CONDITIONAL OFFER

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 79, 1 October 1945, Page 8

CONDITIONAL OFFER

RAILWAY MOULDER^

DEPARTMENT CRITICISED

Criticising the Railways Department's attitude in the matter as "the type of pettifogging, wordy restriction which characterised many departmental rulings in the past," Mr, T. F. Gebbie, advocate for the .JRailway Tradesmen's Association, vigorously resisted a condition proposed by the Department before the. Railways In-, dustrial Tribunal today in connection with a trade allowance to moulders. The claim by the R.T.A. was for an allowance of 2d per hour to moulders and apprentice moulders, and the Department offered 26. per hour to tradesmen moulders "able and willing to undertake floor and jobbing moulding if and when required," the existing allowance of 2d per hour for cylinder moulding to be reduced to Id. At present there were only 11 apprentice moulders in the railway service—lo at Hillside and one at Hutt — so . that the prospects of obtaining a supply of railway-trained tradesmen were appalling to those really interested in the industry, said Mr. Gebbie. The allowance claimed for apprentices would not in itself rectify the present shortage of moulders, but it would be an" inducement to boys to take up moulding. He claimed that the condition proposed by the Department as to the ability and willingness of moulders to take floor and jobbing work would cause unnecessary friction. Taking up a statement by the workshops superintendent, Mr. W. Robertson, that the Department was desperately short of floor moulders, he asked: "Why have you resisted the employment of female labour on core making, which, you say, is done outside by female workers?" . • , NO PROPER FACILITIES. Mr. Robertson said that the reason for the,non-employment of females on the work was that there was no proper accommodation available for them at the workshops. "We usually manage to pick up sufficient men for core making. We are making provision for the future, and if we don't get sufficient cores then, we will be forced to take on some type- of labour for the work," he added. Mr. Gebbie: Don't you think that is a serious position, merely- because of lack of facilities for female/"lab our? You have allowed a situation to develop where, according to your statement, you are desperately short of floor moulders, and yet you are . employing men capable of doing floor moulding on core moulding, which could be done by females. Mr. Robertson replied that by the time the workshops were ready to embark on their big programme it was thought there would be an ample supply of unskilled labour available for core making. "The position," he said, "is that over the last few years we have been able to hold our own in connection with our jobbing work, and, in addition, we did place work outside for bulk castings." Mr. Gebbie: And you are just waiting for something to turn up?

Mr. Robertson: We are doing more than that. We are preparing for the time when we will have a full staff.

And you don't think that this conditional offer of the Department's will cause friction?—lt might cause disappointment, but not friction.

Can you guarantee industrial harmony in the foundry by introducing this restriction?— You can guarantee nothing these days, but there will not be severe friction.

There was no question of the condition being pettifogging. It was simply logical, said Mr. Robertson, in reply to the Department's advocate, Mr. K. G. Reid. There was no idea of cheese paring behind it. Mr. Reid said that the Department, in making its proposal, acknowledged the unattractiveness of moulding work and agreed to the allowance in yiew of the shortage of staff and the disinclination of apprentices to take up the trade. It was felt that the allowance would be an adequate incentive for youths to join the trade.