding. 'The. members of the 'Board wcre'most anxious to - carry out tho'provisions of the Act to their fullest extent, but they could not commit themselves to answer a- question' such as; submitted by the appellant. • , The appellant then asked if the Board were favourable to his caso would they .mako a recommendation? Tho President : They would make a favourable "or .unfavourable caso according; to tho' ovidence. ; : ' /Mr. Evans , said ; this .would be ;satisfactory; and ho.would proceed.; ■' •■) . ' APPELLANT'S CASE ."Appellant, in the course.of his" statement, said ; ho .was sont.from Hillside to Newmarket' —from one of the: largest workshops to -one of tho: smallest..' When/lie left Hillsido /lie was iinform'cd no fault had beon-found -wittr his' management,: and received a verbal assurance that his transfer'would in no way a/Fect his promotion. When ho reached-the top of Grade 5 at Newmarkot. he- was debarred from further promotion. Ho had no, increasa in salary ' since he .reached £355, over.two years' ago. In March,■ .1907, he was re-transferred.-to .tho ■-Hillside .'works;-'./ Ho subiTiittcd 'hiS ■B'ork'-tt^.lsyi'wmdrket'a'n'd'Hill-side.; was highly satisfactory,, and that "his present salary was not"in; accord with :the importance-of; tliei position: which ho- : !\olds. ih'oiiiiiiiiijiger of tho' Newmarket shops»vros. ih-reccipt'of £400,-' and' the.'manager, at;Addington, got, the .same.' The. manager atPot'oiio feceivcd £315...' When appellant wont back toHillside an' 1 officer: who was promoted over'.his-'.''head-'in; 1903 was- sent.;:to New-' market.;, notwithstanding the.;.fact that ho (appellant)' had' ondeavomod unsuccessfully to .iget ' promotion in grade ,at Newmarket.' He/asked the Department : .why ho .-had. not been"promoted and was informed that lie had not been recommended by the Chief Mechanical Engineer..at Diinedirt, but that his caso. be considered on April 1 this year. ' Mr. M'Villy .'interjected that the reason Mr. Evans .had not been promoted/was that his work .batweeu April 1, 1906,. and March 31, 1907; had not/been satisfactory., \ , • Cross-examined by Mr. MlVillyj appellant said that when' oii 'sick leave about 14 or 15 months' ano, he. had called ori the. Chief Mechanical Engineer at .Wellington unofficially, and was told during conversation that things had . not becij. satisfactory at the Newmarket shops. Tho statement was not made "officially. :He was almost certain" tho conversation' had not, taken place when ho, was on transfer;!. It" was on.the. morning. .'of'Mr. Allen's appeal .case,.; and the Chief Mechanical Engineer appeared' to bo upset .over something. 'Appellant had beon given .three leave of. absence: to .enable him .-to recoup "in. health. .-./-' ■. ■■■-•

On resuming, after luncheon the President of, the Board'said that on considoratimi ho. was.. prepared to' givo a. partial answer to the question propounded by Mr. Evans .vt„ the' opening, of tho proceedings.. Ho'.thought; that,uiidei; Sections<7 and Bof the Act of. •lOOii* each : member , of the service, wds entitled to a certificate from tho permanent head of the- Department as to whether ho' was entitled .to an' increase of pay or uoi, and that-tho member could appeal to t'.o Board from an.unfavourable certificate.' Tho Board, could not recommend that members' pay be increased, but they could recommend, if the facts justified it, the issue of a certificate;' in terms , of Section 7,; which would naturally entitle the member (subjcct to .the (-Minister's discretion) to an increase. That was its'far as : lie would go at present. : Mr.:A. -L.-'ißeattio,• Chief'.Mechanical'En; gineeiy was then callcd by itho -appellant'. Witness said that tho appellant at Newmarlset'j had been lacking in energy,', in interest in liia work, in administrative faculty, and, -.as a conscquenco, the work had suffered .appellant's : health and . nerves wero such, at tho .time that witness- hesitated to■ deal with:him as.lie otherwise would. -Mr. Evans had domestic afflictions, and was in, ill-health, but the stato of affairs.was unsatisfactory to the ; department. On 3Jr." ;Evans's transfer- to'the Hillside shops witness had called s biui. to his office at Wellington and spoken kindly and sympathetically to him with the object of getting him to pull himself together. He believed the- dr. sired effect had been obtained. - It might have been dangerous sending a "man,in'his. health' to a more important .workshop',' hut. -the change;'ho had'thought, might,prove bene;, ficial,, as'\no .doubt it. had. His conversation .with Mr. Evans was strictly official. - Mr. AJlen, workshops 'manager, Petone, mn also callcd: by the appellant, and gavo evidence. . , .. . . - Mr. M'Villy,' for tho Department; did not call evidence, but addressed the Board. Ho. submitted that the evidenco given had shown that Evans had .been treated with moro consideration than could have been shown to any officer if thero had not boon the accompanying circumstances of domestic worry. In view of his condition when ho went off duty, and tho . fact that there was no guarantee that be , had fully recovered wlion ho resumed duty, the Department could not promote him"'Until ho had remained at Hillsido long enough to prove that his recovery was complete. Tho I'oard intimated that it would tako time to consider the matter, and would submit its .finding to tho Minister.