TRAMWAYMEN'S WAGES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20407, 8 November 1929, Page 17

TRAMWAYMEN'S WAGES.

THE RATES OF PAYMENT.

UNION SECRETARY'S VIEWS

CONTRADICTION OF STATEMENT.

Assertions that tramway conductors are paid £5 13s a week and motormen £5 18s a week, which were made by Mr. W. Skegg at a meeting of Itemuera ratepayers on Wednesday evening were tho subject of a contradictory statement issued yesterday by Mr. J. Liddell, secretary of (he Tramwaymen's Union. "Thoso statements arc contrary to fact taken on the 4,8 hours' weekly basis," Mr. Liddell said. " The industrial agreement between tho union and tho Transport Board provides for rates of pay as follows: —Conductors (probationary), first three months, Is 9d per hour; next nine months, Is 10d per hour; after 12 months, Is lid an hour; motormen, first 12 months Is lid an hour; after 12 months, 2s an hour, making the respective wages on a 48-hour weekly basis, which is provided for in tho agreement, £4 4s, £4 Bs, £4 12s and £4 16s.

"As in other agreements and awards, overtime rates are provided and after having worked a full shift of eight hours, if required by the. management to perforin extra work, the men arc paid tho overtime rates provided. It will, therefore, be seen that taking into account the exacting nature of the work, together with tho variation of shifts, which require tho men to get out of bed in the morning and tumble in at night at hours when a number of Remuera East residents aro dreaming of share markets and dividends, the men do not receive wages nearly sufficient to compensate them. Special Kequirements. "I would like Mr. Skegg and others who seem to have the impression that trainwaymen are being paid too high wages and should be made to bear losses in operation of 'the service, to appreciate the fact that men engaged as conductors and motormen have to pass a strict medical examination, and the management recognises also that men must possess special qualities and training to be conductors and motormen, and take this into consideration when engaging men. Before a man is allowed to be a motorinan he must, in accordance with the law of the country, have been a "conductor for a period of 12 months. He is then specially trained by the management, in his own time and without payment, and must pass a Government examination both in practical work and theory and obtain a Government certificate which costs him £l, plus a medical certificate which costs him 7s 6d, before he is allowed the privilege of receiving a wage of a paltry 2s an hour. Unrest in thq Service. "Traniwaymen, unlike other workers, have no half-day off a week. It may be said that their shifts sometimes finish early in tho afternoon, but to gain this early finish they have to get up with the milkman, and, in numbers of cases, walk miles in the early morning in order to take our cars to provide Mr. Skegg and others with the means of conveyance to their business. In numbers of cases also, men work over long spreads of hours, which mean starting broken shifts early in the morning and not finally finishing until from 6.30 to 8.20 p.m. "May I state that unrest exists in the service because of the fact that the hourly payments to motormen and conduclois are too low for the services rendered, and we intend to continue pressing for increased wages and improved conditions necessary to compensate these men for the exacting and arduous duties they have to perform continually in busy streets. The great inconvenience of shift work should also be recognised in computating wages."