RAILWAY SERVICE PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 185, 1 May 1924, Page 8

RAILWAY SERVICE PROBLEM

■ MR. MASSEY FORECASTS EXHAUSTIVE ENQUIRY PUBLIC SERVANT’S OBLIGATION TO COUNTRY STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF RAILWAYS Proposals were submitted to the Minister of Railways (Hon. J. G. Coates) yesterday morning by the President of '-'-■'the A.S.R.S., and were considered by Cabinet, which has not yet concluded its deliberations . The Prime Minister has issued a statement in which he points out the gravity of the possibility of such action as a strike by public servants, and insists that no section of the Public Service can be allowed to stop the whole business of the country, or prejudice its reputation. Mr. Massey promises an exhaustive inquiry , with a view to possible economies and the abolition of anomalies, and an all-round improvement of the system. The Minister of Railways, in a statement, stresses that the present proposals to be put forward by the Depaitment to improve the efficiency of the railways, and the demands originally put forward by the Amalgamated Society, must be dealt with in some comprehensive manner. The legal position of the men who went on strike appears to be that they have forfeited the right to participate in the superannuation scheme by having broken their contract, but the ' Government had not yet stated whether they will be reinstated in the benefits of the scheme or not. THE PRIME MINISTER’S STATEMENT “A LESSON TO MOST PEOPLE” FORECASTED IMPROVEMENT OF RAILWAY SYSTEM The following statement was made yesterday by the Prime Minister:— Naturally we are pleased that the strike has come to an end, and that industrial peace once more prevails. May it last for a very long time. I know there were many men among the strikers who had no sympathy with the movement, and who realised the serious loss to the country entailed by every day’s suspension of business. The Government, however, had their duty to do and that was to stand up against any attempts to coerce them into 7 doing what they knew would be a serious injustice to the great bulk of the citizens of the Dominion, and would! almost certainly lead to til more serious trouble. I believe, it will be admitted the result the Government’s action. One thing is quite certain-nosection ofthe public service can be allowed to stop the whole business of the country in the way that has been attempted recently. I think what has happened has been a lesson to most people, especially to those men who were misled or’coerced into going y.-ut on lncidents such as we nave experienced do not enhance or maintain the good reputation of this cOU ’- L y- 1 “A 1 very clad that in the end wiser counsels have prevailed. As soon as it can be managed the Government intends to arrange for an exhaustive inquiry by experienced men iito the whole railway system, including inccme and expenditure, with a view to possible economies and the abolition of anomalies. It is quite certain that in the very near future there will be serious competition with the railways from motor vehicles. However annoying that mav be, we cannot use unfair methods to interfere with anything which promises to improve our means of communication. What have to do is to bring about an all-round improvement in our railway system, organising it on up-to-date commercial lines thus rendering it more useful and satisfactory to the public; and, therefore, better able to hold its own with outside competitors. ~ On behalf of the Government I desire to thank all those both 11 side and outside the service, who came to our assistance, and enabled the business of the country to be carried on in most cases without any very serious delays.

INNUMERABLE MESSAGES OF CONGRATULATION

Telegrams continued to arrive all yesterday congratulating the Government on its firm attitude in connection with the strike and upon the result. THE PRESENT POSITION STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF RAILWAYS The following statement was made to a Dominion representative last night by the Minister of Railways: The railwaymen having returned to work, the president and general secretary of the amalgamated society, on behalf of their executive, met me officially this morning and made certain proposals. These have been reported to Cabinet, which had a preliminary discussion, but has not yet completed consideration of these matters. As Minister of Railwavs I have to consider first the public interest, but I also realise that before I can have a pood and efficient working staff I must pet rid of any feeling that there are substantial grievances which might prejudice the minds, of the men . It is generally recognised that the demands originallv made by the society, and proposals to be put forward by the Department to improve the efficiency of the railways, have got to be dealt with in some comprehensive manner. These questions are too grave and complicated, and too far-reaching in effect, to hastily settle, but I can assure the public that I am concentrating and will continue to concentrate, upon them until the proposals are finalised. SUPERANNUATION BENEFITS FORFEITED BY BREACH OF CONTRACT WILL THE GOVERNMENT REINSTATE THE STRIKERS? No indication of the Government’s intentions regarding the reinstatement of the strikers in the superannuation scheme benefits was given yesterday. The men’s legal position may be summarised as follows: —The fact that no deduction was made from the wages, or the Hillside men for superannuation fund purposes is in accordance with the regulations under which subscriptions are made. Any voluntary break in engagement on the part of a r.articipiant in the benefits or tne fund, automatically renders all back service invalid for superannuation purposes, and a man with only a year to go to receive the full benefits of superannuation payments if he participated in the strike, might, if the Government chose, be handed back his payments to date, without interest, ana his reinstatement In the superannuation scheme would rest entirely with the Government.

