BRITISH RAILWAYMEN.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXX, Issue LXXX, 22 January 1920, Page 5

BRITISH RAILWAYMEN.

MINISTER SATISFIED WITH NEW AGREEMENT. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT LONDON, Jan. 20. The Minister of Transport <Sir Erie Geddes), in a speech, at Cambridge upon the railway settlement, declared that if the men had not accepted the recent tentative agreement they would i have struck the severest blow possible ' at the-principles of collective bargaining ' with trades, unions. The settlement represented permanent increases in the railwaymen's wages ' bill from the pre-war rates of £47,000,----000 to £110,000,000, namley, an increase of 134 per cent., notwithstanding any fall in the cost of living. This increase represented the estimated additional cost of the railwaymen's wages due to improved rates, hours and conditions of the service. As the cost of living falls the railway costs fall, which reductions, coupled with the economies through unified management, should re- ! duce expenditure, which caused the recent increased rates. He believed that the railways could, despite the new permanent wages bill, return to a level which would enable trade to thrive and compete in the world's1 markets without an undue handicap. He had been assured by the • men's leaders that the management i could henceforth expect closer cooperation from workers. This should release the management from the consideration of unending wages disputes, enabling proper attention to be paid to the economical and efficient manage- j ment of their lines, which would have a direct money result. j