ENGINE-DRIVERS' GRIEVANCES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 8, 9 July 1909, Page 3

ENGINE-DRIVERS' GRIEVANCES.

TO THE EDITOH. ■Sir, — In reply to "Ex- Victorian Engineman," he is very much in the wrong by stating the progress of loco, men in other countiies has been retarded by having a union of their own. Take most of the Australian States, you will find an engine-driver receives twice tho wages as the average labourer receives. In New Zealand a first-grade enginedriver just receives naif as much again as the average labourer. Your correspondent states he has worked in many lands, which does not add much to his credit. I fail to sco that he has had much' experience with the regulator, or knows much about the different grades and examinations an. engine-driver has to go through in New Zealand before he reaches the top of the ladder. In New Zealand and other countries, a lad 6tarts in the engine-shed, between the* age of 17 and 19, and works up gradually, devoting the remainder of his life on the footplate. If he changes his occupation, his position with the Loco. Department is lost for ever. As for there being two j grades in New Zealand, and six in Australia : why, here, after going through three grades, and then to qualify for a \ first-grade fireman, one must pass a ' second-grade engine-drivex - 's examination. ''Ex-Victorian EnginemanV advice could not be counted as much, for he states, "Pui> on tho emergency brake and throw your lever back, and give her steam before the crash comes." If he was a first-class and practical enginedriver, he would surely know the emergency application would be quite sufficient, without trying to knock the cylinder end out, and doing other unnecessary damage. — I am, etc., QUOT HOMINES, TOT SENTENTIAE. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — I was amused, as were all the rest of the locomotive men, at the fine trumpet, call of the gentleman who sign- | ed himself "Ex Victorian Engineman,' I to "put the brake into emergency, reverse the lever, and give the engine steam, and so avoid the crash." \Vell, Sir, I can safely say that after the cra&h he would find himself with a blister (as it is called), asking him to explain why he did nol use the sand, and if he did not know that by reversing in the above manner he spoiled the use of the bvake. However, he has provided a joke for the men, so why grumble? He writes a great deal nbout sectionalism. Now, Sir, this word has got on to the minds of some people, like the old lady's blessed word " Mesopotamia." Well, we will say, for instance, that we are sectionalibts. Does your correspondent not know that to tiave an army thoroughly disciplined it is absolutely necessary to divide it up into sections As for unions breaking, let me tell all unionists that it's the last thing we wish to do. What the Enginedrivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association aim at is to make the union of the various classes more efficient. At present the A.S.R.S. cannot be likened to anything else than a mob of men. The material is there, but they want breaking up into sections, and each section, a- complete unit able to act on it* own. What causes the association to .egard with regret the actions of the president and executive of the A.S.R.S. is, not that they can retard the progress of the association, but that such actions will lend to put oft" the day when each section of tho railway men will have a union of their own to deal with their own affairs. But we shall be federated, and have one general secretary to look after the interests of the whole body of railway men. In conclusion. I can tell the president of the A.S.R.S., your correspondent "Ex Victorian Engineman,'' and all the rest, that not one association wants to go back to amalgamation, but what they are moving for is federation — a very rliftqvont thinK.— Wo oro, etc,, IS. l\ ANJD .0, A t