TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES DEMANDS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 302, 10 September 1918, Page 7

TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES DEMANDS

MAYOR'S COMMENT ON RESOLUTION WOULD WELCOME A COMMISSION The resolution passed by the tramway, men at Sunday's meeting was the subject of ■ comment by the Mayor. (Mr. J. ['. Luke) yesterday. The Mayor stated that there could. not be' any misconstruction .put. upon the figures ho had already , given the Press on thesubject of the tramways finance for tho last' financial year, and tho idfea of quoting 8} per cent. as tho real profit made was nonsense; as was shown by the payments.,which had to be made out of that (according to statute)',' and ■which, brought the profit down to 11 per cent. Such a ■ margin would ho more than wiped out if the men's <temahds.were adceded to, with tho result 'that fares would have to be raised or sections shortened in order to make the revenue balance the expenditure, and either of those alternatives would be a -costly ono to using the trams. ' Mr. Luke referred to the union s 'statement that tho c.hiefs_ of, tho. tramAvays department had received increases in salaries of from £25 to. £200 per year, and said those increases were absolutely necessary if the, council were to keep its staff. "The council has a very competent staff," said the Mayor, ' and we must pay the members of it their full worth, in keeping with the salaries offered by other tramway concerns and hy private businesses. These remarks do not in any way refer to the general manager, Air. Morton, whose positio.fl 5s unaltered. Unless we pay such salaries to our officials as they would he able to command elsewhere, we shall lose them,. and, they could not be blamed for going. It must also be .'understood that many of the officials havo : had their duties considerably increased. during/the war, aud there has been all obligation on'the part of the council to recognise this. I can assure the public that no official is receiving more than he is worth—they are all earning the salaries that they are paid. On/this .point the citizens can rest assured. "The present award under which the . rneu are working was made in October last—after three, years of war—and'has a currency of two years. I. think the council made a great mistake when it did not adopt the Tramways CommitJtee's proposal of a bonus of us. to.mar.sried men* That was a complete answer to the argument that the cost of living had increased.' That such an olfer ' should he regarded in the light of .a 'charitable dole is unthinkable. I think the'council made a great mistake in referring the. matter back to the committee; and, when the committee had reconsidered the matter, and had : not changed its mind, iii not adopting it even then." That was' jhis personal opinion. He still thought, personally, ' ithat a ss. bolius to married men would have met the union's claims. The Mayor ■.traced the present trouble in Wellington to what had occurred at. Auckland. There, under the procedure outlined by jthe Industrial Disputes Investigation 'Act, the men secvired a slightly more i liberal agreement'than seemed possible otherwise. The Tramways Federation had linked up with 'the Transport Workers'. Federation; the case for the. former had been' put' before, members of the Government by, the Transport (Workers' Advisory Board. The deputaitiorij which was-of a private character, urged, he understood, the establishment of a Royal Commission to enquire into iramwaymeii's conditions and .wages-, .including a proposed 8-hour day, a ; living wage based on an B : hour day,, and the limitation of .' broken shifts. "I would welcome ■ a rfoinmission," 'stated.. 3b. .Luke-.^ TRANSPORT ADVISORY BOARD , TO MEET. Otie of the decisions come to at tl.e meeting of tjie Wellington -Tramway Employees' 'Union on Sunday was that the Transport Advisoiy Board should be approached: and asked "to tender advice that will assist in reaching an agreement." It has: been announced that the board has agreed to tho-re-quest, and will meet, in' Wellington to consider-the question at issue at JO a.m. on Thursday.* ''