A.S.R.S.

Evening Post, Issue 60, 11 March 1936, Page 4

A.S.R.S.

FIFTY YEARS' PROGRESS

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

This is jubilee year for the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants— the society having been formed in 1886—and the occasion is to be marked by a jubilee" dinner this evening at which representatives from the fiftytwo branches of the society in New Zealand will be presents It is expected that the Prirne\. Minister (the Hon. M. J. Savage)' and'members of the Ministry will also be present,': and others will include the Ron. M. Con-, nelly (Dunediri)', vice-president of the society, and the Hon. J: A. McCullough (Addington), . twct- > newly-appointed Legislative Councillors. • The A.S.R.S.C is-the7biggesf Public Service union- in New. Zealand, and one of the bigge"st\ industrial unions in the country, laying: claim to a membership, of some iti.OOO.. It had, a. modest start' in life, having been formed in Auckland in 1886 by six men, the moving spirit having been the late Mr. Christopher Leek, a former English railway employee, who had then been in New Zealand for about.. /eighteen months. Its early days were marked by a struggle for existence, and It received no recognition from the Government or the railway management. However, it spread and its membership grew to its present... imposing total. It is interesting to note that it was.born in the days~ofthe economic depression of the : eighties. ■ The first president was the late Mr. W. Hoben, of Auckland. He -was not a railway man; but was an official of the Trades and Labour Council. The present 'president is Mr, $.: J. Dash, of TimarU. The society is now1' in a s'trdrig. financial position, and occupies a large block of buildirigs-'in^Wellington, as its headquarters. It- -is' of interest' to observe that the took a leading pnrt in pioneering-superannuation in New Zealand, the first national conference, held at Auckland, in 1890, having included on its .agenda'paper a remit dealing with superannuation.-: ..;' While the. main jubilee celebration is being held 'in Wellington tonight, each branch of ithe. society will celebrate'the jubilee in its own district in an appropriate manner.