RAILWAY PAY

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 February 1947, Page 8

RAILWAY PAY

NO GENERAL RISE TRIBUNAL’S FINDINGS ON CLAIMS REMOVAL OF ANOMALIES 1 c (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Feb. 5. £ No general wage increases have 5 been granted by the Railways Indus- i trial Tribunal which to-day released < its findings on the claims heard in i sittings which commenced on Janu- i ary 16 and continued last month after a holiday adjournment. The tribunal had before it an application for a wage increase of l|d an hour for tradesmen, and an application for increases for enginedrivers, .firemen, and cleaners ranging from. 6|d to 9fd an hour, but these claims were disallowed. The only wage increases given are of a minor nature to remove anomalies considered to exist in certain special groups. Of 69 claims presented to the tribunal, two were withdrawn. Of the others, several were joint claims affecting all the service organisations —the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, the Railway Tradesmen’s Association, the Railway Offi- ; cers’ Institute, and the Enginecirivers’, Firemen’s, and Cleaners’ Association —but most were individual claims affecting only one organisation, and of this latter class the greatest number of claims were made by the Amalgamated Society of RailwayServants. Principal Decisions. The tribunal’s principal findings follow:— . Provision is made for time worked on Sunday on a Sunday-Monday shift to be taken into . consideration in computing overtime on that shift. Provision is made for penal Payments under certain conditions when rostered shifts are altered or cancelled. : . Improvements are made regarding the spread of hours worked on. Sundays and departmental . holidays. Time worked in an advanced capacity is not to be taken into account for the purposes of the guaranteed we ®k; Payment is to be made to work ■ staff employees on a specified basis . for time taken in travelling to and from huts and job by a velocipede : (railway jigger). . . An alMwance of 3d an houi is granted for work in confined spaces which make it necessary for a worker to work in a cramped position oi . without proper ventilation, or in conditions of unusual discomfort. , Double-Rate Overtime. ' Improved maximum and.minimum > rates are provided for first ' workers in respect of r J e ■ overtime. Division I workers aie Mso granted a four-hour minimum if ! called upon to work on departmental

holidays. Division I workers are entitled to payment at the advanced capacity rate if they relieve in higher-paid positions for seven, days or more. (The previous minimum was 21 days.) Improved allowances are given to blacksmiths in charge of two-ton forging hammers. A wage increase of an hour from 3/li to 3/2-| is given to gas cutters after two years’ service. Metal polishers are to receive an increase of Id an hour from 3/H to aftev two years’ service.

A height allowance of 2d an hour is made to maintenance branch employees working on steep faces, 35 feet or more above tracks in cases where safety ropes are provided. Platelayers’ rates of play shall be paid to employees of line gangs (other than gangers) when they are performing resleepering and rerailing .work , and building or. .replacing points and crossings on main lines.. The minimum period for special payment to maintenance branch employees when clearing land slips is reduced from eight hours to four. Greymouth Crane Drivers. Special allowances of 2-Jd an hour for drivers and 3;jd for labourers are made to employees in Wellington only engaged on household removal duties. This is to compensate 101 work on streets in the hills of Wellington. , An allowance of l|d an. hour is made for labourers working witn concrete.

A wage increase of an hour is given crane drivers operating wharf cranes in Greymouth and Westport, increasing their pay from 3/1® to 3/32 a n hour.

A wage increase of lid h°u r > creasing the rate from -3/4-2 an hour, is granted to one. specified class of mechanics in the sig nal ana electrical branch, applicable after two years’ adult service. . The previous lowest r ate. lor guards, 3/4£- an hour, is aboliishe a. Time allowances are granted for preparing and putting away cert aiQ types of locomotives, where payment is made on a mileage basis for a particular run.

Tool Allowances. . Some improvements are .made; in tool allowances paid to. tradesmen. The tool- allowance is extended to third-year apprentices and to trainee

tradesmen in trades specified in the order. An adjustment is made retaining the rights to retiring leave and the issue of free 'passes to employees who,' under the provisions of the Superannuation Amendment Act, 1945, elect to stop contributing to the Railways Superannuation Fund. Various claims for increased dirt money have been deferred. Among the claims. disallowed by the tribunal was that of the Railway Tradesmen’s Association that travel to and from work on' departmental transport should be. free to railway employees, and also a claim that Anniversary Day, Dominion Day, and January 2 should be recognised as departmental holidays. •