POSITION OUTLINED

Evening Post, Issue 88, 12 April 1924, Page 8

POSITION OUTLINED

WILL THE RAILWAYS PAY?

WAGES INCREASES ANALYSED,

■ The. Hoiv J. G. Coates, Minister of Railways, after perusing'the reports of the members of the Wages Board, made the . following statement this af tornoon : The- present. position originated in a request by the A.S.R:S. made to the Minister of Railways for an increase in the wages of the men in the Second Division of the Railway Service. After some discussion: with the ; Minister, the': 'society intimated a desire to have the whole matter.of- the request in respect of wages and conditions of work referred to a. board. The board was to .be composed of an equal number of representatives from ' the society and the . Department respectively,' with an independent chairman, agreed upon between tne^ Minister and the society. . ' • I ..• ; This board, was duly constituted, three members being nominated by the society and-three by the Department, and the chairman, was only agreed upon in terms of the request made by the society. This is. the board tjiat lias, been sitting during the last fortnight; The order of reference was duly submitted to the A S - Jv.S. before being finally decided upon, and ,was agreed to by the society;, It will be seen, therefore,' that the constitution of the board and the definition of its functions, as contained in the order of reference, were fuUy known and agreed to by the society before the board' commenced its proceedings:' . - Obviously, the' proceedings of such a board would be along the lines of probable differences .between the two sections represented on the board, which differences were intended.to be, and, indeed would have to be, settled:by the chairman., This appears to be the view that was adopted by the chairman, and his. attitude seems to.have been' that! he should have all the information which he. desired to enable him, to discharge the responsibility in this corinection.that had: been cast, upon. him. >*''. ... ■ The A.S.R.S., however, ■■adopted the attitude that the subject of wages' should be dealt with in complete isolation and without reference to any other of the .71 items?, which were placed by 'the society before, the board.,. The Department's view was that the fullest information that any member of the-board- considered he should have, should be made available, -to, that member, and -.that.the: board's discussions should be practically unrestricted -oil any -matter\ brought before, it in pursuanco of thY Order of Reference. This attitude is supported by -the procedure that was adopted by previous. boards of a similar nature; when .the various subjects were discussed and 'deferred from, time' to time,.'and' -later brought under discussion,' so that graduf ally the. members'of the board obtained a- comprehensive r view of the whole of the matters brought before them. . / In, the nature of things'it■' 'is-clearly ■ impossible ' that ■any board :of inquiry could-effectively carry out-'its functionsas: such if its deliberations were'to be' confined at the will of /any party to- the consideration, of any particular 'aspect of-, .the matters brought before the board to the entire. exclusion of • all other considerations that might,, in ,the opinion of.'the members of the'board, warrant• atten- • tion. The -attitude..of the . A.S.RiS.. is justified neither, by precedent nor by reason. It finds ;; 'no...support, whatever in the. order of reference, and is; iideed, altogether.,.-inconsistent- with their action in| submitting- some 72' items to the board for consideration! t:: - .'. . ' The decision"of the.society, as already .reported in; the newspapers, 'to issue strike ballot papers, even.before the reports of the;various sections of the board were in the hands of- the' Minister, makes the-position of the society entirely 'untenable. It-is obvious that the Minister could do nothing, in' the. direction of dealing with..the Situation until he had .received the reports, and the-society's decision ■ amounts to nothing less than taking the law into .their own "hands regardless of./whether; anything might be done.to meet the position, and entirely ignoring the fundamental principle involved in the reference' of the differences between the Department and' the society to.a-, board. Obviously, the Minister coulpV-haye.no option but to-await the/reports:, that were required to be made to Kirn under the' Order of Reference, and,-: as'obviously, it; was the duty of the^A.S.R.'g.:;to .wait-until the Minister had.had>an opportunity of considering these reports, so that he-might make any suggestion that, he' might ■ think' advisable. The responsibility for the.posi-.-tipn that has now arisen"must rest entirely with' the society. ' - • / It seems advisable "at this juncture to state a few facts'bearing on the demand for an increaso in wages that has been' made by the society. The. rate, of the ■basic wages that was paid in' the'Jlailway Department in 1914 was 'equivalent to Is l£d per hour. The society. submit: ted ;that oil' the."All-group,1: figures the cos.t ;> of hvy[g.;-.has risen since 1914 by 62 : -per,cpe.fi-,. and if-, this' percentage is added to the basic.wage 0f.1914, so that wages should be. made to increase in proportion to the cost of living as disclosed by .the "All-groups" -figures,, the railway basic wage-earner should now be.receiving Is 8.89 d per'hour. He is J" f^fPt.,?f 15:9.33-44 d per hour, so tbat it.wjll.be seen that, the increase i^ wages over, 1914 has' been at. practically the same'rate as the .increase in the^cost of living. It. |is found also that tho basic wage.in tbe'Railway Department compares more than favourably ;with that ruling in New Zealand in other occupations-, and. with those ruling, in,, the railways -in Australia. The basic wage under - the builders' award m New Zealand, is Is Bid, and the basic wage paid by the Wellington City Council is Is 9|d. The basic wages in the various. Australian States and New ZeaJand are set out in the statement attached, hereto. .. ■/. . It will,bo seen.that' New Zealand is higher in every instance except in'the case of a certain proportion (who are in the minority)- of the railway workers in Queensland, and in this connection it may be noted that climatic conditions have generally /been considered to warrant a higher rate of pay in 'Queensland than'in New Zealand and the other Australian States. The effect of granting the railway men an increase 1 in wages is a consideration that cannot possibly .be ignored. As is.Well known, the railway rates have had to be substantially in-: creased since 1914 to meet the expenditure, and up .to .the present it has. not been possible to grant any relief from those increases,' notwithstanding urgent demands from the users of the railways, and it cannot be overlooked that the high rates that are ruling for railway transport are undoubtedly, bavin"- aii adverse effect on the Department's°business and the progress of the Dominion. J'or .the last three years'.the railways have not paid even the policy rate of interest; it is therefore obviot's that any increase in wages granted under existing conditions must be met by an increase in fares or freighter or. drawing on the Consolidated Jj.und. As to the latter alternative, it is. clear that it. would, be altogether unjust to expect the taxpayer to meet the hill for a higher rate of "wa^es to the railway servants than is paid to others doing similar wtfrk outaxde the

