GOOD FRIDAY TEAMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13726, 16 April 1908, Page 6

GOOD FRIDAY TEAMS.

EMPLOYEES' GRIEVANCE. POSITION AT WELLINGTON. [BY TELEGRAPH.OWN' COBRKSrOSDKNT.] Wellington', Wednesday. THE City Council has declined a request of the Tramway Employees' Union that Good Friday should be observed as an entire holiday so far as the ears are concerned. Mr Young, secretary of the union, in a statement to a Dominion represen tative, said that the request of the, union was part of a wider movement to obtain Christmas Day and Good Friday as holidays for tramway men throughout the Dominion. The Dunedin City Council decided to give the tramway employees a whole holiday-Jast Good Friday, but it happened that the Order-in-Council authorising the Dunedin tramway system stipulated that the cars must run every day iv the year, and one or two persons demanded that the Order-in-Couneil should be complied with. 'The Mayor, therefore, issued instructions to run the cars on Good Friday. The Tramways Onion colonial executive sent a letter last- .lime to ths Hon. W. Hall-Jones (Minister for Public Works) respectfully suggesting that such Orders-in-Council as debarred the tramway employees from enjoying two holidays in the year, should be amended. To this the executive received a reply pointing out that the Government, could not amend these Orders-in-Coumcil unless the local authorities concerned applied lor this to be done. The tramways executive then asked the Dunedin City Council to make application accordingly, but that authority declined to do so, pointing out that if such an application were made difficulties might a,ri;je from the fact of the tramways being operated under several Orders-in-Coun-cil which were granted originally to different local bodies. The Council also thought that a poll might be insisted on, and that complications might ark*, through the ratepayers of different districts being at variance in the matter. The union did not consider that these objections were valid, but nothing further was done, because the union expected that the Tramways Bill of last session would be passed, and they intended to submit evidence in support of their request for the two holidays to the Parliamentary Committee on the Bill. The Order-m-Couneil under which the Wellington tramways are worked does not give the corporation the option of suspending the service on Good Friday. Clause 25 of the Order stated that trams shall be run daily except on Sundays, on all lines. l