RAILWAYMEN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 7, 8 July 1909, Page 8

RAILWAYMEN.

PRESIDENT OF A.S.R.S. INTERVIEWED. [BY TELEGRVPH — PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WANGANUI, This Day. Interviewed regarding the railwaymen's dispute, Mr. W. A. Veitch, president of the 1 Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, said it had taken nearly twenty years to build up the society, and' some good men had differed through it. It had now developed into a strong defensive organisation, and it was only commonsense to advise the locomotive men to leave well alone and not invite disaster by splitting the defensive forces. Asked as to the statement that the Minister for Railways had promised recognition to the Drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association, Mr. Veitch characterised the assertion as "all bluff, 1 ' and not true. "In a letter to me on the subject," he said, "the Minister says : 'I have so far refused to recognise the proposed association, on the ground that only one association of railway servants can be recognised to deal with matters affecting railway employees."' In conclusion, Mr. Veitch said : "A great many locomotive men are remaining loyal to the Associated Society of Railway Servants, realising that a split in the ranks will be a forerunner of retrogression." The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, which constitutes the strongest incorporated 'union of workers in New Zealand, and which is protected by special legislation, has been .threatened for some time past with the defection of some of its members by the proposed establishment of a separate body. Representations were recently made to the Minister for Railways (Hon. J. A. Millar) by a deputation at Christchurch, but the Minister stated that, unless it was shown to him that a very lai'ge majority, being not less than 1000 financial members, desired the establishment of a new body, he could not consider the petition in any way. In his opinion, they were making a mistake in breaking away from the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, as one united society must be more beneficial for the men than separate smaller unions. Circulars on behalf of the proposed •new union stated that the enginomen and firemen of Christchurch and Dunedin had formed the new society to work in conjunction with A.S.R.S. Its objects were : (1) To conserve the interests of enginemen and firemen ; (2) to strengthen the Amalgamated Society of. Railway Servants. The Minister, in a letter to the president of the A.S.R.S., declared il would be a mistake for the society to be weakened by any section breaking away and forming a separate union. \ Up to the present lime the interests of railway men had been \vell looked after by the Society. All branches had received m&tevial benefits, and all railway men, he thought, would admit it was better to leave well alone. It has been pointed out by a prominent member of the Amalgamated Society to a representative of The Post that it had the advantage of meeting the Minister for Railways at least four times a year, and airing any grievances that v might, have arisen in the meantime. It would be different with a union going beEore the Arbitration Court and receiving a fixed award for a definite term and then, perhaps, finding it did not suit their interests. He considered that few railwaymen were in sympathy with the proposal to form a separate union of enginemen and liremen.