RAILWAY SERVANTS.

Evening Star, Issue 12732, 5 August 1907, Page 1

RAILWAY SERVANTS.

OTA GO BRANCH. The annual social of the Oiago branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants waa held in the Victoria Hall on Saturday evening, and attended by about 200 members and friends.

Mr I'. E. Nolan (chairman of tho branch) presided. In his opening remarks ho said that the annual social had I icon inaugurated so;ne years ago, and had been steadily growing in popularity year by yoar. A year ago the membership of the society was 800; in twelve months it had increased to 1,030, and new members wire still joining. Tho branch was very laa'ge, but inembei-s worked together harmoii'ously, and there was a total absence of anything in the nature of discoid. The aim and object of the society was the protection of members' interests and the upholding of their rights. Thev fought the advancement and progress of the society us a whole, arid this was a state of thing's that reflected credit upon the branch tn,ir agement and the members generally. .And amongst others responsible for the success of the society he would sin. lo out Mr W. T. llanrahu.il, who was devoted to llie cause, and one who could never do enough for it. As secretary to the branch he w.s respected by the Committee and by every member with whom ho came into contact; in fact, tho speaker thought that Mr IJanrahan was the best branch secretary in New Zealand, and the salary he lixjuived for his services did not nearly compensate him for the work he did. lint notwithstanding that the branch had accomplished splendid work, and had donj nw-.-c for the good of the cause than any -niter branch in New Zealand, they did iiotbask in tho favor of the executive officers. Jt was not his intention, however, to siif anything of tho campaign of vilifica-. ; nn and slander that the Executive had waged against the Otago branch, nor how thty had matched their pigmy intellects iga : n<;t those of their local oflicors. Suffice u lo say that the timo would come when these men would bo relegated to tho obscurity from which they sprung, and rightlv ;,ui deservedly so Touching upon the matter of service conditions, he thought that they were not down-trodden serfs and slav>«. If they labored under disadvantages, thev had also advantages, for which they should be thankful. Much had been ;.c----complisbed for tho good of tho service. a<H much would yet 'be done. Before the cn'i of the present session of Parliament !,•. hoped to see a number of measures passed providing for increases of pay to men 1 • various branches of the service, and other reforms necessary regarding hours of labor, etc. These were, briefly, as follows:—Signalmen «f the first and second grades to receive a.n increase of from 6d to Is 6d per day ; storcme.n, first and second grades, Cd to Is per day ; guards, 6d to Is per day; train examiners, a minimum of 8s 6d and a maximum of 10<; tradesmen, a minimum of 10s and a maximum, of 13s; gasmen, an increase- of Is per day; firemen, an increase of 6d per day all over; engincmen. first grade, ex I per day, second grade Ls per dav; lino gangers, mi increase of 6d per dav. juniors: All juniors other than apprentices to receive adult rate of pay on attaining tho age of twenty-one years. Crossdn«kcepers and bridge-keepers to be granted house Tent frco in addition to present rate of pay where houses are .movided ; and where houses are not provided, house allowance of £25 per annum to be granted. Week's Work : Forty-eight hours to constitute a week's work for all branches of second division, and overtime rates fur aJi work over forty-eight hours in any one week. Each_ week to stand by itself. Shops and Maintenance: Overtime made in any one day to stand by itself, and to he paid for at rates applicable to outf-ide labor as regulated by Arbitration Court awards Examining Lengths: Thig is to be done strictly in departmental time, and men to be paid for the whole of the timo involved in examining of lengths. Appeal Board : Decision of the Board to be final. Superannuation: When a member dies on the fund, his widow, if any, to receive the superannuation allowance until her death. Length of service for superannuation to be entered on the annual Government return known as D 3. Casuals: All casuals after three years' service to bo entered as members on D 3. Accident Pay : Membens of second, division to be paid same as members of first division. Lodging Allowance : All members of second division to receive lodging allowance of 5s minimum for each night away from homo. Huts: Where provided, the charge for same not to exceed ls per week from the 6s per night lodging allowance. Temporary Transfere: Lodging allowance to be paid for any period of temporary transfer for the first three months in any one place. Dining car men to be s entered on D 3 as members of the service. Lake Wakatipu service men to be entered on D 3 as members of the "service. All of those retruests were now in the hards of the Minister of Railways, and be could prove to the satisfaction of any reasonable man that there was not one for which the railway men wore not entitled to ask. He hoped to see the most of tl>ese reforms granted, thus bringing about an improvement in the condition of the second <Uvisaxt sod. bannmry between tta

department and the employees, for it was impossible to satisfactorily administer the Railway Department unless harmony prevailed. They were fortunate in possessing the class of local officers they had. He thought there was not a better body of men in any other district in New Zealand In conclusion, lie extended a hearty welcome to Mr Belcher to the function. He viafi a fcaTless and able worker in the cause of Labor and unions.

