THE MEN'S'SIDE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 27, 1 February 1912, Page 7

THE MEN'S 'SIDE.

AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT. STRONG CRITICISM OF THE- CITY COUNCIL. • After the meeting of the Strike Committee last night, the following official statement was made to the press by the chairman, Mr. W. T. Young : — "It was resolved, at the outset, that the statement of our case shall be placed before the public by medium of the press, and also that a manifesto shall be drafted and printed for distribution amongst the community, clearly and briefly setting forth the case for the men. It is well to make it clear that there is only one point standing between the inconvenience of tho public and the tramway men, and that is the matter of Inspector Fuller. UNANIMOUS ACTION. "It is worthy of note that there must be something radically wrong when a fine body of men such as the tramway employees — men who possess .good characters, and who have been diligent in the carrying out of their duties — unanimously como to the conclusion that the officer conoerned must be transferred from his present position. I want to compare the action of the men in the present case with their actions towards other inspectors in the eervice^ — men I personally know very well, and who have been in the employ of the tramway service, some of them since its inception in 190.4. These men carry out their work faithfully and diligently, and yet not ont> word of protest against them is raised by the men. ALLEGED REPRIMAND. "While on this eubject, I may state that 6ome twelve months ago the tramway men aeked for the removal of Inspector Fuller on the same grounds as they are now putting forward ; and I have been informed by a city councillor that in July last Inspector Fuller waa 'carpeted ' by the Tramways Committee for being offensive to two ladies on a car. As a result, the committee instructed the Mayor to censure Fuller in bis private room, and this, I am given ito understand, the Mayor djd. There [ are other incidente that might be related

similar to the above, but the main allegation against Inspector Fuller is that he is continually pimping and spying upon the men, and ac a result we find that men in the service have been reported by him for acts which subsequently it has been found they were innocent of. In 6ome instance© the men have been put to a great deal of inconvenience and trouble, the result being a feeling of irritation amongst the men. HISTORY QUOTED. "In the service in 1905 there was an inspector who resorted to identically th« same class of tactics Fuller is accused of adopting. As a, result I headed a | deputation of the men to interview the Works Committee of the council. We demanded that the inspector should be removed — not to another branch of the service— but that he should be dismissed. Mr. Aitken was the Mayor, and as the result of our action the inspector had to go. THE PRESENT TROUBLE. "As to the present case, within the last two months the tramway men have represented their grievances to the Mayor, the Tramways Committee, and the council respecting Inspector Fuller, and the request has been made that tho officer should be transferred to some other department. They have not asked for the inspector's dismissal, but merely th&t he should be transferred to some other department. The tramway committee considered _ the matter, and arrived at a conclusion in favour of the men's request. It is noteworthy that after the request was made Fuller was 'stood off' for some days. It was subsequently stated by the authorities that the inspector was on holiday leave, but as a matter of fact he had just returned from his holidays ; and it wa6 after his return that he was 'stood, off.' This shows that from the unbiased pojnt of view there were some tangible reasone in the contention of the men for the rem6val of the officer. THE COUNCIL'S ACTION. ' " After this the whole matter .became public property through the medium of a report made by the tramways manager to the Tramwa>s Committee, which it may be added was really a confidential document. It vyill be recollected that the council carried a resolution to the effect that Inspector Fuller should be transferred. Councillor Shirtcliffe succeeded in having the motion rescinded, and certain councillors who voted for the transference of Fuller in the first instance reversed their vote in the second i count. CONSIDERATION SHOWN. " Had the men been acting in a dictatorial or arbitrary manner they had it in their power to hang up the service during the Christinas holidays, and thus put the whole public to a great deal of inconvenience. Instead, they acted as sensible and considerate men. - They accepted the word of the Mayor that their case would be gone into, and by his .special request, prior to his leaving for England, they withdrew their threat to strike. "Now what about the tribunal that has considered the case? Adjudicating upon this matter we have had a jury consisting of fourteen men who are the employers. These men are commonly known as city councillors, and they are the ' boss.' They have been' called upon to say whether the men are in the right or the wrong. Some of these men I know personally, others by reputation, and also by bitter experience during my connection with the Tramway Union. I venture the opinion that they are unfit to adjudicate upon a dead horse, let alone upon humanity. The men hare made a fair request for an. independent board to hear and determine the issue, the same as the Auckland men succeeded in getting in 1908. That request Is one that proposes to take from the ' boss ' the power of adjudication, and the ' boss ' ha? absolutely refused this reasonable request. CHALLENGE THROWN DOWN. "Instead of the council acting in a reasonable manner, knowing that they 1 were dealing with mem, to use plain language, they simply trained their guns on .their employees and threw out the challenge. They are going to keep Fuller on irrespective o? the consequences to the large public undertaking concerned, and as a result the men have decided to take up the challenge. They have decided not to remain in oamp for fourteen days while ' the enemy has got his guns trained to destroy their fortifications. They have entered the battle, and the interests of one man are being placed over and above the interests of a very large public utility and the community as well. "The men themselves are just about as solid as one man. A ballot was taken in the King's Theatre this afternoon, and every man recorded his voto in favour of downing tools at once. During my experience in the Labour j movement I have never come across a j body of men so unanimous and deter- ) mined to secure justice and right as j the tramway men at the present time. COAL SUPPLY HUNG UP. "Wo have now decided to hang up the coal supply of the power station and ; all other corporation departments, which, of course, includes the electric lighting department and destructor. "The men on the wharf will abso^ lutel^ refuse 'tq work ggal for the cor-

