CASUAL P. AND T. WORKERS

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 55, 28 November 1929, Page 13

CASUAL P. AND T. WORKERS

DISMISSAL OF LINEMEN Sir, — In Saturday morning’s issue of your paper 'an article mentions the fact that many temporary linesmen in the Post and Telegraph Department were having their services dispensed with. Included in this article is a statement from the secretary of the P. and T. Department (Mr, G. McNamara) : “That the position is in no way unusual; that the men were pot linemen, but were labourers employed in digging trenches and so on.” As it is possible that some of your readers who may be interested in this matter might have drawn a wrong conclusion regarding the actual conditions under which these men labour, I desire to outline the actual position concerning the conditions of employment of these men. The men affected are principally employed on construction and maintenance work on the telephone and telegraph lines throughout the Dominion. They are generally under the immediate control ot a line foreman, an officer who has graduated in the majority of cases from their «ranks. It is a fact as stated by the Secretary of the Department that some of these men are required to dig trenches when laying cables in the city or larger towns, but the men so employed are only in the m The natural deduction that most of your readers w’ould make after reading the Secretary of the Department’s statement that these men were labourers would be that they are 'unskilled workers. This would be quite contrary to fact, because the class of, work that these men have to perform is such that a considerable amount of training is reqtf-ed before they can efficiently and satisfactorily carry out the variable nature of the duties they are required to undertake. , The Secretary also states that these men'were taken on as work came along, but he did not say that numbers of these . temporary men who had their services dispensed with in recent months have had | Tears of service to their credit. No reference Was made to the fact that the class of work performed by the temporary men is similar in detail to that carried out bv the permanent linemen, or that numbers of them have passed the necessary technical examination, qualifying them for promotion to the position of line foremen. There is another factor that needs some conimpnt upon, and that is the wage paid to these temporary men. The Department gives them a weekly wage of £3/IJ/J covering a period of, 44 hours. This -is 4/7 less than the amount paid to casual unskilled labourers in the City Gouiicil s employ. The Hutt Electric Power Board pays :'£4/15/4, per week to its linemen, whose work is on a par with that ot the P and T. temporary meh on line construction work, who'only, as previously stated, receive £3/19/9 per week. Furthermore, whilst the City Council labourer and' the Power Board linemen have the opportunities afforded them of remaining at home, in very many instances the 1. and T. employee has to be away from his home and family for long periods in the country, camping out' in all kinds ot weather conditions, and putting up with many inconveniences, and sometimes hardships that are incidental to camp life in the back country. . . o The question has often been raised as to why these men are prepared to work in the'Department under these conditions for the wage paid. The answer is a Simple one. Hitherto the . system of recruitment for permanent'linemen m lhe P and T. Departmenli has been, to promote mpn from the temporary ranks. Hence it follows that men who have a desire to secure permanent employment in the Department as linemen have been willing to accept the small wage paid m the belief that if they made good they would be placed in the permanent staff. With, this end in view men have waited in many- cases in vain, for five or six years, and have passed in'the interim the necessary examinations, and studiously applied themselves to the duties they have been called upon to perform. It is worthy of note that so many ot these temporary men have passed exam-inations-without being given appointment to. the permanent staff that the Department was finding itself in a somewhat difficult position, and to get over it instructions were duly issued that these temporary men were not to be permitted to sit for any more examinations. The position that .these men are in 'with respect to the wages they receive and the' conditions they work under have been consistently represented, to the “powers that be” in recent years, but no redress eould be obtained. The late Government, for some reason that up to date we have not been able to elucidate, placed an embargo upon the P. and T. Association, of which the majority of these men are members, insofar that that organisation was denied the right to make representation on their behalf. As a result of the action taken these men have no avenues left them to secure any redress for any grievances they possess. The right of negotiation, that is possessed by every branch of organised labour in the Dominion has been denied them, and the time is opportune to state that the action taken by the Reform Government in this connection bns been recently endorsed by the present Government, although every effort possible was made by the P. and T. Association to get ’ the embargo removed. In this morning’s issue of your paper a paragraph appears to the effect that the temporary men at Auckland who had received notice of dismissal had been reinstated. It is understood that in Wellington about 20 men received notice of tiie termination of their employment some days ago. Amongst this number were some who were employed in the Lower Hutt district. It seems a peculiar coincidence that the Lower Hutt men have been reinstated, but the men who were employed in the city have not. It is held by those in a position to know that the men in Wellington could he found work to do if they were reemployed, and it is held that whilst there is work on hand it is a most unfair proposition to put these men off at this time of the year, especially when their long and satisfactory service is taken into consideration.—l am, etc., H. H. BROWN, Organiser, . B- and T. Employees’ Association. Wellington, November 25.

llic .secretary of the I’ost and Telegraph Department replying to the above comment states “It has been the practice for over'twenty years to engage men for line work as required, and to pay them off when the particular job is finished. Throughout New Zealand it is customary to employ forty or fifty new men a month, and pay off a somewhat similar number. As new works arise—(the Department has to home extent to depend on the demand for new connections) — men are required at varying points, and while the Department may- on one day pay off ten men at one point it may also engage another ten at some other point. It was the practice to appoint qualified casuals to the permanent staff as they were required, but the temporary staff was small until a few years ago, when the huge undertaking of placing cables underground in cities and boroughs had to bo put in hand. That work called for hundreds of men. but it is now nearly completed, and the men engaged on it arc not required further. The publie will realise that the men have not been deceived. They were all engaged on a day to day basis—every man has signed an acceptance of that condition—and all realised that the work available was nearing completion.

“The last paragraph of Mr. Brown’s statement suggests more knowledge than the engineer in charge of the particular work. The Department would not pay men off if it required them. Nor can it be said that Mr. Brown has a monopoly of interest in the welfare of men who have served the Department to the best of their ability. “While the Post and Telegraph Department may have to pay off some of its men through shortage of work or material, the Cabinet Unemployment Committee is given the name and address of each man,

and an offer of work is made, so that, in effect, n transfer to another Government work is the net result. The only change in the twenty-year method is that now when a man is paid off w-ork is found elsewhere for him. “The release of the men in Wellington was recommended ns far back as October, and it is regrettable that any suggestion of coming events in the Hutt district should have been imported into the question. Many of the men will resume within a few days as new work opens up.”