THE RAILWAY SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19453, 8 October 1926, Page 10

THE RAILWAY SERVICE.

LOCOMOTIVE MEN'S CLAIMS* STATEMENT BY MINISTER. READY TO DISCUSS POSITION. [BY TELEGRAPH.—'OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Thursday. Interviewed to-day, the Acting-Minister of Railways, Hon. F. J. Rolleston, made the following statement with reference to the published remarks of Mr. W. McArley, general secretary of the Locomotive Engine Drivers, Firemen and Cleaners' Association, regardng the association's claims for inc-.feased wages and improved conditions: — "The complaints made by Mr. McArley involve matters of which I have as yet no knowledge. I am ready, however, in conjunction with the members of the Railway Board, to meet Mr. McArley and the executive of his association at any time in order to discuss the whole position. "I am assured by the chairman of the board that the members have at all times been both anxious and willing to meet the association with the of settling grievances. I would further point out that the Prime Minister, in a letter written to Mr. McArley on the day of the Prime Minister's departure, stated that" the board was prepared to reopen the question of penal rates, and invited further information in regard to the payment of express drivers on a mileage basis.'t PROPOSED BONUS SYSTEM. SUPERINTENDENT'S DEFENCE NO HASTE IN INTRODUCTION[BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Thursday. Published comment by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants on the Railway Department's proposals for the introduction into the service at a later date of a premium bonus system has been replied to by the superintendent of workshops, Mr. E. T. Spidy. "Nobody need fear," said Mr. Spidy, "that the Railway Department is doing any 'stunt' work in introducing the premium bonus system into the workshops. The department does not intend to rush into any system, because the very conditions that make, for efficiency are not yet provided in the existing workshops. The Railway Department is putting all its cards on the table and is explaining the system in all its details month by month in its magazine." Mr. Spidy said he appreciated the fact that there were features in premium work that were not understood by the men. He did not see how it could be otherwise, as very few of the men had had any practical experience of what other countries had achieved in that direction. He asked the men to withhold their judgment until the system was fully explained. "The present workshops do not lend themselves to get the best results from the system," continued the superintendent, "and not until the conditions are rectified is it intended to proceed. The system will stand the closest scrutiny and I am satisfied that eventually the men will come to appreciate the fair dealing that is the keynote of the department's attitude in connection with all phases oi the work of reorganisation."