A.S.R.S. OFFER REJECTED

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 April 1924, Page 5

A.S.R.S. OFFER REJECTED

CABINET’S DECISION WORK “ MUST FIRST RESUME - - -1 jebbubssi ' (Per Government Favour). .

WELLINGTON, April 29. The, Minister of Railways has forwarded the following letter to the General .Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants : — Sir, —With further reference to my letter of 26th inst., in reply to yours of even date, in which your Executive suggested the setting up of a committee

of gentlemen not associated with the Government or your Society, and in connection with the present Railway dispute, as promised, the matter has been considered by Cabinet. I am directed to inform you that the proposals contained in yiur letter are not acceptable to the Government. Nothing

has occurred to justify any departur from the decision arrived at by th chairman of the first Board, and adopt ed by. the Government, namely, that < proper decision on the question o wages cannot be arrived at withou considering all the demands compre hensively, and in their relation to on< another. Further, as the Governmen definitely decided that it would no submit to the demand made by the

A.S.R.S. under threat of a strike, anc as also the Society departed from th< line of negotiation and adopted thf strike method of endeavouring to ob tain compliance with its demands, thf Government cannot agree to the subject matter of the “demands’ with the A.S.R.S. unless the ordinary

working has first been resumed in the Department. Yours faithfully, (Signed) J. G. Coates. In a . covering letter that has been received by the Hon. Minister of Railways from the General Secretary ol the A.S.R.S., the following facts require to be noted :—■ (1) The Government at the request of the A.S.R.S. set up a Board to consider the claims of the Society. 2) The constitution of the Board and Chairman *were agreed upon between the

Government and the Society, the order of reference was also submitted to the Society and approved by it. (3) The Society submitted 72 “demands” to the Board, the first being for an increase of 2s 6d per day in wages. Many of the other “demands”_involved considerable expenditure. (4) After the proceedings of the Board had continued for some time, representatives of the Society summarily terminated same. The reason given for this action was that the Society insisted that the first question, namely, that concerning wages, should be considered in isolation from the remainder of the “demands.” To this the Chairman would not agree. (5) The Government has adopted the view that the attitude of the Chairman was correct, and has maintained that view throughout. (6) The Government was willing to negotiate with the Society, and negotiations were actually in progress, when the Society abruptly terminated the discussion, and submitted a demand for an immediate concession in wages under threat of a strike. (7)The Government decided that in such circumstances it would not accede to such demand. (8) The Society forthwith declared a strike, and the same Is still to progress. The Society now submits proposals: (a) That the Government should set up a new Board consisting of a number of gentlemen, whose names are stated by the Society; (b) that such Board should consider the Society’s demand for an increase in wages, first, and give a decision thereon, and should afterwards consider the other “demands” made by the Society. The Society would call off the strike when the proposed Board commenced its sittings. The Government has therefore decided (1) That the proposals tained to the Society's letter, of April 26, 1924, are not acceptable to the Government. Nothing has occurred to justify any departure from

the decision arrived at by the chairman of the first Board, and adopted by the Government namely that- a proper decision on question of wages cannot be arrived at without considering all demands comprehensively, and in their relation to one another. (2) That as the Government definitely decided that it would not submit to the demand made by the A.S.R.S. under threat of shake, and as also the Society departed frottn the line of negotiation, and adopted the strike method of endeavouring to obtain compliance with its demands, the Government cannot agree to discuss the subject matter of the ‘demands” with the A.S.R.S. unless ordinary working has first been resumed in the Department. SERVICES MAINTAINED DEPARTMENTAL SUMMARY WELLINGTON, April 28. To-day Mr. McVilly, the General Manager of Railways, supplied the following particulars of railway traffic throughout the Dominion:— “In Auckland district suburban services are now running between Auckland, Newmarket and Henderson; Auckland to Papakura and a service from Auckland to Frankton and back daily. In the South Island trains are running from Christchurch to Lyttelton with goods and passengers; Christchurch to Waikaka; Christchurch to Oamaru; Christchurch to Springfield, and Timaru to Christchurch with goods and passengers. There is practically a through service from Christchurch to Dunedin. The following telegram has also

been received by the General Manager from Invercargill:— “Bluff Waterside Workers have resumed work, and are handling meat for the Tekoa. The Department is running morning and evening trains between Invercargill and Dunedin both ways; a daily mixed train from Waikari to Invercargill and back; on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday a train for passengers from Invercargill to Takanu, Tuatapere, Nightcaps and Kingston, one day to each place.” A telegram from Dunedin states: — “Running a workers’ train on Port Chalmers line morning and evening, and from Oamaru to Dunedin and back, Dunedin to Invercargill and back; Outram to Dunedin and back;

