NOT ENOUGH MOTORMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18533, 18 October 1923, Page 10

NOT ENOUGH MOTORMEN.

SHORTAGE IN AUCKLAND,

EXPANDING TEAM SERVICE.

CONDITIONS CRITICISED. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT ] '■■'■{ WELLINGTON. Wednesday:, . The ' treatment .-; of • tramway employees by the Auckland City Council was ' criticised , 'to-day , by a deputation which waited on the Minister for Public Works. Hon. J. G. Coa-tes-vThc deputation comprised Messrs. H. Tankard president, and C.Hobhs secretary, of the Wellington : Tramways Union. ';;

Mr. A. L. Monteith; M.P., who introduced the deputation, said that the en-gineer-in- chief, Mr. F. W. F;irkcrt, had had an interview - with th« Auckland Tramway management, in regard. to the council's application for the suspension of certain provisions of the Act extending the . period of conductors' service before becoming motormen. Outside of Auckland, there was, he said, no shortage of mo'tormen. In Wellington fully 85 per cent, of the conductors had their motormen's tickets. If the same' conditions were applied in Auckland, there would be no need for the suspension of the Act. There should, ho said, be no need for making an alteration in favour of Auckland only. j •

Mr. Hobbs Said that anv suspension of the Act would entail an objectionable precedent. There wore any number of men offering "all over tho country. The Act said that 21 days' work should be done for training as motormen, but in all the other services throughout the - country, men during their training were allowed some consideration regarding ,' payment during. that time. Eight hours constituted a day's work and if 21 extra days' work was to be done in training, it had to lie done in addition to the ordinary days' work. The men in Auckland had an additional handicap in having to go to the expense of a medical fee besides training. That was why there was a shortage of. men offering in Auckland. There were about 100 conductors in Wellington now waiting for motormen's jobs. If Auckland had the same conditions, there would be the same number there. .

Tho. Minister: What about the extra men here ? Could they not be employed to drive the Auckland trams Mr. Hobbs: You can't- transfer men from one service to another. The men must start as conductors. It is one of the conditions of the award. Just for a policy of saying do you think it fair that the Auckland management should leave everything to be borne by the men and then conio to you and ask for this suspension of the Act , . The Minister: How are you going to get over the immediate difficulty? . Mr. Hobbs: The> would fill the positions easily if they had the same conditions as exist in, other centres. In this case if they were to make the nece> sary adjustment they would have men with previous experience on the road. Mr. Godfrey (Public Works Department) : We have been looking for the reason, but there have been no applications from anywhere else. The Minister: We have asked certain specific questions of the Auckland City Council which they will have to answer. There will have to; be sufficient reason before I will agree to it. Mr. Monteith: It is hard if a man has to serve three weeks with no pay. In Wellington they get a certain amount of pay, but in Auckland they get nothing. They have to do their eight hours and then another four hours for nothing at all. ,:

Mr. Hobbs: There is no provision in the Act as to who shall make payment for th© training period. In the other tramway services the management ' have met the men, but not so in Auckland. Men have to attend the school of training, and it sometimes means: six weeks before they get payment. The Minister promised consideration of the claims of the deputation.

STATEMENT BY MANAGER.

MANY MEN DEBARRED.

NECESSARY TIME ALLOWED.

The position as it affects Auckland was stated yesterday by the general manager of tramways, Mr, A. E. Ford, who said that under the tramway regulations it was not permissible to train a man for the position of rootorman until he had served for 12 months as a conductor. The Auckland City Council had just completed an agreement with the men of the tramway service for a period of two years, and the mf>n, who were now the best prid tramwaymen in the Dominion, were quite satisfied with their conditions.;

Mr. Ford states that owing to the rapid extension of the Auckland service it had been necessary during the past six montus to promote more than 44" conductors to the position of moformnn, and in the near future another 15 or 20 would be required, but when applications were called in the ordinary way the response was not sufficient to meet the demand. There were many conductors with about six months' service who were desirous of applying for promotion, but they were debarred by the regulation/!.' For that reason the City Council hiid decided to apply for a temporary suspension of the regulations to remedy this position.; , Mr. Ford added that during the war, when there was a shortage of men, such applications were made from time to time and granted, and in the present case the suspension would require to be only temporary He also mentioned that it was usual in Auckland to have a surplus of drivers awaiting promotion, ■ bifi : the phenomenal growth of the service had brought about the present shortage, i There was also the point that a number of longservice conductors preferred to remain in their present occupation. In the Auckland service men who desired to learn the driving branch were given all facilities to do so, o including the necessary time an arrangement which met with, the approval of the men themselves.