STATEMENT BY THE A.S.R.S. EXECUTIVE STRIKE LEADERS’ REASONS FOR CESSATION The following explanation of the reasons of the A.S.R.S. Executive calling the strike oft were given yesterday morning in a statement to the Press by the president (Mr. M. Connolly):— “The strike was declared off owing to the fact that if it had been continued for another day it would have meant an extension of the trouble to a wider field. The country would have been faced with a large, industrial ujk heaval. and the responsibility for precipitating such a step was too serious, and had to be considered by the society’s executive and the position ,of 'the loyal members of the organisation taken into account. “It must te admitted that the members of the society have given a wonderful display of loyalty to their.organisation and their class. After just over a week on strike, scarcely a dozen out of oier 10,000 of our members succumbed to the great temptation held out to second division men to return to work. This alone is evidence that the railwaymen realised that ;n striking they had a good case, and e-ery justification for taking extreme- action at the end of fifteen months of negotiation, to emphasise the urgency of their claims. The membership was loyal from Dargaville to Invercargill, and this solidarity could not have been so well sustained but for the fact that cur case was sound and strong.” “The Executive Council would not have taken its latest step but for the fact that it realises that tho evidence for an improvement in the economic condition of our members is so overwhelming that it need have no fear of tlio result of placing the matter before a proper tribunal. “The solidity of the strike position from the point of view of the society has been so satisfactory all along that the disnute could have been maintained for some time to come. This would have resulted in greater inconvenience to the community, for it is auite apparent that motor transit on New Zealand roads of the present description cannot adequately meet even the most urgent needs of the inland communities requiring fuel and food. It was clear that if tho dispute had extended, it would not, in the circumstances, have ended in a few days, but that it would have become more and more difficult to settle, and that in the ultimate result mnnv. if not all, of our grievances would still have had to be submitted to some tribunal which could hear the facts and come to a well-considered decision-” CABINET CONSIDERING PROPOSALS

Cabinet met yesterday morning and considered proposals made through the Minister of Railways by the A.S.R.S. Its deliberations are not yet complete.

TRAIN ARRANGEMENTS FIRST ONE TO AUCKLAND ON SATURDAY NEW PLYMOUTH EXPRESS TO-MORROW FULL SUBURBAN SERVICE There will be no expresses or mail trains to-day. with the exception c»f an inward mail from Napier. The Niew Plymouth express will resume running to-morrow, jjhen. also, a train will leave for Napier- The first train for Auckland will not leave until Saturday. . _ , From Paekakiriki trains win leave for Wellington at 5.50 a.m., 7 a.m., 6.8 p.m. and 8.55 p.m., and others will leave Wellington for Paekakiriki at 9.25 a.m., 1.25 p.m-, 5.25 p.m., and 6.25 p.m. . With the exception of the downward mail to-day. there will be no service between Paekakiriki and 1 almerston North. The ordinary timetable will obtain between Wellington and Johnsonville. . From Masterton a tram will leave for Wellington at 7.20 a.m., and is to leave hero on the return journey at 4.10 p.m. A train will leave Wellington for Palmerston North via the AYairarapa at 7.50 am. and will leave Palmerston North at 11.30 a.m. for Wellington. Between Wellington and Upper Hutt the ordinary suburban time-table has been resumed. WORK RESUMED By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, April 30. The train service here to-day was practically the same as yesterday. To-morrow the service will be back almost to normal, except Main Trunk service and on the Kaipara line, where the slips north of the KauKapakapa are not yet clear. A train, which will take two days on the journey to Wellington, will leave in the morning. Six hundred passengers have been booked. Christchurch, April 30. Normal train services were resumed on the Lyttelton line at 10 o’clock to-dav, and on all the other lines in the North Canterbury section at noon. New Plymouth, April 80.

