THE RAILWAY SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 142, 17 June 1924, Page 8

THE RAILWAY SERVICE

HOURS QUESTION

"NOT A QUESTION. OF CUTTING"

"BUT- ONE OP ■ ADJTJSTMENT. "-

T- The proceedings o! the Railway Wages Clnquiry Board this morning were confined mainly to argument upon the ques-

,tion of hours in the Kailway Service, the

)'.Department's advocate, Mr. H.'-H. Sterling,, replying to the points adduced yes•Herday by the representative of the •JA.S.R.S., Mr. M. Connelly. The board of Mr. Justice Frazer (chair- " man), Mr. Hiram Hunter and Mr. M. J. ".'. Mack., (assessors for the workers), and "Mr. W. Scott and Mr. J. Mason (assessors for the employers). ■ Before dealing with hours, Mr. Sterling briefly concluded his remarks upon vSvages. Discussing the cutting of wages, was dealt with by Mr. Connelly ;;>esterday in quoting Mr. Henry Ibrd .and other authorities, Mr. Sterling that it was a course that should pdwavß.be avoided so far as possible. In present case, however, it was not a v-iuestion of cutting wages, but of an -adjustment in accordance with the fluctuations in the cost of living. ■ Mr. Hunter (employees' assessor): "Is r'not the A.S.R.S. claiming a standard wage rather than a minimum wage?" ;, Mr.. Sterling: "The rate of wage is Hixed by the Arbitration Court, and the MJourt -is not likely -to fix the miniHanum below what it deems to be a living „.-..,.

~_ Mr. Hunter: "We -fix the minimum --•wage for the novice—the least competent "worker." ,' .""" '

~S Mr. Sterling said that in Australia ~a« allowance of 10 per cent, was made ■' for permanency of employment. That allowance should be made in the case ' of the New Zealand railwaymen. '.". Passing on to the question of hours, ".'Mr. Sterling said that previously the •;,3nen received overtime payment for time »>workedin excess.of eight hours per day, r~;ind ; also in excess .of 44 hours per week, f,"jiotwitbstanding whether lie had already overtime for any one day. It

;;;did not necessarily mean that a man had '/to work 44 hours on the flat rate before -he received overtime. He did not think

;"the Department would be justified in iincurring extra expenditure of £250,000 K]ier annum out of the public purse in .-order to meet the demands of the so;;;ciety. He challenged the railwaymen to any other workers, who had the L-<;iglit-hour day and the 44-hour week in together. Reference was made j;to the- hours of railwaymen and tram•?waymen in Australia in order to show £that the claim of the society was not £ justified by precedent, and that the 44-

«>.;liour .week and eight-hour day were (Cunique in the New Zealand Railway Ser;.:vice.' The trend of hours in Australia, •yUreat Britain, and other countries was f-'^in the direction of the 48-hour week.

'& At "this stage 3lr. Sterling handed in ;^a return showing that although, the ;:: train mileage had decreased since * 1914 by. 3.16 per cent., wages expendi- : ture had ■ increased by 80.12 per cent. > He contended that the train mileage ■•.was the best indication of the work in the various branches of ythe Department. The figures were as <■■ follow :—

The deficit in railway revenue on the Queensland railways from 1914 to 1922 amounted to £8,382,780, and the deficit in South Africa for the same period was £4,108,900. He submitted that the re- • duced: hours in those countries, quoted by Mr, Connelly, were, to some extent -•responsible for the deficits. __^ OVERTIME RATES. _/ There seemed to be an impression that ■i overtime was not paid until the hours prescribed per week were completed, but he pointed' out that the maintenance ■ men received time and a half between ". 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.—that was, rate and a - half for overtime on the day. The rigid - application of the eight-hour day in the : railway, industry was wrong and inde- :; Sensible, and could not be justified in ■ ;my way whatever on the plea put for- : ward.by. Mr. Connelly, that the De- ; partm£ijtv should have a penalty imposed -on it,----restricting it from working the - men overtime. The present overtime ;, conditions afforded sufficient deterrent to ; the working of overtime, and ' therefore the only purpose to be gained by an increase in overtime rates would be to put more money into the pockets of the men, which, Mr. Connelly said, the ! society'did not aim at. The 48-hour week provided ample penalty, without ; the need .for the eight-hour day. Sum- • ming-up; .he pointed out that the maintenance Jaridt locomotive men would still ', retain the time and a half payment, ; while the traffic nien would retain the - former time and a quarter, the only \ disability being that overtime would not ; be paid twice over, on the day and on • the week. If any further financial burden were ,~. placed upon the Department it would ;^not be able to reduce freights, as it hoped-to do, and there would be a re- . action on the men. It would lead to a state of depression in the. railway indus—try which would not be advantageous to ; the men employed. (Proceeding.) ■

TRAIN MILEAGE. . " Percentage ■-i-..^.'.-,..v,., .... . . Decrease. '"'.War: Mileage. ■ over 1914. 1914 ... 9,319,268 ■ .'.. 1919 ... 7.477,533 ]fl7fi ' 1920 ... 7>08,608 20.50 1921 ... 9,303,392 ' 17 .. 1922 ... 8,717,265 6.46 1923 ... 8.346,731 . 10.44 1924 ... 9.024,503 3.16 WAGES EXPENDITURE. Percentage "Wages Increase / Year. Expenditure, over 1914. £ 1914 ... 1,966.863 —- 1919 ... 2.277.142 15 77 —■ 1920 ... 2,745.730 39 6 1921 .:. 3,606^343 83 ' ' 1922 ... 3,826,369 94 5 1923 ... 3,448,942 75 4 1924 ... 3,542,699 8012