P. AND T. SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 78, 1 April 1924, Page 7

P. AND T. SERVICE

STRONG PROTEST MEETING

DEMANDS ON WAGES QUESTION.

To-day the Post and Telegraph Department classification for the ensuing five years should be announced. No indication of its contents has been received by any one of the members of the P. and T. Association, and the efforts of the executive of the association to secure some statement have been fruitless. Telegrams from various centres have indicated that the various branches have held meetings of protest, and the'principal branch—Wellington—met last evening, when there was a very strong meeting of protest, at the conference held at the .Farmers' Instil tute Buildings. After hearing the permanent secretary (Mr. H. E. Combs), the meeting unanimously expressed appreciation of the attitude taken before the Wages Board by the railwaymen, and demanded a board on which the association would be represented, or a board to cover the whole Public Service, failing compliance with which the members unanimously pledged themselves to support the executive in any action it might consider fit, to secure fair conditions. Mr. T. A. Falconer presided, and there were about 200 members present. In addressing them the chairman expressed pleasure at the attendance, and hoped that the same enthusiasm would prevail in the fight they were entering on to obtain better conditions, or in supporting the executive in any action it mght consider to obtain justice. (Hear, hear.) CBISIS APPROACHING. Mr. Combs in his address said that the executive had known for some time that a crisis was approaching, as members knew ithe reclassification of the service took place every five years. The. Department had authority to reclassify in a shorter period, but had never exercised that right. The classification due on the morrow was the one they were going to work under for the next five years, and it was rather astonishing that not one member of the association knew what form that classification was going to take. Obviously, such a system was wrong. The executive had been hammering away to try and find what salary schedule the service was going to work under, but had receive 1 no satisfaction. They were in the position of having to face a crisis, for, on the official side of the case present- - ed to the Eaihvay Wages Board it had been stated that what the railwaymen got out of the board must be passed on to the other services. That included the Post and • Telegraph Service. On the board there were three men on each side, and it was very evident that the issue was very sharply drawn. They were not going to come to terms at any price, and the decision was going to rest in the hands of the .chairman. During the closing days a document was placed before the board purporting to show that if the men were given what they wanted it would mean over £2,000,000 annually. This docu- ' ment was stampeded oh to the public to make them think they would have to stand the increase, and on to the chairman to show him how important his decision was going to be. The issue that lay before the board was the one they (the association) had to face. REVIEW SINCE 1914. ; The secretary then ( proceeded to a summary of the events since 1914. The first fight for the cost-of-living bonus had been made by the railwaymen, and they had secured a bigger bonus than the Post and Telegraph officers. In 1918 the Department had desired to postpone the classification for twelve months, but after a great fight the reclassification was secured, and since then they had had some very hard experiences. In 1920 the railwaymen struck, and he was sure all their sympathies were with the men. At this stage the association had two conferences with the Prime Minister, and secured a cost-of-living adjustment in April, 1920, with promises of adjustments if the cost of living changed 10 points either way compared with 1914 figures: Six months later they asked for fulfilment of these promises, and were told that they were awful people as there was ' nowhere for the Government to get the money. A few months after this a surplus of over £7,000,000 was shown, over £4,000,000 of this being in cash in the Treasury. CDTS NOT JUSTIFIED. The bonus cuts were not justified, the speaker continued. There were throe essentials to justify a reduction. Firstly, it must be shown that the service was overpaid for its duties. No one had ever suggested this. Secondly, to justify a reduction, the Government had to prove a reduction of 10 points in the cost o£ living, not on the food costs but on the group cost of living, under which they all lived. The Prime Minister never produced figures to show this reduction. The second cut was put into operation, and in the same month the president of the • Arbitration Court announced that on the group system the fall had been 5 points. The first cut, and much more, the second cut, could not be justified. The third point was that the load should not have been borne by the Public Service, which had to bear it, when it was decided that only a financial surgical operation would restore the country to good health. The Public servant was prepared to carry his share, but not the whole load. THE BULLIES' WAY. Banks, brewers, and shipping companies got handsome rebates, and, instead of all the people bearing their share, said Mr. Combs, the Government took the bullies' way out and unloaded it on to the people they thought could not, fight back. The object of the association now was to secure once again the standard of comfort in their homes in 1914. Wages would have to be increased if justice was to be done the service. Exorbitant increases were not asked for. DELUSIONS. The public had been deluded inlo the 'belief that the cost of living .would not fall until taxation was decreased. Taxation was decreased —but in certain directions only. The cost of living did not fall. They wore then told that until wages came down the cost of living would not full. Wages were forced down, but the cost of living did not fall. Why? They took £4,000,000 away from the wage-earners in New Zealand, and immediately took £4.000,000 out of circulation. That £4,000,000 fell like a thunderbolt on the small businesses. The prices of the goods they had to buy were maintained at the same artificially high price. The banks received a quarter of a million in reduced taxation, and should have been able lo give their customers a reduction of 1 per cent. This would have reduced the burden on tho business people, who .were trying to meet Ihff'-r bills, but buainess people were tha victims of

