RAILWAYMEN

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 23 June 1924, Page 5

RAILWAYMEN

THE TWO DIVISIONS. NO REAL BARRIER. (BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS' ASSOCIATION.) V ELLINGTON, June 21. A proposal that the barrier between the first and second division of the railway service should be abolished was made before the Railway Inquiry Board this morning by the A.S.R.S. Mr Connelly, on behalf of the society, declared that the present barrier to promotion to administrative positions was not encouraging to second division men. He submitted that practical men were qualified for managerial and organising positions than those trained on theo-ry. He suggested, that the board recommend the abolition of the telegraphic test and of the requirement that a man should do five years’ practical work before being able to sit for the first division qualification examination. Mr Sterling, for the Department, denied that there was any real barrier and asserted that the Department gave every opportunity for second division employees to- study for the first division. He did not agree that it was essential for a man to go right through the mill in order to qualify as a. good administrative officer. WELLINGTON, June 22. At the annual conference of the Railway Officers’ Institute on- Saturday it was decided to request the Department that all instruction books he revised and consolidated,- and that any amendment be provided in slip form suitable for placing in its relative position in the book to which it applied. The issue of a. new tariff was another matter which it was claimed demanded early attention, the state of the existing tariff being described as a disgrace which no commercial concern would tolerate for a moment.