TRAMWAYS DISPUTE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1139, 29 May 1911, Page 8

TRAMWAYS DISPUTE.

BASIS OF AN OFFER. WHAT THE ENGINEER RECOMMENDS In the course of a report to the City Council upon its tramways the City Tramway Engineer (Mr. S. Richardson) deals at some length with the demand of the employees for a new working agreement. Proceeding from the point at the negotiations between a siib-coinniiltee .of the council and the union, at which the representatives of (lie latter body volunteered to produce u ro»ler under which the city tramways could be conducted at greatly reduced cost, Mr. Richardson at;iles that the copy of this roster furnished to the Department for investigation was incomplete, and no key to its working was furnished. Its merits were considered so far as was po?>sil;lc, but no comprehensive results could bo gleaned from the meagre information supplied by the schedule. The roster was found in some respects to be faulty, but tho information necessary to elucidate the merits of this scheme of working the. men, as against the arrangements now in vogue, was not supplied.

Mr. Eichardson al-o states that he understands that, at a later date, what purported to bo a complete rosier, with its key, was handed to the sub-committee of the council for its special information. Ho leaves the subject with the remark that, up to the present, nothing tangible has been laid before him for consideration. ,

Continuing, Mr. Richardson takes exception to a clause in the union demands which provides that no roster shall be withdrawn, altered, or amended, unless the change is approved, under certain conditions, by the. union, "If this is to bn made a condition in the next agreement," he remarks, it will practically preclude the council from making: what niay l>e necessary and economic alterations iu tho workingof tho.tramway traffic." Remarking that, the work of the Traffic Superintendent has been heavy and extremely difficult in ■Wellington, Mr. Richardson recommends that the administration staff of. the department be in future controlled by liis assistant, Mr. Cable, who should have , under him the present superintendent, Mr. James, in charge of all outside arrangements. The latter would have under him again the present staff of inspectors.

New Demands of the Union, In reference to tho union demands, Mr. Richardson presents a schedule setting out rates of pay and conditions of employment. It provides for a rate of pay of Is. ljd. per. ljour for all motormen with over three years' service. This rate will extend to 70 men at tho present time, as against 45 men under the present agreement. Another clause, provides for an increase from Is. to Is. OJd. to conductors who have had three years' service. Mr. Richardson mentions that about 50 conductors will participate in this increase. No in;i'£a-;e is proposed in fho other classes of Jabour in the Department, "as in this respect, thc rates of pay now ruling are generally in advance of those pertaining to similar work in the other tramway undertakings in tho Dominion." The engineer has deleted from his proposals a clause in the present agreement, which reads: "There shall be two rosters, aud all employees shall be equally worked round their respective rosters, .provided that this stall not jpply , to tramway bandsmen oil broken shift." , Mr. Richardson objects to this clause, on thc ground that, under its operation, a period of seventeen months is required for each man to work round the routes covered by one roster. As a result, mistakes are frequently made by men, who, having I)?en some mouths on one route, are changed over, in accordance with the roster, to another line. The adaption of the schedule which he submits, Mr. Richardson states, would mean an increased pay-sheet of about .£GOO per annum. Tho proposals, ho adds, are as favourably designed from the employees' standpoint as the civic authorities can reasonably accede to at the present time, and acceptance by the local tramway men would place them in the most favoured position in the Dominion. These are the best terms," concludes the engineer, "that, in my opinion, the citscan afford to give at the present time.