RAILWAY DISMISSALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20620, 19 July 1930, Page 12

RAILWAY DISMISSALS.

PROTEST BY EMPLOYEES.

REINSTATEMENT SOUGHT.

REPLY BY PRIME MINISTER.

EFFECT OF ECONOMIC POSITION

[liY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Frirlny.

An emphatic protest against the dismissal of men from the railway workshops was made by a deputation representing the four organisations of the service, which waited on the Prime Minister, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, this evening. The Minister of Railways, the Hon. W. A. Veitch, was also present, and several Labour members of Parliament attended in support of the deputation. Replying, the Prime Minister pointed out that tiie Government was in the same position as private employers and could not retain men if the financial position did not permit. His chief anxiety was to avoid the dismissal of further men.

The president of tho Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Mr. James Churchouse, said the deputation was desirous of reconsideration of the dismissals from the railway workshops. There were men under notice of dismissal for to-mor-row night. They were there to ask that those notices be stopped and that thoso men who ha<i already been dismissed be put back until findings had been made by the Government as to tho finance it required for the railway service. It was unfortunate that so many should be thrown out of employment in the winter. The Government's responsibility did not end when men were removed from the railway service, for they swelled the ranks of the unemployed.

The Humane Aspect. The deputation realised as well as the Government the difficulties facing it in regard to finance. The captains of industry might applaud the Government for its commercial policy 111 regard to the railways, but it had to be remembered that their industries had been sheltered by the Government's policy of using the railways for the development of the country. There was the humane aspect of the position, said .Mr. Churchouse. It seemed that .380 men were to go without consideration. "What the Minister of Railways has done is to hand the pruning knit'e to the immediate superiors of the men, and they are putting off married men with families and retaining single men," he continued. "I think that that is wrong in principle. Single men who hcive been on only a few months are being kept on, while casuals with long yeais of service are being dismissed. The policy in the past has been that the last man put on should be the first to no, all otlnr things being equal. We ask you to reconsider the whole matter and try to keep these men at work. Scale of the Dismissals.

Mr. S. Ingram, secretary of the Railway Tradesmen's Association, entered an emphatic protest against the way the men had been dismissed. lie knew of no previous instance in which men had been dismissed on such a scale. It appeared to be not so much a question 'of lack of work as lack of money which had induced the Government to take the steps it had. He appealed for the reinstatement of the men dismissed the previous night and a week ago. There appeared to have been no real consideration of the question of efficiency in making the dismissals. No consideration had been given to promises made that preference would be given to married men and returned soldiers. Mr. \ eitch said it had been stated that he could employ men in the workshops if money were available. The position in the shops was quite obvious. They were large enough to employ an enormous number of men. However, with the revenue and capital moneys available to him for the present year, it was impossible to do more. Mr. R. Semple. M.P. for Wellington East, asked whether it was no a fact that disc wheels, which could Lu manufactured locally, were being imported. Cases of Hardship. The Minister said he wanted to state definitely that (he department should bo doing all its own work in its own shops, and as far as was humanly possible, this would lit' done. It. was impossible for him to consider every dismissal, but ho had promised to deal with cases of proved hardship. Ho was very anxious to meet the situation and he had been extremely pained at having to take such drastic steps. Mr. \V. J. Jordan. M.P. for Mamiknu, asked whether the departmental heads considered th-3 efficiency of the service was being maintained in spite of the rodurtions.

Mr. Y pilch said there was no risk what ever of the standard of safety unci main tenance being reduced. -

Replying to the representations, (ho Prime Minister said that he need hardly say that nothing had given the Minister of Railways greater concern than the necessity for facing the dismissal of a number of men. It was only after the matter had been very carefully gone into that such a course v. as considered necessary. Tho position was this. The railways had a very formidable competitor in the road services. Hoad transport services had cut down the work of the depar) menl.

"There is no getting away from that as far as tho railways are concerned. Business has been rut down considerably," said tho Prime Minister. Mr. Forbes said tlie matter was undoubtedly a financial one. New workshops had been provided at an expense of over £2.000.000. That meant labour-saving machinery was in operation with a consequent reduction in tlie number of men i« the workshops. An Uneconomic Principle.

The principle of employing men when they could not be profitably employed was not sound, and would mean the breakdown of any organisation. It was uneconomic. The position of tho past had gone and it was not now possible to carry the same number of men in tho workshops as was the ease in the past. "We have been spending borrowed money in regard to the railways, but that must be tapered off," said Mr. Forbes, "lite service .should be able to run itself on its financial returns with full provision tor the services to the country. As a trading concern wo have to observe something like business principles. The Minis ter of Railways has asked for .£1,813.000 to keep the railways going. The money has Io be raised by the issue of loans and unless tho public realise that their money is to be invested in good security. they will not invest. "We know the distress that these things mean, but we are in the same posit ion as private employers. If a factory kept its men on and took no notice of the economic position, it would soon go out of business. The railways cannot carry men on if the financial position cannot stand it. We have no desire to dismiss men. and the whole thing is to avoid tho dismissal of further men. That is what is giving us the greatest concern. lam anxious to assist Mr. Yeiteh to avoid any more dismissals "