“ONE BIG UNION”

Evening Star, Issue 22382, 4 July 1936, Page 19

“ONE BIG UNION”

RAILWAY EMPLOYEES' DISCLAIMER BRANCH NOT FAVOURABLE A repudiation of the statement at a recent meeting held, at the Hillside l Workshops, that the rank and file of the Locomotive Engineers, Firemen, and Cleaners’ Association were in favour of the formation of one big union for railway servants, was made to-day by the chairman and secretary of the Dunedin branch of the E.F. and C.A. In' this connection the branch chairman (Mr J. Rattley) and the branch secretary (Mr J. T. Sanderson) of the Dunedin branch of the New Zealand Locomotive Engineers, Firemen, and Cleaners’ Association, have issued the following statement:—. “ On behalf of our branch we wish to dissociate ourselves from the meeting held in the Hillside -Social Hall last Monday evening in connection with the movement for the formation of one big union for railway servants. _ question has come up for discussion on. several occasions at our branch meetings and has definitely been 'turned down, and has received the same fate from a conference of , delegates from the whole of New Zealahd, held in Wellington a few weeks ago. The loco men throughout New Zealand are as strongly opposed to the one big union idea, within the railway service, as they were when they formed their own organisation nearly 30 years ago. Our association to-day is more solid than ever in its history, having nearly 99 per cent, available membership, and practically 100 per cent, financial membership,, a position which is unequalled in anv voluntary organisation to be found'in New Zealand. In connection with this'meeting, no communication was received by our officials from the conveners that the meeting was being held and while three of our members were preSent t they were not there in an official capacity, so we fail to see how the meeting would be representative ai reported,”