poration; the drivers will absolutely refuse to cart any such coal, and if need be, the Beamen will refuse to transport coal. "We have made up our minds that Fuller has got to go. The City Council can sit down and churn that matter over just as it thinks fit; but until it is churned out in the direction we wish the wheels of the tramway service will not revolve. PREPARED TO GO FURTHER. "If necessary we will go further than indicated. We will approach the miners and ask them to tie up the coal supply of the Dominion. "Generally speaking, there is a splendid determination of unanimity among the workers and trades unions in regard to this matter. Already we have received many promises of moral and financial support. Many letters have been received from all quartern congratulating the union on the stand it has taken and promising practical backing if required. 1 A COMMON CAUSE. "It is true that there are two federations of labour in New Zealand. Whatever differences there may be between the two bodies in regard to tactics, we have sunk them in fighting a common cause on behalf of the tramway men. We are determined to see the matter through and to see that the tnon involved not only get proper treatment, but that they get proper help during the time of trouble. We are quite prepared for any indefinite struggle, and I want to say, in conclusion, that if the City Council is a wise body of men it will dump its dignity down to the bottom of its pocket and transfer Fuller in the interests of an important public undertaking and the whole community as well." amongst The men. " WILL SEE THE TROUBLE THROUGH." Members of the Tramways Union Executive and the Strike Committee were seen in town early thie morning, discussing plans for successfully carrying on the strike. A Post reporter who spoke to several conductors and motormen found that thoy are quite unanimous in their determination to insist on the removal of Inspector Fuller. "I am only a young man in the service," said one, "but I am going to strand by mv fellows, and if Fuller is retained I will not go back into tho service." "Nor will I," observed a motorman. "Make no mistake about it, we will win. The City Council knows it, and even yet they should ask Fuller to resign." It appears ,that the great majority of the employees are married men. A strike of any duration would go hard with many of them. _ Yet the married ' men with large families appear to be quite aa determined as tfye single employees. "I've got six children," said one to a Post reporter to-day, and I am quite 'satisfied' to see J the thing through to the end. We won't starve. Help will be forthcoming if it is required. That aspect of tlie case has not been overlooked. And it does not matter what the newspapers say, we know from people travelling on the cars who have spoken to conductors thousands of times in the last few days that a large number of people are with us. On .the cars you get a good chance to judge how public feeling in this matter is running. My own idea is that if the Btrike continues you will find the public taking a hand."