NOTICE OF DISMISSAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19143, 8 October 1925, Page 14

NOTICE OF DISMISSAL.

SYDNEY CIVIC OFFICIAL. • 5 x REFUSAL TO JOIN UNION. RULE BY LABOUR CAUCUS. Mr. G. EL Mason, one of the most efficient officers of the electricity department of the Sydaey City Council, and a wellknown supporter of the National Party, was, last week, dismissed from his position because he refused to become a member of the Municipal Employees' Union, in accordance with the following resolution passed by the council on September I:—"That from September 1, 1925, all employees of the Municipal Council of Sydney other than the town clerk, heads of departments, and deputy heads of departments, shall belong to and be financial members of the respective union of his or her calling." The notice of dismissal was s£nt to Mr. Mason by the head of his department, Mr. H. F. Mackay. Mr. Mason has the right of appeal to the town clerk, whose # decision in such cases is final. Under resolutions of the City Council "Dismissal" includes the loss of all privileges and concessions. These have a considerable monetary value on retirement from the c ; vic service. Mr. Mason has been in the City Council's service for 15 years, and under the terras of appointment he would be entitled to accumulated leave of nearly six months for loyal and efficient service, and, further, he would be entitled to payment, at the present rate of salary, of two weeks' pay for every year of service by way of retiring allowance, Mr. Mason has the right of appeal to the town clerk against his dismissal, and it will be for that official to say whether the circumstances are such as would entitle him to make a "concession" by way of granting the payments to Mr. Mason to which he would have been entitled had he voluntarily resigned from the service. The secretary of the Municipal Employees' Union will virtually be prosecutor in the case. Under resolutions of the City Council the union secretary is permitted to attend and conduct the case of a civic employee who is appealing to the town clerk against dismissal by the head of a department, but in this case the "offence" is not one against the City Council, but against the union. Putting the Pressure On. As soon as the resolution was passed by the City Council Mr. Mason was approached by an official of the Municipal .employees' Union, who was one of the leading organisers for the Labour candidates at the last City Council elections, and asked, "Will yon now join the union V' and on being told by Mr. Mason that he was not to be browbeaten or bullied into foregoing his political opinions he was reported to the general manager of the electricity department by the union official on the ground "that he is not complying with the resolution of the- City Council." Mr. Mackay had to act "on the information received," and formally asked the man if he was prepared to accept the resolution of the City Council and become a member of the union. Mr. Mason pointed out that he had been associated with. National politics all his life, and that he did not see his way to change lifetime convictions. Mr. Mackay expressed his sorrow at having to order his dismissal, but said he was compelled to carry out the resolution of the City Council under instructions from the town clerk. Regret was expressed that the City Council was losing the services of such an efficient and reliable employee, and the official who handed Mr. Mason his notice of dismissal also expressed'regret that he was compelled with reluctance to carry such a drastic decision into effect, especially as there had never been any cause for complaint in resepct" to the manner in which Mr. Mason had carried out his responsible duties. During" the life of the previous City Council, which also was controlled by the Labour Party, repeated efforts had been made to' compel Mr. Mason to join the Employees' Union, but he always refused to do so. The matter was then officially brought under the notice of Mr. Nesbitt, then town clerk, but Mr. Nesbitt contended that the resolution then adopted by the Labour aldermen did not compel him to dismiss any employee for notjoining the union, and he declined to sanction a dismissal. An Imperative Instruction. The present Labour caucus, says the Sydney Morning Herald, so drafted the resolution passed in September that the town clerk is imperatively instructed to take "the necessary administrative action to carry into effect the terms of the resolution, and that all instructions to the contrary be rescinded." Alderman Walder, secretary of the Reform aldermen, in a statemejit on the subject, said this was "unionism run mad," but, as Mr. Mason was peremptorily forbidden to bring his case under the notice of any alderman until it had been doait with by the town clerk the Reform aldermen as a party could not take any official action until Mr. Lavton had given his decision on the appeal. "However," said Alderman Walder, "the manner in which this notice of dismissal has been brought about clearly proves that Mr. Mason had been marked down for victimisation at the earliest opportunity by the union officials who now dictate the policy of the Labour aldermen, and clearly it is, in the eyes of those officials, an unforgivable sin to be associated in any way with National politics."