P. & T. SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 78, 29 September 1924, Page 8

P. & T. SERVICE

WAGES OF YOUNGER MEN MR. COMBS REPLIES TO MINISTER DEMANDS NOT EXTRAVAGANT. A reply to the statement of the Post-master-General (Hon. J. G. Coates) in regard to the salaries of the younger members of the Postal Service was made by the secretary of the Post and Telegraph Officers' Association (Mr. H. E. Combs) to-day. "The Postmaster-General's statement," said Mr. Combs, to a "Post" reporter, "is bo full of generalities that it is hard to know where to begin in replying to him, but one may fairly take his reference to the 'extravagant salary demands' put forward by the association, and generally endorsed by the 7000 members. The association asked for the restoration of the 1914 standard of liv- . ing, and as it did not live in an extravagant fashion in 1914—far from it—it is for Mr. Coates to prove that such a demand is extravagant. As a matter of fact, although the cost of living (all groups) is over 60 per cent, higher than .it was in 1914, the association only asked that the maximum for telegraphists, etc.. should be raised by 39 per cent., and the postmen, etc., by S3 per cent. It only asked that telegraph messengers be paid £65 for the first year, and £70 for the second, whereas in Australia they are paid £77. That the Department was in a position to agree, to these moderate demands is shown by its annual report and the Budget, in which' the value of the concessions in gpstage and telegraph rates is estimated to be over £600,000. "I want to make it clear that I never had a personal discussion with Mr. Coates on the salary question. Every tims I met him, I did so as one of a deputation from the association, and what I said during the course of the interview was said, on behalf of the organisation, and indeed its instructions. I was in agreement with the representations made to him, and I still think they were very reasonable, especially as the Government had a handsome surplus in hand, and was, therefore, in a position to pay, while it had shown its optimism by reducing postage and other rates, as stated previously. SOME CASES CITED. "As for the minimum wage of £4 10s per weak, which we put forward as due to every male postal worker on attaining the age of 21 years, I still hold that the request was a fair one, and that the payment was more in line with outside experience than the PostmasterGeneral is apparently aware of. Reference to the awarcfs of the Arbitration Court will show him that the Court provides almost invariably for a fiveyear apprenticeship, and then a minimum wage in the vicinity of £4 10s per week. Any apprentice of 16 years or less can, therefore, anticipate that amount per week on attaining 21 years, and why not the employees of the Post Office? Theirs is a skilled calling, highly skilled in some branches, but there is no such guarantiee. Indeed, far from it. On page 87 of this year's reclassilication list he will find a list of 57 young men (19 years to 21 years of age), classified as postmen, exchange clerks, etc, 25 of whom have passed the qualifying examination for promotion, who are at present allotted £2 2s per week, and who will at some date prior to 31st March next be advanced to £2 7s per week (less superannuation contribution). They all hays five years' service to their credit (inclusive of messenger service), and some of them have seven. After serving a further year at £2 7s per week they will be advanced to £2 17s, and a year later to £3 10s. By that time many of them will be in their twenty-fourth year, and have ten years' service^ behind them. I do not know of any private employer who would be permitted by the Arbitration Court to pay such low wages to experienced men doing skilled work. If the exposing of these things and the advocating of improvements is to make one a political .propagandist, then I am afraid I shall be one to the end of the chapter, for while the Post and Telegraph Association employs me in my present capacity I conceive it my duty to follow the lines I have done, and to leave no stone upturned to secure the betterment that is due. A FLAT DENIAL. "I deny flatly that resolutions are framed in Wellington and then broadcasted to the various sections. > If Mr. Coates can prove he has justification for his assertion in this direction I will place my resignation in the hands of the president of the association and cheerfully abide by the decision' of the members of the association thereon."