railway service j while the alternative of increasing the rates would net only be strongly resented by users of the railways, but would exert a retarding influence on the development of the Dominion, and undoubtedly materially increase those factors that are now operating to' the detriment of the Department's business. Such a position would not be in the interests of' the railway employees themselves. • ■ ■ . The question that naturally suggests itself is whether anytlling.cas.be done to relieve the position without involving the difficulties mentioned, and the Department has accordingly suggested a method which would effect this object. It has suggested that the men shoulcl work an additional four hours in each week, and b,e paid for the extra time so worked. This would afford them the higher wages which the society urges are so necessary, and. would at the same time relieve the Department of the great burden that is now resting upon it in consequence of the operation in the Railway Service of practically a universal 44----hour week. The experience of railway systems elsewhere, as well as in New Zeaeland, has amply demonstrated that railways cannot profitably be worked', on the basis of a forty-four week. In . New , Zealand wages costs have risen to such an extent that the Department is being seriously hampered in affording tho ' public the services they require. The cost of working has advanced to a stage where the Department cannot afford to extend the services and make ends meet, and it has become a matter of prime importance that something should be done to keep the expenditure within such limits as -•nil enable the Department to provide services that will afford a reasonable degree of satisfaction to the users of the railway. ■ ' The Department cannot do this on a 44-hpur week,- and it believes that the railwaymen would be better off in every way by recerting to the 48-hoUr week, while'the'-better' srjvice' .that could bo afforded to the : puolic could have a stimulating effect in the railway industry and -place it on that healthy basis which is so essential for the welfare not only of the country in general but also for the employees' themselves. It may be mentioned that the advisability or otherwise of referring the dispute to another tribunal or Wages Board has been raised aiid put before the A.S.R.S., and .it is understood that the proposal is under consideration by the society. ■ ' . „.-■■ The following is a comparative statement of the basic wages in; New Zealand and the Australian States:— New Zealand (44 hours), Is 9 34-44 d per hour,' 79s lOd per week. New South Wales- (48 hours), Is B£d per hour, 82s.per'week. ■ ■ ■ . Victoria (48 hours), Is B|d per hour, 83s 6d per week. . . South Australia (48 hours), Is 7fd per hour, 78s 6d peii-week. ■ . ' . ' Queensland.—44 hours,'shops arid way and works, '.Is lOd ~ per.-hour'1 ;' 80s 8d per'week; 48 hours, for all other hands, Is B^d per- hour; 81s' per week. . i ' Western Australia.—44 hours in shops, Is 9d per hour: 77s per week; 48 hours for all other hands-./ls 7^d per hour; 77s per week. . -■•.'"' Tasmania.—s4 hours for traffic staff, Is 7-59 d per' hour; 80s per week; 48 ■ hours for another employees, Is Bd, per hour; 80s per week. • '