SUPERANNUATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17861, 6 August 1918, Page 3

SUPERANNUATION.

SCHEME FOR, TRAMW r AY MEN. DISCUSSED BY BOARD. An important development in the history of the Christcliurch Tramway Board was sanctioned yesterday when a section of the Works and Traffic Committee's report corering employees' superannuation was adopted. The' committee's summary of . the scheme was as follows: The committee proposes that tn employees' superannuation fund should bo established forthwith. The r.chema will cost £12,000 per annum, of which the Na;ion*l Trovident li'mid JJowd will contribute 20 per cont, the Tramway Board 63 1-3 per cent »nd 'the employees '26 2-3 per oent. Tho employees' contributions will range from i par con* of ordinary time w*.g-M lor men under thirty years of ag«, up to U par oent for men hLy years ot ana over. The pension at sixty years of ago wiTI be one-sixtieth of wsgis - during laat year oi eenrici\ muitipliod by the number of yours of service (including buck service), but not exceeding forty years. For nuimpie, id man earning £3 10a p« woek with, say, thirty yaars of tervice, would rcceivo ft pension for iifo of Sos {.or week, for which :he paid 2a lOd per w'oeJr. His contribu.iona would cease when his pension commenced. Employees with longer service would receive more tor a smaller contribution per week. Iv ho dies before reaching the pension age, all his personal contributions, plus tnot'e paid by tho 'Tramwa.y- on his bchaif, would bo re-funded to his dependents. If ho leaves a widow she covud accept a pension of £lB per annum instead of ifio lump sum mentioned. Jr children, 5s per week is allowed for each up to fourteen years of ag«. If tho employe© leaves the tervice before reaohing the pension «.je, hiß own contributions (witnout in,©rest) would b© refunded to him. If a man loaves the service through ill-healki h» will bo entitled to a pension based on hi 3 years of service. A maternity bonus of JBG :» also included in the schema, but the pension must be regarded as tho principal benefit. It will be optional for present employees to join, but it will bo compulsory m the case of new employees, lhe scheme is under the provisions of the National Providont Fund Act, carrying wi.h it ft State grioriiitee of continuity and security. The necessity for provision for old age is one of tho principal problems which oonfronts everybody. Tho above scheme makes so/no provision for this. Although liberally subsidised by tho boaid and tho Government, it is not a pauper scheme, inasmuch as vhe employ oo l'imsoif ia required to contribute something towards tho cost. Tho committee :s satisfied that when the advantage* of the proposal are fully reilised by tho staff, a largo proportioa of them will join.

The chairman (the Hon J. Barr) said that quite a number of the men were prepared to join the scheme. He- ueraiied the st/tps taicen, and referred to tlie number of times that the matter had been considered, but it was the first occasion that the board had been asked as a board to adopt the scheme.

Mr D. Sykes said thai! he was disappointed the rank and file were not taking advantage to join the scheme. At preseut tho men willing to join were men who could best afiord to do without it. He thought an effort should be made to induoe ail the men to Throw in their lot with the scheme. Mr A. S. Taylor said the occasion needed special comment, as it was a distinct landmark in the history of the board. The board had been at work on the scheme for a number of years and every local body about Christchurch at some tirao had felt tho necessity of some scheme of this sort to provide for old •employees. He did not think they would have much difficulty about the. great bulk of the employees. The experience of Vv'eliington bad been that men who had stood out at first had, ere tho end of the six months, coma in. Mr T. H. Davey said he was sorry a large number of the men had not seen lit so far to join in the scheme, but he thought when they looked at it again, as they would during the next six months, they would find that no finer superannuation scheme could possibly be imagined. The main feature of the whole scheme was the pensions, and despite- the objections raised he thought no one could possibly analyse it and fail to join. The men contributed to it just as the men in tho State services did to their fuperannuation schemes, and to them it was one of the principal features of their employment. Mr Diwey thought \V would'possibly be as well if one or two members of the board anproacbed members of the union and endeavoured to get them to consider the scheme furtJ'or. A"-?- further the ooremif.tce's recommendation was adopted.