LOCOMOTIVE MEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17271, 22 September 1919, Page 8

LOCOMOTIVE MEN.

MANY LEAVING SERVICE. GENERAL DISCONTENT. Frequent reference was made to the fact that many skilled locomotive men axe leavI ing the Railway Department, at a gather- , ing of that branch of the service on Satur- • day evening. One of the objects of the ! ' gathering was to bid farewell to Mr. T. i ■ Barron, an enginedriver, who, after 17 j years' service, is resigning. " The short- ' sighted policy of the Department," said ! one speaker, " in not improving conditions ! in the service has been the cause of 35 drivers on the Auckland-Frankton section resigning within the last 12 months, ] Many of these men have had lengthy ser- | vice, and it is obvious that something is ' radically wrong when men of that age ■ decide to throw up the service and any superannuation benefits which i "kwait them. ! If any private firm was losing its skilled j men at such a rate the manager would be j required to give an explanation to the I directors. The new Minister for Railways, ! the Hon W. F. Massey, should certainly i investigate the matter, which is more urgent in the interests of the efficiency of the service than the subjects which are to be investigated by the Royal Commission." The speaker said he knew of 12 other men of the branch who intended to I " get out" at the first opportunity. Other • members spoke in similar terms. In hi 3 I reply Mr. Barron said the service was ! i " rotten to the core." The system ap- I peared to be designed to kill the initiative ; :of every man in it. He referred to the I conditions under which the locomotive I men worked, and said that a married man I had practically no home life. The Depart- i ment did not understand the locomotive '■ men's duty, and officers who had risen from I the ranks would not see the grievous I nature of the conditions. The impression I he gave was that the locomotive branch | was run under a harsh, unbending system, ; from which he was glad to escape at any j cost.