EMPLOYEE REPRIMANDED

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 April 1940, Page 5

EMPLOYEE REPRIMANDED

WORK ON PEACE UNION. [PEB PRESS ASSOCIATION.] f _____ CHRISTCHURCH, April 16. After a discussion in committee,at its meeting in Rangiora, the North Canterbury Electric Power Board decided to “severely reprimand” a member of its staff for the part he had taken in the activities of the Rangio j?r branch of the Peace Pledge Union. The decision was announced by the chairman (Mr A. Cowie), in open meeting. Discussion arose from a letter from the Rangiora County Council, asking I what disciplinary action the Board proposed to take against any member I of its staff taking part in pacifist ac-' tivities. The letter said that the subject came up when members of the council referred to the fact that, at a Peace Pledge Union meeting ,in Rangiora, one member of the Board’s 1 staff, the local secretary of the pacifist organisation, took an'active part. . Reporting the decision of the Board,. the Chairman said that the inember, of the staff referred to was Mi- R, H. Ellis. “He will be severely reprimanded by the Board for his actions,” Mr Cowie said.

Mr Cowie added that, at a meeting on April 5, members of the Board’s staff had agreed to make regular voluntary contributions to the National Patriotic Fund, the amounts to be deducted from their pay envelopes each pay-day. That would prove that the Board’s staff as a whole was very loyal and patriotic. Portions of a statement addressed to the Chairman by the EngineerSecretary (Mr A. Buckingham) were also released for publication. In it, Mr Buckingham said that the loyalty of the Board's staff generally was above reproach. He referred to the decision of employees to make contributions to the National Patriotic Fund, and said that naturally members of the staff now felt aggrieved that, because of the recent publicity,, they had to suffer a stigma which was most undesirable and undeserved. “The. Board’s staff therefore trust that, iq any further publicity is given to the matter, their loyalty and their recept; action will be given equal publicity,” i the statement concluded. I