HILLSIDE WORKSHOPS.

Evening Star, Issue 12885, 7 August 1906, Page 4

HILLSIDE WORKSHOPS.

A FERMENT IN THE CAR SHOP. It- is ancient History that the “ hands ” employed in the Hillside Workshops are nob exactly a’ happy family. At least, some of them are nob. It is also common talk that a great deal of political wire-pulling goes on in connection with the shops. Men who have grievances, or fancy they have, run. readily enough to this member of the Legislature or that. From the nature of nis position the member must listen. And to prevent any misunderstanding it should bo stated here that the principal reference ii not to the member for Caversham. Oi course, tie woes of the Workshops come to him also, no doubt, but imputations oi more active interference with the men, their “bosses,” and their affairs are coupled with the name of another member. That this member was the author of some printed matter in a weekly paper dealing with certain things connected with the shops is openly stated by some of the men. From causes like the above friction of one sort and another lias been occasioned, and as the Workshops are public property kept up bv the State to serve the public, it is time that any unhappy relations which exist should be ended one way or another, and with as much justice to the parties concerned as may be. Either some wedfounded grievances exist and should be remedied, or the discipline of the shops is being overturned by irresponsible publics tion and an undue amount of pulling of the political strings. Whatever is the true state of affairs, the need for a departmental - inquiry rs very , great. A public inquiry would be better still. 1 •

The latest thing is -am emoute in the car shop, and a ‘Star’ reporter investigated its cause and extent to-day The initial facts were that the leading hands m the car shop was transferred to Invercargill on August 1. No presentation or other expression of good-will was made by the men when he left, and it was understood that he was to be replaced at Hillside by one of the leading hands from In-' v ercargill. Ihe man from Invercargill ha< since arrived in Dunedin. but his neve) taken up duty here. When the man from Dunedin arrived at Invercargill, sonic means had been taken to acquaint th« hands at Invercargill with the position at Dunedin. The reception which the newcomer got at Invercargill was consequently not cordial. On Saturday it was rhmored in the car shop that the late leading hand was being retransferred to Dunedin, and that the appointment of the Invercargill man to Dimed hi had been cancelled. The result of the receipt of, this piece of “news" was that telegrams were forwarded bv some of the men to the Acting Minister of Railways (the Hon. A. Pitt). A round-robin signed by a number of “hands” in the car shop followed. It was sent to the General Manager of Railways, and protested against the retransfer of the leading band in question to Dunedin, 1 In the course of many interviews to-day our reporter saw the manager of the Workshops. That gentleman was polite, but very firm. His instructions from the department, he said, were not to snpply information to the Press, and by those instructions he meant to abide. This was the good old fog of “departmental busiwhich every reporter knows so well. It did not prevent the interview from lastmg fifteen minutes, however, but the result at the end of that time was much as it was at first. There was not much cordialitv about it on either side. But other people who knew something about the position were nwre communicative, and the general result of many inquiries left little doubt as to the unpopularity of the late leading-hand of the car-shon. Many charges were levelled at him, with the added request : “ Put that in the ‘ Star,’ mister.” It is very doubtful whether these ax© true. One man said : “ Some say he isn’t a competent hand. That’s all rot: He’s one of the most competent hands that has ever been in the shop. What some of them don’t like is that he doesn’t pick his words when they nag at him or answer them back. You see, it’s like this. Some ot them took a ‘ set ’ on him when he came here five years ago. They said that he had don© somebody out of his, job, and they have kept that up against him ever since. And don’t make the mistake of supnesing that the whole of the car shop is ud in arms. It is all the work of a section, and you can take it from me that a counter petition in favor of Mr —— has a chance of seeing light within the next few days. As for "trouble in the boiler shop, that’s all rubbish. There is too much political wire-pulling in the shoos, and if there was trouble at Invercargill there must have been wirepulling there, too.”

The above ooinion was one among many. It is printed because facts ascertained bv other inquiries served to show that there was a good deal of truth in it. Also, as things are at present, it is very improbable that the late leadinc-hand of th« car shop is coming back to Dunedin.