a vicious circle. Some of the businesses were beginning to realise that they had been made fools of. They were grasping the fact that a 10 per cent, reduction in workers' salaries meant more than that to their purchases. The margin of spending ability.of the worker was the difference between his rent — an ever-increasing thing—and the amount in his envelope each week. They wanted the business people to realise that the Public servants wero fighting for something that concerned the business men very directly. "SCANDALOUS WAGES." Ho complimented the railwaymen on their definite stand against increasing hours from 44 to 48, and hoped the members would not be slow to see how much that matter affected them, and would support the railwaymen. (Applause.) He said £3 19s 6d was the basic wage in the Railway Department, and those who were trying to exist on £4 a week would know "how hard it was to try and make ends meet on that. The Arbitration Court went one worse' and said the basic wage was £3 16s Id. (Derisive laughter.) It was an impossible situation to put a man in. What must they think of their own Department when it said the basic wage should he £3 13s 4d, It was scandalous. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Combs went on to mention the wages attained. He said it took 14 years for a man to rise from messenger to first-class telegraphist, and when he did he got £295 per annum, after 12 to 14 years in the general division a man got £4 10s weekly. Even a third-class carpenter outside the service .couid claim £6 5s weekly. This sort of wage was keeping the cradles empty. The Government was spending hundreds of thousands of pounds bringing in immigrants, while it was keeping millions from the men who should be bringing forward the best immigrants—the babies. Hp_ concluded by remarking that the association must not leave the railwaymen _to_ fight their battles again. The association had a right to be heard before the Court on its own case, not to sit by and see their case heard while they were out of Court. The next week would be a very active one. He urged members to think on the problem, and give the executive every support when it assembled to meet the Department. (Loud applause.) Tha following motion was then moved by Mr. M'Grath : "That this meeting o£ the Wellington section of the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Officers' Association enters its most emphatic protest against a board, on which it is entirely unrepresented, determining Post' and Telegraph Officers' salaries for the ensuing five-yearly periods, and demands the light to have its representatives heard before that board, failing this that a reconstruction wages board fully represent the whole Public Service." ' ■ _ The motion was put without discussion, and was carried with applause. The motion is to be forwarded to all members of Parliament. Tho meeting then unanimously carried n. motion expressing appreciation of the stand taken by the railwaymen against the 48-hour week, and pledged itself -to support the.fight for a just wages schedule. Regret was expressed by one speaker that the railwaymen always had to take tho lead in the fisht [or wages. He considered that the association was strong enough to fight its own battles, and he hoped they would make a point of doing so in future. The chairman said the railwaymen displayed a fine fighting spirit. It behoved the association to take a definite stand and show the Government thai they, too, were determined to fight out to a finish for fair conditions. The present conditions wero working against the children, and the consequent wastage in the children was reflected in the increasingly successful raids of consumption and other diseases. It was time, and more than time, that they took i'a determined stand, as well as showing the railwaymen that they were behind them. (Applause.) A member suggested that the main resolution should bo sent to the Welfare League. The Welfare League, when it was fightintr the Alliance of Labour, had admitted that there were some justifiable grievances amongst members of thp Post and Telegraph Service. This would give the league a chance to give them some assistance now. (Laughter and applause.) ' In reply to a question Mr. Combs stated that Mr. Collins (president) and himself had been suggested to fill positions in the event of the Government allowing them representation on a wages board. They wanted a say in who was to be chairman. The meeting approved these, and agreed to Mr. J. H. M'Kenzic. ex-president, as the third nominee. The meeting closed with a motion expressing explicit trust in the executive, urging it to ■ carry on the work it had undertaken, and pledging itself to support wholeheartedly any action deemed necessary to better the conditions of the service.