Mr R. Duncan, in proposing the toast of "The Railway Service." said that he had been thirty-two years in the ecrvioc of the department, during which time a very great improvement in the conditions under which they worked was noticeable. This was due to the union. Twenty years apo thoy had no Appeal Court.—officers could do practically as they wished. If a man had a grievance, and spoke his mind concorning it, his services were Booner or later dispensed with. Under present service conditions 6uch a state of affairs was impossible, owing to the improvements that had taken place. But they had not reached perfection yet—there" was still room for improvement. The class of officers they had in Dunedin would bo hard to beat, and, moreover, they wore men who never looked for "bother." Thoy possessed ability; the. now Dunedin sta*tion and the railway duplication to Mosgiel we.ro both difficult works, but were carried out by tho local officers, and the former was a credit to both the officers and tho City. Regarding the second division men, ho thought that the work of the enginemen was not, different to what it was twenty-five years ago. Their work was always dangerous and always comfortless. A rule of the department, that its employees must at all times attend to the safety of the public, was one faithfully carried out by the enginemen and all branches of tho service generally. Tho conditions under which tho guards, signalmen, and porters worked bad improved much during twenty-five years, and according to travellers these men were as civil and obliging a class of railway servants as were to be met with in any part of the world. There were no workshops men in the days of which he spoke, and the bridge construction hands were more in number at the present day. The latter had miK'h dangerous work to perform, but the work was always faithfully done. He had s)x>nt thirty-two years with the platelayers and surfacemen of tho service, and' he thought them as fine a class of men as any ho had como in contact with. As regards tho union, he recommended them to stick by it. for the improved conditions under which they now worked were due to that organisation, and it was to it that they must look for redress for any wrong. The Otngo society w ; as a strong body, and it had been made so by Mr Nolan, tho present chairman, who had taken it over in o. state of shipwreck, and brought it up to its present influential position". He hoped to sco men like Mr Nolan always at the head of the society.

Mr W. Owen (locomotive foreman) responded. Mr .1. Fox proposed the toast of " The Local Officers," and in doing so drew a eomp:M ison between service conditions thirty yeais ago and to-day. Messrs J. lievin and 0. J. Hall responded to the toast, both jwying a tribute to tho,excellent qualities, of tho mr.ll employed in the service of the New Zetland Railway Department. An a chess thoy comparcd favorably with those of sifly other part, of the world. Mr I). Wallace proposed the " A.S.R..R."' He sild it was very satisfactory to note tho j^-Rsition of the society, to which was due 1 lie ciedit of the improved conditions of the service. There was much yet to be done, and they could only gain their rights by constantly advocating them. Ho did not lx;lk-ve in the first and second divisions of tho service; he did not think a division was necessary.—(Loud applause.) There wafi no reason why tltero should bo any differentiation; they were all working in the sanio service for tlio same end—why could they not stay in the same shipt Mr D. Wilson replied, referring to tbo hard struggle tho society had for existence m tho early days, and to tho great imj>rovenient effected in the ' Railway Review' by its present editor, Mr Dornsby. "Tlio Officers' Instituto" was proposed by Mr 11. Head, and responded to bv MrA. Davidison. Mr J. Cameron projwsed " Kindred Societies."

This was responded to by Mr W. Belcher. He took the- compliment of being asked to reply to this foist as a compliment to the organisation he represented. He was jileased to notice, from tho chairman's remarks that the Society of Railway Servants «ais in a flourlshintr condition. It wai owing to organisation that the workers had been granted the jirivilenes that had been accorded them. Unless the workers realbe that organisation is necessary in order to obtain that ju.<tici' and consideration of their demands that they deserve, they would never have their wishes granted. During hie recent visit to Europe'he had taken tlio opportunity of inquiring into labor conditions there." The position of the worker in Europe could not lie compared with that in the colonies. Amongst the railway workers in Britain jwrticuJarly there was a seething mass of discontent, and unless the companies were ])rep;ired to concede something to tlio demands of the workers it would undoubtedly end in a scriouij disruption l>etwcen employers and employees. 'IV condition of affairs* amongst railway servants there was dejilnrablc indeed. Surfacemen who had been . emjjloyed on the lines for years received only 18s or 19s per week, and on this miserable

piVL-uice they were expected to keep their wives and families. During his visit 1a Britain lie had met most of the Labor members of the House of Commons, and had exchanged ideas on the current labor topics with them. Mr Bell, one of the prominent Ixiljoritfs. told him tkit unless the railway uuiboriticis iravo their men very ablc concessions tliey would find' themeelv. -■ l>eld up before long. The men had apjilied again mkl again for some icdrcss for their wrongs, bat their organisations were not recognised and their appeals ignored. Ho was assured that unless the railway companies did something to meet the demands of the men something wrious was going to happen. It was, moreover, recognised now by thinking men in Britain that the railways should be controlled by the State, and not by private individuals The British railway system was so huge and so complicated, and so many appeal cases arising therefrom were referred to the Government for arbitration, that it was only a matter of time before the State step in nnd take over the entire railway service. Railway servants, in spite of the fact that the tremendously heavy traffic gave them increased responsibility in the matter of providing for the safety of passengers, were miserably paid, enpine-drivere, for instance., who had been in the service for many years, only receiving 7s per day, and having no prospect of an early change for the better in their positions. As regards Labor matters generally in Britain, the speaker thought there was a gradual improvement, but anyone going into the larger cities and making inquiries would find that the great majority of workers get poor wages, and there were thousands of people who could obtain no work at all. Thousands were leaving Britain, seeking new lands where labor cond-'-ti'in<> were happier. At one time, when hj« vu-ited the Clyde, 5,000 people were there prepared to sail for Canada; 2,500 weekly left Britain for tbo same country. Theworkmg class of Britain did not try to better their conditions as they should. It was deplorable to see the dull, dead apathy regarding swJi matters that existed among the class generally throagbont tho country. Siena casta, a. jHass mj£ «Buaiwutin. &a&

will take many years to shift. The land throughout Britain was withlnsld from tho people. Large tracts that might bo cultivated were lying barren of agriculture. Th« stress of industrialism and defective lan<ilordism had driven the people into the larger cities, where they might eke out a precarious existence. Mr Belcher concluded his speech by present iiij* to the Society of Railway Servants a number of photographs of the locomotives in use on the groat main, lines of railway in Britain, which ho had procured during his visit to the Old Country. Other toasts honored during the evening were "The Conntry Members" and "Tiw Press."

A largo number of recitations and vocal and instrumental items were contributed during the evening.