TACTICS CONDEMNED

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 134, 9 June 1922, Page 8

TACTICS CONDEMNED

A P. AND T. PETITION

AGAINST JOINING THE ALLIANCE OF LABOUR.

In reference to the petition which is being circulated in the, Post and Telegraph Service against affiliation with the , Alliance of Labour, it was stated this morning, as the result of inquiries, that the new petition was in no sense official. The opponents of affiliation desire that their views shall be placed before Parliament, when the reqeust of the proaffiliation body is being considered, and accordingly the second petition has been brought forward. Speaking to a Post reporter, Mr. H. E. Combs, secretary of the Post and Telegraph Officers' Association, said the statement published this morning was probably an official outline of what had taken place. It still left a lot to explain away, however, before Post and Telegraph employees would, be perfectly satisfied that the petition was not officially fathered by the Department itself. "■ . ■ - 'j "For instance," said Mr. Combs, "some of the tactics employed by those handling the petition were so distinctly iutimidatory that one can only conclude the senior officers employing them were doing so under instructions—possibly exceeding their instructions in some instances. One controlling officer of a large staff called up his subordinates in relays, and after placing the petition before them, urged them to sign. He took a special note of the names of those who declined to do so, and told at least one man that as Parliament would legislate this session to prohibit the affiliation, he might just as well sign the petition; if he did not ho would be only bumping his head against" a brick wall and it would do him no good. In another branch six of the leading hands were called into their chief's room to discuss the petition, and the. second in command was also present. A very senior controlling officer also took part at a special vantage point in the city and waylaid those members of his staff who passed him during: the morning in order to put the petition before them. Another minor controlling officer was detailed by the head of his branch to go round certain members of the outdoor staff and secure their signatures. An official motor-car was placed at his disposal. In one of the largest country post offices it is reported that the staff were called in turn into the postmaster's room a.nd the petition submitted for, signature. : "Taking into account the fact that it was the senior controlling officer who undertook these duties in each instance, it will be seen that;there is but one conclusion to draw. Further, remembering the fact that the petition made its appearance in every office throughout the Dominion at the same hour of yesterday morning, and that it was the senior officer of each office or branch in whose hands it was placed, it should be quite clear to the disinterested observer that the petition was officially engineered." According to reports, Mr; Combs added tho petition had had a very mixed reception. In some casss only a few officers . refused to sign, while in others practically the whole of the, staffs concerned would have nothing to do with it. "A petition got up. in this way is not worth a second's consideration," continued Mr.,-Combs, "as it does not convey a free aoid unfettered opinion of those signing it. It could hardly be expected that with the boss standing over them and giving them only a moment or so for consideration, that signatures would not be' obtained. The tactics employed cannot be-too roundly condemned, and the service, through its association,, will take good care to bring them very forcibly to the notice of members of Parliament at an early date, and also when the petition is presented for consideration by the Parliamentary Coinmittes, to which it will be referred."