STREET CLEANING

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 61, 14 March 1939, Page 11

STREET CLEANING

WEEKEND PAYMENT

REPLY TO CfTY ENGINEER

The secretary of the Municipal and General Labourers' Union, Mr. P. M. Butler, Said t<sday that he Was amazed to read the statement of the City Engineer to the effect that one of the factors tending to keep our city streets dirty was high wages and overtime. The City Engineer, he said, had said: "The difficulty was greatest at the weekends, higher rates of wages having to be paid for Saturday and Sunday work." "This is entirely incorrect," said Mr. Butler. "As far as Saturday morning work is concerned, six street orderlies are employed, and such work, being included in the 40-hour week, is paid for at ordinary rates of pay. The ordinary rate of pay is 2s 4d an hour. Surely Mr. Luke does not consider 2s 4d an hour to be an impossible wage for our city to pay? In connection with street cleansing work on Sunday rriornirig, ri6 overtime is payable either, for the > award provides as follows:— 'Worker^ employed on street-cleaning work on Sunday shall be paid not less than a full ordinary day's pay.' "Except for the alteration in wages brought abtfut by the 40-hour week in 1936 and the consequential adjustment in wages arising from the Court's standard pronouncement' on Wages in 1937, the City Council has not increased the wages of these workers since 1926. It is entirely incorrect and unjustifiable for the engineer to excuse the lack of proper organisation in the departments of the city by 'passing the buck' to the workers." "SHE HEAL CAUSE.'' Mr. Butler said that the real cause of the lack of cleanliness of the city streets and the haphazard method of collecting household refuse was the attitude of the council in riot providirig sufficient finance to meet the heeds of the city in accordance with the growing population. "It shduld be the duty of the officers of the council to keep abreast of the needs of the city and to frankly advise the cottncil of the requirements. I find no record tif such advice being given to the council by the City Engineer," he said. "There are insufficient men employed to cope with the work. The street orderlies have excessively long 'beats.' The staff of workmen has not been progressively increased as the need has increased." Mr. Butler instanced as a sample of a "beat" for one man, Cuba Street, Leeds Street, Ghuznee Street, Cumberland Place, Dixon Street, Egmont Street, and StUrdee Street. The other "beats," he said, are just as extensive, and some are even more so. While the number of men to cope with the growing needs of the city had not been increased to any appreciable extent the cost of administration had increased enormously, but this was a feature of all the council departments and appeared to have been quietly tolerated. "You cannot have a clean city, or for that matter, efficient organisation in any department if it is top-heavy," said Mr. Butler. ."We are tired of the workers being made the 'scape-goats' on every occasion; First it was the tramway men, then it was the traffic officers, now it is the street orderlies. Surely it is time this policy ceased. I am of the opinion that the ratepayers are not getting full value for, their rates, but this is not because; of the wages of the workers. It is because of the lack of] cohesion and because the administration costs are entirely out of proportion to the cost of doing the work;"