TRAM MEN’S TACTICS.

Evening Star, Issue 26136, 25 June 1947, Page 8

TRAM MEN’S TACTICS.

Sir, —It would appear that the writer of an article, ‘ Tram Men’s Tactics,’ knows little of tramway affairs, and less of Mr Richards. It reads as a personal attack against Mr Richards. I have been a member of the Tramway Union and- have attended the meetings. Mr Richards I have alwa3 T s found an able and patient chairman. His recent success should prove this, or has it created jealousy in some quarters? Mr Richards, I think, was appointed president at the last election for the seventh time.. Surely the resignations and discontent prove that all is not well. It will soon be 12 months since the last award expired, and who is to blame that a new one is not in force? If reasonable requests are made over a reasonable length of time, and nothing happens, what does the writer suggest should be done? It is worth remembering that through the efforts of the working classes we defeated Nazism, and the working classes ' are now demanding their just rewards, as was promised by our leaders.

The city transport department’s management and tramway .men’s conditions are long overdue for an overhaul. Since the writer of ‘ Tram Men’s Tactics ’ suggests tramway men. have no just complaint, I suggest he join the transport department as a conductor, and later in his own time train as a motorman. Mr Greig would welcome a man with such ideals, I am sure. I am also satisfied that before long he would become one of Mr Richards’s followers.—l am, etc., June 24. Ex-trammie. [The whole tenor of the article was against negotiation by. ultimatum, to the inconvenience of the public, when machinery exists for the settlement of grievances without direct action such as stop-work meetings.—Ed., E.S.]

Sir, —Since returning to New Zealand after five years overseas, I have seen a “ war of nerves ” carried on by the tramway employees led by that well-known figure in Federation of Labour circles, Mr (Richards. This “ war of nerves ” has been brought to a head by the threat of another strike. I feel that the tramway employees have forgotten that it is the citizens of Dunedin who employ them, and, if the transport department shows a loss, then it is the citizens who have to make up the deficit. I feql I am voicing the opinion of the majority of citizens when I 6ay that we would be wholeheartedly behind the City Corporation and the transport manager, Mr Greig, if during the present dispute they refused to give ground. If they did give way, it then looks as if next week or tne week after Mr Richards will find some other excuse to again threaten us with the strike weapon.—l am, etc.. Let Them Strike. June *24. [This letter has been curtailed.— Ed. E.S.]