the weakest, assuring them that the men were behind the executive to e man. It was time that the Department had met with some success in organising train services. WELLINGTON, April 29. The suburban ' train, traffic was largely’ increased to-day both ir trains and passengers. A train lefi for Auckland this morning will eleven cars full. I ACTIVITIES AT LYTTELTON ■ CHRISTCHURCH, April 28. Apart from the railway yards at ’Lyttelton being practically empty of trucks, the waterfront presented a fairly busy appearance this morning. There were twelve vessels in port, counting H.M.S. Laburnum, and the ferry steamer and the Orepuki (in dock) and the Cygnet and Canopus, which have had to pay off their crews and have laid up. “All ships in port are being worked” was the statement made by a shipping official. “The cargo is l being placed into trucks, and we hope it will be despatched to town, perhaps to-day or to-morrow.” "Go along the waterfront,” said another official, “and you will see that things are much better than was anticipated.” “The skeleton service is running well,” said the Chairman of the Canterbury Transport Committee. “The Railway Department will now be able to carry to Christchurch all the petrol from Lyttelton, where several boats are now discharging, and that will relieve the position in Christchurch. There are several refrigerating boats coming in during the next week, and it is expected a resumption will be made with the loading of refrigerated cargo about the middle of the week. A partial goods service was inaugurated at Christchurch station this morning, and the yard had therefore, a more businesslike look about it than it had since the strike began'. Shunting operations commenced fairly early, some administrative officials acting as shunters and signalmen. None of the regular shunters was to' be seen about the yards, although it is stated that some have returned to duty. At about 10.30 pan. the first goods train got away to Ashburton, a guard who had returned to duty, going in charge of it. Shortly afterwards a train left for Lyttelton with a coaching foreman. DISTRICT REPORTS. OAMARU, April 28. The Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution unanimously supporting the Government in its action in regard to the strike.

DUNEDIN, April 29. Workers trains from Port Chalmers and Mosgiel were despatched this morning, also a train to Clyde. A. project for bringing stock from Otago Central for the sales to-morrow wais abandoned owing to shunting difficulties. A lengthy train half empty was despatched to Invercargill. GENERAL STRIKE COMING? DUNEDIN, April 29. There is a feeling of anxiety over the long delay of the Government to replying to the railwaymen's _ offer. The Labour leaders state that if the Government’s conditions are too harsh, the Alliance of Labour will take a hand, when a general strike will be almost unavoidable.

KEEP POLITICS OUT. WELLINGTON, April 27. Mr. Wilford, who was announced to speak at Auckland on Wednesday, Thames on Friday and Whangarei the following Monday, has decided, with Messrs Masters, Veitch and Sidey, who had also arranged tours, to refrain from speaking until the railway strike is over. He states that, in an industrial upheaval like the present it would not be playing the game to take the platform for party policies until some settlement is arrived at. COAST SETTLERS ISOLATED. PROVISION TRAIN TO RUN. Flooded rivers and the railway deadlock have» combined to isolate the settlers beyond Moana, and provisions are now running low. An effort is therefore being made by the Railway Department to run a train carrying provisions only for places between Moana and Otira to-morrow. The train will leave the Riverside station about 9.30 a.m., and will, it is' understood, be operated by administrative officers of the Department. No passengers will be' carried. A circular issued to storekeepers to-day by Mr j. L. Morgan (District Traffic Manager) stated: “It iis proposed, provided the line is not interrupted by floods, etc., to run a provision train from Greymouth for stations east of Moana on Wednesday April 30. ■ Consignments must be kept to the lowest possible minimum and only articles which are of an absolutely essential nature, such as meat, bread flour, tea, sugar, butter, etc., will be accepted.” Goods will be carried entirely at the owners’ risk and the .Department will not accept any liability. Consignors must assist with loading if necessary, and goods must be at the Riverside Station at 8.30 a.m Provisions will be accepted for Rnrn, Te Kingn,

and mail train from Dunedin to Christchurch.” The assertion made ,by the Railway Department that the solidarity of the railway 'strikers was breaking down is emphatically denied by the A.S.R.S. Executive. “Only five Second Division men are working,” stated an executive official. “One of these never went out on strike. Two guards have been brought down from Levin and two other men have gone back in Wellington. That is the sum total of the defections from our ranks to date. If the Department can run the railways with that lot, they’re welcome to.” He went on to say that telegrams' were pouring in from every centre,, even from those whom they had always regarded as

I Rotomanu, Wallis Siding, Poerua, Irichbonnie, Jackson, Aickens, and Otira. It was reported this morning that endeavours were to be made to run skeleton train services for passengers on the Westland section, but the’ District Traffic Manager (Mr J. L. Morgan) states that <so far he has received no offers of such a nature. M’Glashan’s transport service is running a two-ton Leyland lorry carrying goods to different parts of the Ccast every day, particulars of which may be obtained from the advertisement in this issue. Goods and parcels left at the Premier Garage, Tainui Street, will receive careful attention. Heavy freights will be. collected from the different business places. The serv ice is proving a great boon to residents and business people..