Every railwayman reported for duty this morning. A skeleton service is running to-day. and the full service is expected to-morrow. Westport, April 30. Work on the railway was fairly generally resumed by 1 p.m. to-day, and the first train to the mining districts left Westport at 4 p.m. Tomorrow feeing May Day, there will be no work at the main coal mines, but the co-operative miners will probably be producing. Creymouth, April 30.

The railwaymen reported for duty, and a provision train left this morn* ing for the Otira lino to relieve the setters isolated by. the floods. The ordinary service will bo resumed this afternoon, subject to the lines passing inspection. , . ■ Dunedin, April 30. Bv 11 o’clock this morning five hundred out of six hundred men employed at the Hillside works, casual and permanent, had returned to work. It is pay-day, and the men are much puzzled that no deduction has been made from their pav for superannuation. A full railway service—two expresses to Christchurch and two to Invercargill—will be resumed to-morrow. The service to the north to-day was extended only to Oamaru. The goods service will be easily re-established. There is no serious accumulation in the Dunedin goods sheds. (BY TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Nelson, April t 3O. Work was resumed on the Nelson railways at 1 o’clock this afternoon. Official news of the end of the strike was "not. received until about 10 o clock, otherwise a commencement would have been made earlier. ■ The ordinary time-table will be resumed as from tomorrow. COAL MINES TO RE-OPEN DELAYS IN RESUMPTION PROBABLE Many of the coal mines were closed on account of inability to get their output away owing to the railway strike. These will now resume operations, but there will be unavoidable delays in some instances, As with the railways, it will take time to get into full working order and where the bins are full coal cannot be hewn till thev are emptied. The approach of the cold weather will, however, increase the demand,. and hasten the consumption of existing stocks at depots. ‘TRIED TO PLAY THE GAME’ Christchurch, April 30. “We have tried to play the game right through, and now we want no bitterness.” is the feurden of a statement which the chairman of the Christchurch strike executive (Mr. K. Hampton) handed to Press representsLives after a meeting of the men at the Trades Hall to-day. Ihe statement asserts that the executive tried throughout to prevent the strike spreading to other bodies of workers and to prevent disorder. In conclusion, the statement says:. “The executive are particularly desirous that tliero should be no aftermath of bitterness so far as this trouble is concerned. The members of the E.F.C.A. in particula- linr«s taken up a certain attitude in this strike which mav have irritated some of our men. Now that fhp. strike is over, we nope that there will he no bickering or evidences of ill-will on either side. As far as wo are concerned, we think that the right and proner attitude to take up to those who have differed from ns in this dispute, is to let bygones be bygones, and wo hone that our men generally will adopt this attitude. FEELING OF SATISFACTION By Telegraph—Pars’ Association Auckland, April 30. When the announcement was made at the Trades Hall this morning that the strike was off, there was. an apparent general feeling of satisfaction among the railwaymen at being allowed to return to work, and the announcement made by the president of the local branch was received with loud cheering. Mr. AV. E. Parry, M.P., Mr. Way, and Mr. Purtell congratulated the" railwaymen on their conduct, which throughout had been beyond reproach. That they were solid was evidenced by the fact that not one man in Auckland had gono back to his job. The railwaymen assembled outside the hall and marched to the railway buildings, where the president called for cheers for .uaboiii, which were rousingly given. The men then dispersed. The procession was orderly throughout. There was an occasional shout of “Are wo downhearted?” to which the usual reply was emphatically given. The strikers will report this afternoon to resume duty to-morrow.