RAILWAYS DISPUTE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17428, 25 March 1920, Page 6

RAILWAYS DISPUTE.

/' -'".——: ' ♦. — . j QUESTION OF PRIVILEGES. - review :by MR." mack; MONETARY GRANT PBEFERRED. iDwcussing the claims of the members of the railway service to better conditions andi higher wages, the general secretary 0 the; Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants; Mr. M. J. Mack, in an interview, in Wellington ron Monday, repeated ins offer on;behalf ci ; each member of his society to accept : cash down the :sum : of' £25 per annum in lieu of ■. the . privileges at present enjoyed by railwaymen, and which were estimated to "be worth that amount by the Minister, for Railways.' Mr W; :JF. Massey. / - , /' I **' me. just explaitt," continued Mr. Mack,. " how these ; much-Vaunted' -privileges are given. ; First, the leave j& given when It is convenient for the Department to .allow it,, not' when it is convenient for ' the men, or when the leave becomes due. What usually happens is that, when your leave is a year or two overdue, "you are suddenly told a few hours before that you are booked off for holidays. A man's wife may be.ill, his children all at school, and he is totally unprepared to go. He can't leave wife because she is ill or she ; has to stop home to look after the children. Or the man may have to go off ill himself. Inen, as he, has no pay coming in, he takes his leave, out in that way; and his 1 illness 13 more than likely to be due to I overwork.

Passes and the " Out.*' "As to the- passes, if he is in the workshops, which close during the Ou-isb-mas holidays, a railwayman's pass is endorsed, ' not: available by through mail or express trains,' which at once nullifies .its value. Then, last year, when the ' train cut,' was. on, the men's leave was long in arrears. All that, could, be spared were booked off, but the pass' was withheld, and nothing was given them-by way of compensation for such . loss The ' cut* wag a godsend to the Department in more ways than one. Then, those children, who go to Rotorua have' to be " residing with and solely dependent on" their, lather, which means that if any of a man's children are earning a few shillings in-order to help to keep the home going, [ these privileges do not apply. Here, surely,is a case of greasing the fat pig. The man who gets a good' salary and can keep his child going to college, gets all the privilege for it; but the man whose wages are so low that his child has got to go out and earn something to help is cut out. ; - Retiring Leave Anomalies. "Again, a man retiring after 10 years gets four weeks* holiday. But the man who stays on to give further service gets nothing. «But, the Department says, 'he is getting a portion" of his retiring leave,* which is three months for 40 years' service. Here, again, the Departmental reasoning of * the. longer you go, the less you get,' applies. One month for 10 years should lie four months (not three) for 10 years. Surely, if a man leaving is- entitled to four weeks, the man remaining should get something <toi encourage him to remain in, and not to go out as is the case at present"

That Trip to Eotorua.

Reverting, in conclusion, to " that trip to Rotorua," Mr. Mack said:—.'Can yon imagine a man drawing 12s per day, with deductions for superannuation, taking .his ■wife and two children to Rotprua, when his daily expenses will he at least £1 12a, to say nothing of steamer fares from the South Island, £7 8s? This much-talked-of leave is now considerably in arrears; and no prospect of the men being relieved. Why, a man recently asked for two days to go to his daughter's wedding and was refused. We would rather have, that £25, and I am speaking on behalf of the great: majority of the men interested." ; ; . V-