EXTRA EDITION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 26 January 1926, Page 7

EXTRA EDITION.

RAILWAYMEN’S WAGES. — ——<» A DISPUTE!} AWARD. CX>NFWRiRNOR BBT WEEN PARTI ES. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. .Received Jan. 28, 12.3 S p.in. LONDON, Jan. 25. Negotiations between representatives O’f the railway companies and the National Union of Railwaymen opened at Euston with regard to the demands that the companies agree not tp operate a clause in the award of the National Wages Board, providing that new entrants after* February I be paid only the basic rates, without the cost of living bonus, also the demand that the existing standard of base rates, which were generally one hundred per cent above the pre-war level, be declared the irreducible minimum. Several branches of the union have already adopted a resolution in favour of a. national strike if the i moil’s demands are refused. At) the conclusion of the negotiations the companies submitted a memorandum which the delegates to the conference of railwaymen will consider. — Repte.l-. RA i JAVA YA IEN ’ S DEM AN DS. COMPANIES WILL NOT CONCEDE THEM. Received Jan. 26, 2.30 p.m. CONDON, Jan. 25 It is stated that at to-day’s negotiations the railway companies declined to concede the points raised by the RaiLwaymen’s Union. They pointed out that the companies had accepted the findings of tfie AA ages Board, which the Union had repudiated for tire second time after the union’s representatives had signed the report. The companies intimated .that if the union persisted in this attitude they would be obliged to seriously consider their attitude towards the Wages Board machinery. which was being rendered futile and farcical. —Reuter. TO ACCEPT AWARD. DECISION O>F MEN’S RiEIPRE-SE-NTATIV es. Received Jan. 26, 2.30 p.m. LONDON, Jan. 25. Art a meeting the railway-men's delegates decided, by a narrow majority, not to call a strike, but to accept the award of the Wages Board. —Reuter. The National Wages Board on December 9 issued its award on railway-men's wages. In essence the award ruled that present railway servant's remain on their existing .scales of wages, but that all new entrants shall be put on a lower scale. To enable the terms of the award to be understood it is necessary to say that under the existing agreement (dated March 20, 1920), there are two series of rate®, known lespect-ively as standard base rates, or “B” rates, based generally on a minimum of 100 per cent of the average pre-war rate for the grade; and current rates, or “A” rates. These “A” rates were to

rise and fall according to the cost of # living, with the proviso that m no case should they fall below tlie- “B” rates. The fall in the cost of living has brought about 45 per cent of the men down to the “B” rates. The board made it clear that there was no finding by them that the “B” rates constitute an irreducible minimum, although they were not satisfied that the- companies had made out a sufficient case for reducing them. On the other band they were unable to entertain any of the applications made on behalf of the trade unions. The board continued “While the board have come to the conclusion that the railway companies have'failed to make out a case for relief by an immediate reduction in wages, they feel that the case of those who enter the service of the companies for the first time may properly be dealt with on a different basis, and they have therefore reached the following conclusion: On and after Feburary 1, 1926, new entrants appointed to adult grades in the permanent service or employed temporarily for a probationary period prior to appointment, whether recruited from outside the railway' service or from the casuaL or temporary staff, or from junior grades in the railway service, are to be paid B rates for the adult grades in which they are employed, and on subsequent promotion to any higher ■grade injdie service are to be paid the B rate higher grade. Regular employees whose- services have been dispensed with owing to shortage of work, if re-employed, shall-be paid at the current rates for the grades in which they are employed. The board added a clause calling attention to the growth of road transport as a serious menace to the railway industry. This majority report was signed'by all the representatives of the trades unions— Mr W. Dobbie and Mr J. H. Thomas, M.P.. of the N.11.R.; Mr. J. Cordrey and Mr. D. S. Humphreys, of the A.S.L.E. and F. ; and Mr. T. H. Gill and Mr. J. La-thun, of the R.C.A.; by all the representatives of the railway users; and by three of the six representatives of the railway companies— Sir Felix Pole, Sir Herbert A. Walker, and Mr. J. Milne, A minority report van -siyned by the other three representatives of the railway companies— Sir R. L. Wedgwood, Mr. H. (1. Burgess ami Mr. J. H. Follows. They accepted the decision of the majority, but they declined to join in signing the report, saying that present conditions justified the claim of the railway companies and that they regarded the present burden of labour costs as being economically unjustifiable. At the headquarters of the National Union of Railwaymen after the announcement of the award, it was stated that the fact that their two- representatives on the board had signed the majority report did not necessarily mean that the union would accept or reject the findings. The report, it was stated, would be submitted to a special delegate meeting of the Union. Mr, John Bromley. M.P-, general secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, said: “I am personally satisfied with the award. Jt clears a great deal of anxiety from my mind because it does not affect our members, and therefore it removes the almost certainty of an outbreak occuring had there been a further depression in wages or in conditions of service.’’