RAILWAYMEN DISCONTENTED

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 February 1937, Page 7

RAILWAYMEN DISCONTENTED

DRIVERS OVER-WORKED ?

FULL INQUIRY DEMANDED

[PEB PBESB ASSOCIATION.]

CHRISTCHURCH, February 15. Responsible officials of a railwaymen’s organisation in Canterbury state that there is grave discontent among locomotive drivers in the ser-

vice over their conditions of work, particularly the long hours they are being called on to drive trains. In Canterbury the situation has been brought to a head by the demand in Auckland for a public enquiry into the collision between' the AucklandWellington goods train and the New Plymouth express. The Canterbury branch of the association held a meeting on Sunday and- passed a resolution unanimously endorsing the action of the Auckland branch in calling on the executive council to press for a pub-.

lie enquiry into the collision, “the Canterbury branch not having any confi- ' dence in the enquiry boards as at present set up by the Department, nor their procedure at such enquiries.” The meeting also passed the following, resolution: — “We further call upon the executive

council to press for a commission to

investigate the whole administration of the locomotive department, or that the conditions of locomotive men in general be placed before the Prime Minister, as we view with great alarm the seething discontent existing among locomotive men throughout the service.”

Enquiries made by a reporter from “The Press” among locomotive men revealed that they are seriously perturbed about being worked what, they claim, are exceptionally long hours on duties entailing such heavy responsibility, and about other conditions of their work. One prominent railwaymen’s official emphasised that tired locomotive drivers were being asked to drive trains which were so heavily over-loaded that they were constantly under a great strain. ON MIDLAND LINE “Although specific loads are laid down for respective classes of trains, these are often exceeded and the men are practically compelled to take them under fear of being looked on as obstructionists,” this official said. “This is being done, although that type of work imposes a heavy strain on the drivers. This applies particularly on the Midland line, between Arthur's Pass and Christchurch. Trains are being brought down the Midland line, from Springfield, handling anything up to 900 tons, which is the statutory load for that section. This places a big strain on the drivers, as trains of that description have to be kept well controlled by the use of the Westinghouse air-break from Springfield to Rolleston, on the down-grade section. While there is no possible danger, still the men working under these conditions are being called on to carry too heavy a load of responsibility. “This applies particularly when the men are being kept on such long hours as.are now operating. The men are being called out for duty on any class of train, at short notice, sometimes with only half-an-hour’s notice, to handle jobs which run into 14 to 16 hours at a stretch. Sometimes the drivers are called out for a four-hour job and while at work their run may often be extended without prior notice, eventually running them into a working stretch of 12 to 14 hours without a break, even for meals. In fact, they must eat their meals on the road the best way they can manage. Here is an actual instance —one party of locomotive men was called on at 6 p.m. recently to book on at 7.30 p.m. Tljose men did not finish until 8 a.m. on the following morning. They were handling goods trains all the time. Another party signed on at 7.30 p.m. and ■' worked continuously until 10 a.m. This happens throughout the busy period every season. “Nominally the' locomotive men are working a 40-hour week, but it is spread over six days and they can be worked these exceptionally long hours for a spell and then booked off at the convenience of, the Department. But sometimes the men cannot be spared to be booked off and have to be paid for the extra time. But they claim, ’ however, that monetary payment cannot compensate them for the fatigue and broken hours of rest involved in such long working hours. It can also happen that the men working these long periods find at the end of the week that they have not earned any more than the guaranteed week’s wages, which could be earned on more convenient and shorter hours. “The men want more sympathetic treatment from the department,” the official said. “They do not want to be regarded as mere cogs in a machine, but as a very vital factor in the safe running of the trains. All the automatic signal systems and tablet systems in the world cannot be proof against the failure of the human factor, when' overwork reduces vitally and when men are obsessed with the idea that their services to the Department are not being appreciated. There are plenty of other grounds giving cause for complaint as well, but at the present juncture it is deemed inadvisable to go into these. The men emphasise that more responsibility rests on their shoulders than on those of the Departmental officers. There is even the view among them that a continuance of the practices might lead to something which would besmirch the Department’s long record of safety.”

MR. MACKLEY'S REPLY

NO KNOWLEDGE OF DISCONTENT

“I know nothing of this alleged discontent in the ranks of the locomotive men, and no representations indicating this state of affairs have been made to me or to my executive officers,” said the General Manager of Railways, Mr. G. IT. Mackley, when commenting by telephone from Wellington on the statements of the Christchurch locomotive men. “Nor, so far as I can ascertain, have any such representations been made by the locomotive men to the head office of their association in Wellington, which is the organisation through which representations on behalf of the men are made to the department. “That, the exceptional demand of the traffic necessitates the man engaged on the operating side of the department’s business working more than 40 hours a week is a fact which both

the department and the men themselves appreciate,” Mr. Mackley said, “as it means more revenue for the State and a larger pay envelope for the men, who are paid for all time worked in excess of the 40-hour week. As a matter of fact, the large majority of the men readily recognise and freelj' admit that their working conditions are better at the present time than ever they were before the introduction of the 40-hour week and the reinstatement of the cuts in wages. Some shifts in the Christchurch district are longer than the department desires, due to the exceptionally free movement, of live stock; but according to information supplied from the local officers, the position this season is much the same as in previous years, and no men are requested to work up to the point where their safety, or the safety of the trains, is at all likely to be impaired.” Mr. Mackley said that he had it on the authority of the men themselves and their head office organisation that as a whole they were never happier with their conditions than they were to-day. The Auckland resolutions did not emanate either from the officers of the Auckland branch of the association or the head office of that organisation, which, when requested by representatives of the newspapers for information on the matter, declined to associate themselves with it. “I am satisfied,” Mr. Mackley said, “that the men as a whole are reasonably satisfied, and fully appreciate what is being done for them both by the Department and by the Government. which, when the 40-hour week was introduced, promised to consider during the next financial year the adjustment of certain anomalies. All reasonable members of the service re-

cognise that this promise will be kept.”